Many of us who are obliged to stay home during the current coronavirus crisis, have found that we have more time to spend with our families, read and study our Bibles, listen to good teachings and to meditate and to pray.
I love to speak on the subject of prayer but I have to tell you, without knowing who you are, that according to surveys the average Christian, even pastors, admit to spending very little time in extended prayer beyond a short one when they get up and another short one as they’re falling asleep and the obligatory blessing over their meals. And yet, almost everyone I talk to as a pastor, wants to pray more, because they know that prayer is vital. Well, perhaps the present time and these constructive thoughts from Sandy Mayle in Pray! magazine and the other suggestions that follow may help shake up your prayer life a little, as we spend more time inside our homes.
“Why not choose a new time of day to pray, or consider a ‘night watch’—a time of worship and prayer while others sleep. Locate a new place of prayer. Try new prayer postures (such as kneeling, lying prostrate, pacing, or standing with hands raised); using those that help you best express yourself to God.”
Another help is to read and pray Scripture from a new translation (I’m currently reading the Psalms in The Living Bible), or begin a new devotional book. I recommend an excellent one by Richard Foster called, Prayer, Finding the Hearts True Home, which covers the different types of prayers in the Bible such as Prayers of Petition, Intercessory Prayer, Healing Prayer and Unceasing Prayer. It has enriched my prayer life tremendously.
Recently, as I was reading through Isaiah, this verse caught my attention in this regard of doing things differently: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19). So why not try something new in prayer?
Here’s another idea that I have practiced that has enriched my prayer life. It all starts in the morning as I read five Psalms and one Proverb each day. I like to highlight the verses that speak to me. Then at night, I’ll try and spend some extended time with the Lord, reviewing and praying back those highlighted verses to Him. In other words, this is a way to turn the scriptures into your prayers. Let me leave you with this example of one of my morning highlights from Psalm 91:
Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation. (14-16).
Would you join me as we pray those verses back to God together tonight? – Maranatha!
To help us walk closer to God and to know Him better
