Every Christian knows that prayer is an essential part of the Christian life. Prayer is our part in the communication with God. God speaks to us through His Word – the Bible. That is why it is so important to read His Word consistently.
But when it comes to prayer, many Christians have difficulty with prayer. Many will rush through their prayers or not know what to pray for. Many find themselves praying the same prayer every day – if that. Many people lose concentration while praying very easily. Their minds will stray to other things very quickly.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to watch and pray with Him while He was agonizing about what the next day would bring. Three times, Jesus came back to the small group only to find them asleep. He said, “Could you not tarry with me for one hour?” He was asking them if they could not even pray for one hour without falling asleep.
Trying to pray for one hour may seem like a daunting process for many people who have trouble with prayer. But Jesus told us exactly how we ought to pray – and how we ought not to pray.
He said, “Don’t pray like the Pharisees do, with vain repetition or with many words, for they think that by their many words they will be heard by their Father in Heaven.”
Jesus’ disciples then asked Him how to pray and Jesus responded, “When you pray, pray this way,” and then He laid out for them a model for the perfect prayer. We call that prayer “The Lord’s Prayer”, but I believe that is a misnomer. The Lord’s prayer is what He prayed as recorded in John’s Gospel, Chapter 17, where He prayed for His disciples and all who would believe because of their witness.
I have heard many ‘formulas’ for effective prayer. Some say we should pray through the Tabernacle of Israel; some say we should pray the ‘5 points of prayer’; and I’ve heard and read many others as well. But as far as I am concerned, when Jesus Himself says, “When you pray, pray this way,” – that’s good enough for me. I think Jesus gave us the perfect prayer model.
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.”
We can pray this prayer, as many churches do, in vain repetition, or we can pray it thoughtfully and consider each section independently and pray through each expansively.
When I pray, I pray something like this:
I. Our Father Who art in Heaven
I dwell on the fact that God is a Father to us. He is not an unapproachable Supreme Being, but rather a loving, caring Father. I spend a little time praising Him for that and I acknowledge His great power and glory. I consider the fact that He created the earth, moon and sun; all of the stars in our galaxy and all of the galaxies in the universe. The Bible says that He holds all of that in the palm of His hand. Wow!! Then I consider that He created all the mountains, oceans, animals and all living things – including man, which He gave a spirit nature. He created all of our organs and biological systems, which are mysterious – even down to the atom. Our Father is awesome.
II. Hallowed be Thy name
The Bible gives us many names for God and each one of them tells us a little about God’s nature, so I reflect on the names of God.
a. Jehovah Tsidkenu – “God our Righteousness”. Apart from God, I have no righteousness within me. “our righteousness is but filthy rags,” the Bible tells us. I thank God that I am made righteous through Christ Jesus – Praise His name.
b. Jehovah M’kaddesh – “God who sanctifies”. To be sanctified means to be set apart for God. I pray that God will set me apart (sanctify me) for His purposes. That He will anoint me to do His will.
c. Jehovah Shalom – “God is our Peace”. Here I pray that God will give me His peace in my spirit and my life. Life is too crazy these days for us to even try to live a joyful life without God’s peace within us. I have memorized Phil 4:607 which reads, “Be anxious for nothing, but with prayer and supplication(asking) – with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God, and the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
d. Jehovah Shammah – “God who is here”. I thank God for being here beside me. Jesus said “ I will never leave you nor forsake you:. Praise the Lord for that.
e. Jehovah Rophe – “God is our healer”. I praise the Lord for His healing power. He is the Great Physician and has the power to heal as He so chooses. I pray for healing every day.
f. Jehovah Jireh – “God is our provider”. Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so says the Bible. He has no shortage in the Bank of Heaven. God will always be faithful to provide for us, if we ask Him. James wrote, “you have not because you ask not.” I ask God to provide for us every day.
g. Jehovah Nissi – “God is our banner”. I am proud to walk under the Banner of the Lord. I also ask Him to be sheltered under the shadow of His wings – to cover me and my family.
h. Jehovah Rohi – “The Lord is our Shepherd”. Here I recited the 23rd psalm. If you don’t know it – memorize it as it will always be a blessing to you. I ask the Lord to lead me and my family by those still waters and protect us from our enemies.
i. Here I can also contemplate on the names of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. “The Alpha and the Omega – Beginning and end”, Prince of Peace”, “Bread of life”, The Comforter”, “The teacher”, etc., etc..
III. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
a. Here I pray that God’s will may be done, and His Kingdom may come in and through my life and that of my wife. After all, we are One in the Lord.
b. Then I pray the same thing for each one of my children and my grandchildren – individually by name. For me, that takes a little while.
c. Then I pray for my extended family that come to my heart – my brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles or cousins, as the case may be.
d. Then I pray for our church and the leadership in particular. I mention each person that I can think of by name. This takes a while also, unless you may be new to the church
e. I then pray for our government, beginning with our President and all his advisors. I pray for the Senate and the Congress, the Supreme Court and all the Federal circuit courts and courts of appeals. I pray for our State government, beginning with our Governor, the State Senate and Assembly, the State court justices and district and appeals court justices; I pray for our local Towns, particularly the one I live in – for the Selectmen and all the town workers.
f. I pray for Israel. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem and I ask God to bless the leadership in Israel and have them come to know their true Messiah. I pray the same for the people of Israel – and I pray for all the missionaries to the Jews.
g. I pray for the Muslim world – and I pray that many will come to know Jesus as their Savior. I pray for all the missionaries that are in the Muslim world – they are in very grave danger.
h. I can pray for God’s will in Japan, Lydia or any number of other people or areas that may be on my heart.
IV. Give us this day our daily bread.
a. I ask the Lord to provide our daily “manna” for the day from His Word. The Bible is the food for our spirit and it is necessary for a healthy spiritual life..
b. I ask the Lord to provide for our daily sustenance’s – our life materials. This means money for most people. Jesus told us to ask every day – not once a week or once a month when the bills were due. Just today, I had an expense of $240.00 and I received an anonymous check for $250.00. That’s how God works – when we ask Him daily.
V. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
a. Now, after all that other prayer, it is time to ask the Lord to forgive me of all my sins. We are all sinners and need regular forgiveness. Even though all our sins were bought and paid for on the cross, our Lord told us to continually ask His forgiveness. It regularly reminds us that, though forgiven, we are still sinners.
b. I also try to think of anyone who may have offended me. We like to hold grudges. I ask God for the help in forgiving anyone who has sinned against me or offended me in any way
c. Finally, I ask the Lord to remind me if I may have offended anyone – even if I may not have realized it at the time. I need to seek that brother or sister’s forgiveness as well.
VI. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
a. Now this is a significant portion of the prayer, not that they are not all significant. I ask the Lord to keep me away from anything that might tempt me to sin. Especially my eyes. The Bible says that the root of sin is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. I pray that God will shield me from these areas throughout the day.
b. I also pray that the Lord will deliver me from the evil one and his demons. I believe in angels, and I ask the Lord to station a mighty angel beside me and my wife throughout the day. I also pray that God will station mighty warriors – with flaming swords – on the four corners of my property and one above and one below – to keep the evil one at bay. I also pray for the same protection for my children, my grandchildren and their homes.
c. Then I put on my spiritual clothing (armor). This may sound silly, but I remember from my kindergarten class that my teacher was showing us kids how to get dressed properly. For some reason, she told us to start at the bottom with our socks. So, when I put on the “whole armor of God” as found in Ephesians 6:I0 don’t necessarily follow the order found in the Scripture. I shod my feet with preparation of the Gospel of peace (witnessing tool). Then I put on the belt of truth, followed by the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. You’ll notice it is ‘bottoms up’. Then I ask for the shield of faith which extinguishes the fiery darts of the enemy and finally the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This is our only offensive weapon. The only part that is exposed is our back – since we should never run from the enemy, but always be in an offensive battle position. The Lord promises in a scripture in Isaiah that I can’t remember to be our “rear guard”. Now I am fully prepared to meet the challenges of the day ahead.
