Praying for an Hour: Introduction and Part 1...Worship

Introduction

Did you know: We can pray for an hour by focusing on one type of prayer for 5 minutes! After using 12 types of prayer, our hour is up! 

For the next 6 months, we are going to slowly work our way through the prayer wheel I referenced towards the end of the dedicated focus to praying the news. There are several online resources about praying for an hour. A good search phrase is "The Hour That Changes the World" or "prayer wheel". 

Worship: Worship God For Who He Is

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;” Psalm 95:6

What does it mean to worship? Grab a dictionary and look it up. 

Is this an easy or difficult type of prayer for me? Why? 

How often do I pray this way? 

Search for worship in the Bible. Read the verses that use this word. 

What is God teaching you about worship? 

Praying with a Gratitude Sandwich

One way that we can pray is to pray using a "gratitude sandwich". For every request (the meat of the request), we surround it with two praises (the bread of the prayer). 

This challenges us to look for ways that God has blessed us, even as we are making petitions of God. 

It has the added benefit of weighting our prayers towards thanksgiving instead of requests. There is nothing wrong with making requests of God, and indeed He wants us to cast our cares on Him. Yet, we aren't always aware of how many requests and how much thanksgiving we have in our prayer.

So let us write out our requests, but then sandwich them in grateful praises. 

What Percentage of Our Prayers?

What percentage of our prayers is praise and worship of God? 
What percentage of our prayers is intercessions and petitions (and demands) for God to do something?

What percentage of our prayers is listening and waiting on the Lord? 

What percentage of our prayers is songs and thanksgiving? 

What percentage of our prayers is confession of guilt and sin? 

What percentage of our prayers is Scripture being prayed back to God? 

What percentage of our prayers is from watching what's around us and what's going on in the world? 

What percentage of our prayers is contemplation and mediation of God's character? 

 

What percentage of our prayers is about family members and friends? 

What percentage of our prayers is about things in our city? Our state? Our Country? 

What percentage of our prayers is for people in Africa? 

What percentage of our prayers is for people in Asia? 

What percentage of our prayers is for people in Australia and Oceania? 

What percentage of our prayers is for people in Central America?

What percentage of our prayers is for people in Europe? 

What percentage of our prayers is for people in the Middle East?  

What percentage of our prayers is for people in South America? 

What percentage of our prayers is for people in North America? 

What percentage of our prayers is for Christians? 

What percentage of our prayers is for non-Christians? 

What percentage of our prayers is for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the oppressed, those on the margins of society? 

What percentage of our prayers do we notice being answered? 

Shaking Things Up: Praising through the Alphabet

From time to time, we will look at a new way of praying, just as a way to shake things up and avoid getting stuck in a rut. Today, we will consider of we can pray our way through the alphabet as we praise God.

Take a piece of paper (or use a computer document to type all this) and write the letters of the alphabet down the side. 

Then start brainstorming titles, adjectives, and attributes of God. If we come up with more than one for a letter, that's perfectly alright.

After a bit, we might notice a few letters that have been neglected. We can specifically focus on those to try to fill in the gaps.

A- Almighty, Alpha

B- Bountiful

C- Christ

D- Defender

E- Exalted

F- Fierce

G- God

H- Holy

I- Inexhaustible

J- Just, Judge

K- King

L- Lord
M- Messiah
N- Near
O- Omega
P- Priest
Q- Qualified
R- Redeemer
S- Savior
T- Truth
U- Unyielding
V- Valiant
W- Way
X- Xenodochial (friendly to strangers)
Y-  Yahwah
Z- Zealous

If we need help, a website like AdjectivesThatStart.com can help us discover a fitting word. I simply searched "nouns starting with Y" since I couldn't think of anything on my own. Then I realized there was an obvious one that I didn't think of. 

By focusing on the titles, characteristics, and attributes of God, we can praise Him in this unique exercise. 

Praying for the Vulnerable

As we pray for those we know and love during this pandemic, let's remember to pray for those who are vulnerable too.

Pray for those working risky jobs, whether interacting with the public, working with the sick, or some other job.

Pray for those who are vulnerable in their health and therefore at a higher risk to catch the virus or have a more severe sickness.

Pray for those who are working the "essential" yet poorly paid jobs: grocery workers, gas station attendants, farm workers, employees in meat-packing plants. 

Pray for those seeking refuge and asylum, especially as they are facing overcrowded and inhumane conditions. 

Pray for those who are unable to advocate for themselves, whether due to a disability, language barrier, or other issue. 

Pray for those who are grieving, mourning, and brokenhearted.

Pray for those who are anxious, worried, and stressed. 

Pray for the poor and the poor in spirit. 

Pray for the hungry, the thirsty, and the needy. 

Pray for people who have been reduced down to an adjective "homeless", "illegal", "refugee", etc. 

Pray for those the Bible specifically tells us to pray for: 

Pray for those who are sick or in prison (see Hebrews 13:3). 

