Share your prayer style...

(photo credit: stagneslongsite.org)

So, we all have quiet time with the Lord...(Ok, most of us)...

In my mind I have always pictured that the 'proper' thing to do is kneel beside the bed, hands folded, head bowed...You know the stereotype. Well, I don't do that. At least not often. Sometimes I have been led to kneel, but usually my prayer time with God is in bed with some soft music or in silence. I usually don't talk outloud and I do not keep a list...Oh, I have tried. And then I feel like a terrible Christian if I don't pray my list, or keep it updated. I've tried many ways of keeping with my prayerful duties. There are great suggestions out there:

Keep a 3 ring binder divided into sections of "requests, answers, praises, thanksgivings," etc.

The 5 finger prayer

Prayer journaling

Prayer Mapping

Checklist

Daily Devotional


I have tried - and failed - at keeping up with all of these wondeful prayer time tools (prayer mapping is really cool!). I simply am not one of those gifted individuals who has a passion for getting in the prayer closet and engaging in long periods of intercession. However, I LOVE praying for people (and animals, too, of course!) on the spot, when the request is made. I'm more of an ER or "crisis" prayer warrior. If someone/something/some situation is laid on my heart or presented, I will happily saddle up my war horse and go after whatever needs to be gone after in the authority that Jesus has given me. This is whyI love being on the prayer line and doing Sozo.

Now, I do have my quiet times...Sometimes I will lay in bed and just let God lead my thoughts and talk to him about whoever comes to mind. No list. Just free-flowing. This works well for me.

Recently I realized that I spend much of my day in ongoing conversation with or at least about God. That's when I understood the meaning of "praying without ceasing". That was a cool revelation!

Still, I sometimes think I'm not doing as good a job as I could be in taking time out to pray for people and situations. I know I will likely never be one of those intercession butt-kickers whose faithful, daily, consistent prayers were foundational in leading someone to Jesus or for bringing about a miracle. But I'd like to do more in this regard..

So tell me -

What does your "quiet time" look like? Are you a journaler? Do you pray outloud? Do you keep a list? Do you keep track of answers? Do you pray at a certain time? I'd love to get a peek inside your prayer closet!

Comments

Kelly said…
I like to pray first thing in the morning. I try to get up before everyone. I have a favorite seat in the living room and I'll read and then pray. I do not keep a journal, I do not keep a list, I just pray for whatever God puts on my heart. There are a few things I pray for everyday, but after that it is whatever God wants. The kids and I will pray in the car if we are going somewhere in the morning. I will pray in the middle of the night if I wake up, which I usually do. I also play worship music during the day and sometimes that becomes my prayer as well. I try to keep my prayer life as unritualistic as possible, if that makes sense!
4:24 PM
melanie said…
This comment does not answer your question, but I did find it interesting that you consider yourself a 'ER' prayer person. Remember when I had that dream that you were working in the ER? hmm.
9:45 PM
Francy said…
I've been making it a point to pray for the people that I usually forget to pray for, like the people who I looked up to and assume have it all together. As if they don't need prayer too!
4:10 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Relationship vs. evidence

My reply to a blog post discussion with an atheist...I was not attempting to convert him. Just sharing my story.  What a neat discussion...I love it when people can talk about these kinds of things respectfully. How much we can learn from each other when we know that the other person is not going to ridicule or go off or resort to insults. THANKS! For what it's worth, my two cents are below. :) I grew up in Evangelicalism, but my faith became the most alive when I ditched the rules and the play-book of 'making converts' through arguing the Bible and defending God (God doesn't really need me to do that anyway). I made it about 'me and God', not 'me, the rules and how I can convince everyone that my religion is right by explaining the Bible empirically'. You can't do that. The Bible isn't a science book. It is a book of experiences and intepretations of experiences by other people - humans as jacked up and confused by life as I am than I was ...
Read more

Sozo Conference '08

Image
This gets a big Dan WWWWWOOWWWW... What a weekend! It was awesome, it was awful, it was amazing and it was a wild ride! Talk about a roller coaster. But I learned a lot and grew a lot and I am still processing. The Sozo folks from Bethel Church in Redding, Ca. are gifted teachers and administers of emotional/spiritual healing. I went on Friday to be in the "hot seat" for a Sozo with somoene from the Bethel team. This was good because it gave me a chance to see them in action. I was able to observe how they work, see what I did and did not like in how they did things and decide what to do and not do when we are ministering here. It was very confirming to see that they work very similarly to how we do on our Sozo team. YAY! And now, a few pictures from the trip. First of all, I needed a travelling companion. So I kidnapped a Horgan Gnome. He's the one who always moons us as we exit their house. So I called him "Gmoony". Here he is with my kidnapping accomplices. C...
Read more

Alan Alda's seven quick questions

I enjoy listening to Alan Alda's podcast 'Clear and Vivid' . At the end of every episode he asks his guest seven quick questions. Here are my answers: 1. What do you wish you really understood? Why the universe was created in such a way that violent death or death, in general, was required for the sustenance of its living creatures. The food chain - I'm not a fan.... 2. How do you tell someone they got their facts wrong? Generally, if I am having an actual discussion with someone (that is usually not in a FB comment thread) I will ask questions about sources where the person got their information in case I missed something or to decide if the sources are quality. I will present what I understand to be true and why. 3. What is the strangest question anyone has ever asked you? It was more stupid/rude than strange, but someone once asked me why I was here if I didn't want to have children...As if the sole purpose of my existence is to breed. 4. How do you...
Read more