Continual Prayer
Worry never changes anything, but prayer can change things. We have to pray throughout the day rather than 2 minutes a day. How do we do that? There are really 2 ways to do that.
The first is to sustain a running conversation. You just talk to God and keep a running conversation. Don’t say, “In Jesus’ name, amen,” just keep talking. If something comes up, talk to God about it. Prayer is spiritual breathing.
The second way is to have set prayer times daily. This isn’t a new idea; Daniel had set prayer times throughout his day. Clocks were actually invented to make time for prayer.
7 ELEMENTS OF CONTINUAL PRAYER
These elements come straight from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:8-13.
1. Arise with gratitude on your mind
When you get out of bed in the morning, before your breakfast or anything else, start by being grateful to God and telling Him all the things you’re grateful for. You can get up with griping or you can get up with gratitude, it’s your choice.
Gratitude gets us to focus on our loving Father who gives us all we need.
2. Bless the name of Jesus in the morning
I bless God’s name at breakfast. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer but I’ll pray the second phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.
To bless means to honor and give respect. I’m going to praise and adore the Name of the Lord. Prayer is based on how much you know God. The more you know God, the less you’re going to worry.
3. Mid-morning remind yourself of what’s most important
If you’ll do this everyday, you’ll begin a habit of sometime in the middle of the morning, you just pause and take a deep breath. It doesn’t take a long time.
In the third phrase of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says, “let your kingdom come, let your will be done.” He’s really saying the same thing; where God’s kingdom is, God’s will is done.
4. Petition the Lord for my needs at lunch
Lunch time is a good time for you to talk to God about all the things you need. Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else is to be given to you.
Jesus says “give us this day our daily bread.” This is us asking God for what we need today. We daily depend on him so we will learn to trust him for everything.
5. Seek forgiveness in the afternoon
I ask for forgiveness in the afternoon. I’ll ask the Lord if there’s anything in my life I need to clean out. Ask the Lord if there’s anything you need to admit to Him and confess it. It doesn’t take a long time but you don’t want sin to stockpile in your life.
6. Seek the Lord to give you wisdom for life
You need to ask God to help you make wise decisions. In the sixth phrase of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
When you’re tired in the evening you’re more likely to say things you regret and hurt people. This is a great prayer before you walk into your house.
It’s not a sin to be tempted, Jesus was tempted. It’s a sin to give into temptation.
7. Wrap the day by reorienting yourself to Truth
End your day with a good word by reading promises from God. Jesus is in control, this isn’t the end of the story, Jesus and His people win in the end.
The first is to sustain a running conversation. You just talk to God and keep a running conversation. Don’t say, “In Jesus’ name, amen,” just keep talking. If something comes up, talk to God about it. Prayer is spiritual breathing.
The second way is to have set prayer times daily. This isn’t a new idea; Daniel had set prayer times throughout his day. Clocks were actually invented to make time for prayer.
7 ELEMENTS OF CONTINUAL PRAYER
These elements come straight from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:8-13.
1. Arise with gratitude on your mind
When you get out of bed in the morning, before your breakfast or anything else, start by being grateful to God and telling Him all the things you’re grateful for. You can get up with griping or you can get up with gratitude, it’s your choice.
Gratitude gets us to focus on our loving Father who gives us all we need.
2. Bless the name of Jesus in the morning
I bless God’s name at breakfast. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer but I’ll pray the second phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.
To bless means to honor and give respect. I’m going to praise and adore the Name of the Lord. Prayer is based on how much you know God. The more you know God, the less you’re going to worry.
3. Mid-morning remind yourself of what’s most important
If you’ll do this everyday, you’ll begin a habit of sometime in the middle of the morning, you just pause and take a deep breath. It doesn’t take a long time.
In the third phrase of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says, “let your kingdom come, let your will be done.” He’s really saying the same thing; where God’s kingdom is, God’s will is done.
4. Petition the Lord for my needs at lunch
Lunch time is a good time for you to talk to God about all the things you need. Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else is to be given to you.
Jesus says “give us this day our daily bread.” This is us asking God for what we need today. We daily depend on him so we will learn to trust him for everything.
5. Seek forgiveness in the afternoon
I ask for forgiveness in the afternoon. I’ll ask the Lord if there’s anything in my life I need to clean out. Ask the Lord if there’s anything you need to admit to Him and confess it. It doesn’t take a long time but you don’t want sin to stockpile in your life.
6. Seek the Lord to give you wisdom for life
You need to ask God to help you make wise decisions. In the sixth phrase of the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
When you’re tired in the evening you’re more likely to say things you regret and hurt people. This is a great prayer before you walk into your house.
It’s not a sin to be tempted, Jesus was tempted. It’s a sin to give into temptation.
7. Wrap the day by reorienting yourself to Truth
End your day with a good word by reading promises from God. Jesus is in control, this isn’t the end of the story, Jesus and His people win in the end.
Pastor Chris Williams
To learn more about Pastor Chris and his teaching, visit us on the web at fcfamily.org and make sure you subscribe to receive these biweekly encouragements in your inbox.
To learn more about Pastor Chris and his teaching, visit us on the web at fcfamily.org and make sure you subscribe to receive these biweekly encouragements in your inbox.
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