Spiritual Discipline #5: PRAYER

"Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father. Meditation introduces us to the inner life, fasting is an accompanying means, study transforms our minds, but it is the Discipline of prayer that brings us into the deepest and highest work of the human spirit. Real prayer is life creating and life changing 'Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer - lies at the root of all personal godliness,' writes William Carey."(Foster, p. 33)

This description of prayer can inspire us, but also discourage us. It inspires because it speaks to what we truly want to take place in our walk with God, but it also has the potential discourage us in that it holds up a lofty ideal that we feel, often from past experience, to be unattainable. It is no wonder, then, that Jesus' disciples, after observing his prayer life, felt pressed to ask, "Lord, teach us to pray."(Luke 11:1)

Prayer is above all a conversation with God, a time for us to listen to Him as well as to speak. Nevertheless, most, if not all our praying tends to be one-sided, consisting mostly of our talking to God, and specifically asking Him for various things. It is no surprise, then, that our prayers and praying become old and dry. Yet as we begin to learn the art of listening, as well as speaking, we can find prayer to truly be what God intended.

Over the next few months, we will be looking at various aspects of prayer, including the role that other spiritual disciplines can play in our prayer life. To begin, though, we will start with that aspect of prayer with which we are most familiar - speaking and intercession - and will follow the pattern laid out for us in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

1. Worship of God, and prayer for His honor, glory, and purposes in the world. "Our Father who is in heaven, holy is Your name. Your Kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Suggestion: Pray through a Psalm that focuses on who God is and what He does in the world. Some examples, of many, are Psalm 95 or 98.

2. Prayer for our needs and the needs of others, specifically that we will have today that which we need today. "Give us this day our daily bread."

3. Confession of our sin, asking for forgiveness, all the while examining our hearts to see if while seeking forgiveness from God, we are refusing to give extend it to others. "And forgive us our sins as we forgive others who have sinned against us."

4. Intercession for ourselves and others, that God will not simply protect us from that which would seek to destroy us spiritually, but that He will carry His work out in our lives enabling us to stand firm in the midst of all such attacks. "And deliver us from evil."
- Suggestion: As you read the Scriptures, what do the verses reveal about what God is most interested about as it concern's our's and other's lives? Make these things a major focus of your intercession.

Spiritual Discipline #1: SOLITUDE
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Pastor's Blogs
Solitude
• Monday, Nov 10, 2008
• Thursday, Oct 23, 2008

Spiritual Discipline #2: SILENCE
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Spiritual Discipline #3: MEDITATION
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Spiritual Discipline #4: FASTING
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Suggested Reading for Understanding Spiritual Disciplines

1. “The Celebration of Discipline”, by Richard Foster
2. “The Spirit of the Disciplines”, by Dallas Willard

Either one of the above books is highly recommended for anyone wanting to both understand and practice the various spiritual disciplines that will be featured on this website.

Suggested Reading for the Discipline of Meditation:

"Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer", by Eugene Peterson