VII. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.
a. Now I return to praising the Lord and giving Him all the glory. He is a mighty God and the only true God. There is no other. He is the Master and creator of all things and is worthy of our praise. I praise Jesus for coming and dying for my sins – for making me clean before the Father. I praise the Holy Spirit for coming into my heart and teaching God’s truth; for leading me in the pathways of the Lord – for being the Light in this dark world.
By this time, my prayer has gone for a long time – and I have covered almost everything I could ever think of to pray for. The most important thing is – when my mind strays during my prayer time, I can pick up my prayer at where I left off and not miss a beat. This keeps me on a steady course for my prayer time – a most difficult thing during these busy times.
You can take this outline and modify it according to your own special circumstances, but keep the foundation that which the Lord Jesus gave us in the prayer itself. Use it as an outline as I have described above and you will never lack for something to pray for. And you will have the comforting knowledge that you are praying according to God’s will.
I hope this has been of some help to you. Many years ago it revolutionized my own prayer life. I have shared this before several times during sermons and some people have adhered to it. I would imagine that many who did not may still have problems praying for any length of time. If you can’t pray this all at once due to time constraints, you can break it up and pick it up where you left off as soon as you can.
May the Lord continue to bless you as you seek Him and desire to speak to Him regularly.
God bless,
Pastor Tony Marinelli
But when it comes to prayer, many Christians have difficulty with prayer. Many will rush through their prayers or not know what to pray for. Many find themselves praying the same prayer every day – if that. Many people lose concentration while praying very easily. Their minds will stray to other things very quickly.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to watch and pray with Him while He was agonizing about what the next day would bring. Three times, Jesus came back to the small group only to find them asleep. He said, “Could you not tarry with me for one hour?” He was asking them if they could not even pray for one hour without falling asleep.
Trying to pray for one hour may seem like a daunting process for many people who have trouble with prayer. But Jesus told us exactly how we ought to pray – and how we ought not to pray.
He said, “Don’t pray like the Pharisees do, with vain repetition or with many words, for they think that by their many words they will be heard by their Father in Heaven.”
Jesus’ disciples then asked Him how to pray and Jesus responded, “When you pray, pray this way,” and then He laid out for them a model for the perfect prayer. We call that prayer “The Lord’s Prayer”, but I believe that is a misnomer. The Lord’s prayer is what He prayed as recorded in John’s Gospel, Chapter 17, where He prayed for His disciples and all who would believe because of their witness.
I have heard many ‘formulas’ for effective prayer. Some say we should pray through the Tabernacle of Israel; some say we should pray the ‘5 points of prayer’; and I’ve heard and read many others as well. But as far as I am concerned, when Jesus Himself says, “When you pray, pray this way,” – that’s good enough for me. I think Jesus gave us the perfect prayer model.
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.”
We can pray this prayer, as many churches do, in vain repetition, or we can pray it thoughtfully and consider each section independently and pray through each expansively.
When I pray, I pray something like this:
I. Our Father Who art in Heaven
I dwell on the fact that God is a Father to us. He is not an unapproachable Supreme Being, but rather a loving, caring Father. I spend a little time praising Him for that and I acknowledge His great power and glory. I consider the fact that He created the earth, moon and sun; all of the stars in our galaxy and all of the galaxies in the universe. The Bible says that He holds all of that in the palm of His hand. Wow!! Then I consider that He created all the mountains, oceans, animals and all living things – including man, which He gave a spirit nature. He created all of our organs and biological systems, which are mysterious – even down to the atom. Our Father is awesome.
