God delights in your prayers no matter how impossible or small they may seem.
He created us for a relationship with Himself and others, and communication is the heartbeat of a strong relationship. Jesus modeled prayer for us; it was a staple in His life and ministry. Jesus didn’t go to the “quiet place” because He was an introvert who needed more "me time." He went there to pray (Luke 5:16).
Prayer means setting aside dedicated time to be with God, to become like Him, and to partner with Him in the world.
“I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things”
Mother Teresa
Week by Week
When the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray” in Luke 11, Jesus gave them a pre-made prayer, or what some call a liturgy, to pray to God. In various seasons of our lives when we’re exhausted, tired, traveling, grieving, doubting, or distracted, liturgies can carry us through and guide our prayers. As we learn the pragmatics of prayer, we’ll begin habituating and fine-tuning a daily prayer rhythm.
Practice: Create a daily prayer rhythm by deciding on a daily time and place to pray, and we pick out a pre-made prayer to talk to God.
As disciples of Jesus, we long to pray our own words and share what’s on our minds and hearts. In prayer, we bring our pain, hopes, joys, and fears to God in a personalized way. Gratitude, lament, and petition or intercession are all dimensions of talking with God that we can spend a lifetime exploring.
Practice: Fine-tune our daily prayer times with transitional aids and learn to use our bodies in prayer. Begin and/or end your days in gratitude and start asking through petition or intercession.
Prayer is not just when we talk but when we listen to hear his voice. As Jesus said in John 10v27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This is a Spirit-generated desire in the heart of a disciple of Jesus.
Practice: Practice Lectio Divina and a listening prayer.
There comes a point in our spiritual journey when prayer goes beyond words to simple loving presence, or what the ancient Christians called “union” with God. This type of prayer has come to be called “contemplation,” based on 2 Corinthians 3v18. To contemplate is to look, to gaze upon the beauty of God, receiving his love pouring out toward you in Christ and by the Spirit, and then giving your love back in return.
Practice: Begin your daily prayer rhythm with silence and a breath prayer.
Fasting involves abstaining from something good, like food, to strengthen our spiritual lives.
Fasting is a forgotten spiritual discipline for many followers of Jesus. What does a hungry belly have to do with spirituality?
Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days before facing temptations and beginning His ministry. His flesh was weakened, but His spiritual life was strong. By following His example, we too can strengthen our discipline. Fasting is new to many and can be hard, especially at first, but it gets easier. If you push through, you'll find a freedom and joy in God that surpasses even the pleasure of good food.
“Fasting reduces the power of self so that the Holy Spirit can do a more intense work within us.”
Bill Bright