Pray for your enemies and your persecutors (see Matthew 5:44)

Pray for little children (see Matthew 19:13)

Pray for those who mistreat you (see Luke 6:28)

Pray for those who don't know what to pray for (see Romans 8:26)

Pray for all the Lord's people (see Ephesians 6:18)

Praying Big Prayers

When I was in college, my campus minister encouraged us to pray big prayers. He warned us that we could get so caught up in praying for physical problems that we would neglect praying for spiritual matters. His message concluded "Do not just pray through a medical textbook. Pray big prayers." 

Imagine you live next door to a world class chef, who generously offers to cook you anything that you want every single evening. And every single day, when the chef asks you what you want, you request some form of potatoes. There are a great many ways to prepare a potato, but we aren't experiencing the full talents of this chef. In the same way, we should be praying a variety of prayers and noticing how God is answering and moving in a full variety of situations. 

If we want to "track" our types of prayer, one way we can do this is by printing off a few images from the internet (such as a human body outline, a map of our country, a map of the world, and acquiring colored writing utensils). Brainstorm the different types of requests, such as healing, natural disaster, violence, injustice, etc. and assign each a color. (Make a key for the colors, so we can remember these categories). During a prayer session, write any physical requests on the body. Knee surgery recovery? Write it by the knee. Migraine sufferer? Write it by the head. Then use colored pens or pencils to write non-healing requests on the appropriate map. Storm devastation in our home country on the coast? Write it in blue in the effected area. Violence in Afghanistan? Write it in red on the correct map. Then after the prayer time, consider what regions and what requests aren't being addressed by the group.

Praying for healing is a valid part of prayer, but we should also be praying "BIG prayers". What are examples of big prayers? These are the long-term, ongoing requests that won't be answered in a week, a month, or even a year. These prayers are about situations involving many different people and groups. They may not come with weekly progress reports or updates. 

Pray Big Prayers

-Pray for the persecuted: Pray for them to be faithful. Pray for them to share the Good News. Pray for them to have wisdom in knowing who to share with. Pray that they will be faithful no matter the cost. 

-Pray for the persecutors: Pray for them to repent of their actions. Pray for them to come to faith in Christ. Pray for them to stop persecuting the Church and start proclaiming the Gospel.

-Pray for the people in Africa/Asia/Europe/the Middle East/North America/South America/Oceania: Pray for the people in these regions being affected by events, disasters, and trauma. Pray for them to encounter Christ. Pray that they will identify and remove idols from their lives. 

-Pray for those who are "lost" (i.e. non-Christians): Pray for them to encounter Christ. Pray that they will identify and remove idols from their lives. Pray that they will meet and befriend Christians who will mentor them in their faith. Pray that they will be faithful no matter the cost. 

-Pray for prodigals (those who have left the faith): Pray that they will be drawn back to God through whatever means necessary. Pray that they will not be satisfied by worldly treasure or esteem. Pray that they remember about God's character and commandments when they are weary and broken. 

-Pray for peace/justice/those who are oppressed or marginalized: Pray for victims of war, violence, persecution, and hate. Pray for those suffering from injustices and oppression. Pray for God to intervene to make the world more just and peaceful. Pray for the oppressed and marginalized to experience redemption, restoration, and reconciliation. 

These prayers will be on our list tomorrow and next month, and even next year. But they are prayers that we should be praying as well. 

Praying "On Earth, As It Is In Heaven"

In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray "On Earth, As It Is In Heaven" (see Matthew 6:10). This got me to thinking, 1) what would prayer be like in heaven? and 2) how would knowing this shape my earthly prayers? 

When we are in heaven & we get to spend eternity with God, what will be our conversation with Him?

We are going to PRAISE God for what He has done in our lives. 

We are going to THANK God for the way He moved through (out) our lives in ways we didn't even see or understand until we got to heaven. 

We are going to WORSHIP God for who He is and glorify Him because He is the only one worthy of our praise. 

We are going to CELEBRATE what He has done among the nations and how He has saved His people, the Church. 

We are going to THANK (again) God endlessly for the sacrifice His Son made.

When we are in heaven, I imagine that there will be no more pain, sorrow, tears, or death, so we won't be asking for healing, comfort, joy, or miracles. We won't be petitioning for ourselves or interceding for others. We won't be lamenting injustice or a broken world. We won't have new sins to confess and repent of. 

In heaven, I imagine that we will be WORSHIPPING, WAITING ON THE LORD, PRAYING SCRIPTURE, WATCHING, GIVING THANKS, SINGING, CONTEMPLATING/MEDITATING, LISTENING, and PRAISING GOD. 

Yet, when I consider what my prayers consist of on earth, I realize that I am overly focused on the confession, intercession, petitions, and other requests. I spend more time telling God what I want Him to do then praising God for what He has done. 

What would it be like if our prayers mirrored how I imagine our prayers in heaven will be? 

How would we go about our days if we spent our time worshipping God instead of asking Him to fix what we want Him to? 

How will we pray in heaven? That is how we should pray on earth.