II. Hallowed be Thy name
The Bible gives us many names for God and each one of them tells us a little about God’s nature, so I reflect on the names of God.
a. Jehovah Tsidkenu – “God our Righteousness”. Apart from God, I have no righteousness within me. “our righteousness is but filthy rags,” the Bible tells us. I thank God that I am made righteous through Christ Jesus – Praise His name.
b. Jehovah M’kaddesh – “God who sanctifies”. To be sanctified means to be set apart for God. I pray that God will set me apart (sanctify me) for His purposes. That He will anoint me to do His will.
c. Jehovah Shalom – “God is our Peace”. Here I pray that God will give me His peace in my spirit and my life. Life is too crazy these days for us to even try to live a joyful life without God’s peace within us. I have memorized Phil 4:607 which reads, “Be anxious for nothing, but with prayer and supplication(asking) – with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God, and the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
d. Jehovah Shammah – “God who is here”. I thank God for being here beside me. Jesus said “ I will never leave you nor forsake you:. Praise the Lord for that.
e. Jehovah Rophe – “God is our healer”. I praise the Lord for His healing power. He is the Great Physician and has the power to heal as He so chooses. I pray for healing every day.
f. Jehovah Jireh – “God is our provider”. Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so says the Bible. He has no shortage in the Bank of Heaven. God will always be faithful to provide for us, if we ask Him. James wrote, “you have not because you ask not.” I ask God to provide for us every day.
g. Jehovah Nissi – “God is our banner”. I am proud to walk under the Banner of the Lord. I also ask Him to be sheltered under the shadow of His wings – to cover me and my family.
h. Jehovah Rohi – “The Lord is our Shepherd”. Here I recited the 23rd psalm. If you don’t know it – memorize it as it will always be a blessing to you. I ask the Lord to lead me and my family by those still waters and protect us from our enemies.
i. Here I can also contemplate on the names of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. “The Alpha and the Omega – Beginning and end”, Prince of Peace”, “Bread of life”, The Comforter”, “The teacher”, etc., etc..
III. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
a. Here I pray that God’s will may be done, and His Kingdom may come in and through my life and that of my wife. After all, we are One in the Lord.
b. Then I pray the same thing for each one of my children and my grandchildren – individually by name. For me, that takes a little while.
c. Then I pray for my extended family that come to my heart – my brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles or cousins, as the case may be.
d. Then I pray for our church and the leadership in particular. I mention each person that I can think of by name. This takes a while also, unless you may be new to the church
e. I then pray for our government, beginning with our President and all his advisors. I pray for the Senate and the Congress, the Supreme Court and all the Federal circuit courts and courts of appeals. I pray for our State government, beginning with our Governor, the State Senate and Assembly, the State court justices and district and appeals court justices; I pray for our local Towns, particularly the one I live in – for the Selectmen and all the town workers.
f. I pray for Israel. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem and I ask God to bless the leadership in Israel and have them come to know their true Messiah. I pray the same for the people of Israel – and I pray for all the missionaries to the Jews.
g. I pray for the Muslim world – and I pray that many will come to know Jesus as their Savior. I pray for all the missionaries that are in the Muslim world – they are in very grave danger.
h. I can pray for God’s will in Japan, Lydia or any number of other people or areas that may be on my heart.
IV. Give us this day our daily bread.
a. I ask the Lord to provide our daily “manna” for the day from His Word. The Bible is the food for our spirit and it is necessary for a healthy spiritual life..
b. I ask the Lord to provide for our daily sustenance’s – our life materials. This means money for most people. Jesus told us to ask every day – not once a week or once a month when the bills were due. Just today, I had an expense of $240.00 and I received an anonymous check for $250.00. That’s how God works – when we ask Him daily.
V. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
a. Now, after all that other prayer, it is time to ask the Lord to forgive me of all my sins. We are all sinners and need regular forgiveness. Even though all our sins were bought and paid for on the cross, our Lord told us to continually ask His forgiveness. It regularly reminds us that, though forgiven, we are still sinners.
b. I also try to think of anyone who may have offended me. We like to hold grudges. I ask God for the help in forgiving anyone who has sinned against me or offended me in any way
c. Finally, I ask the Lord to remind me if I may have offended anyone – even if I may not have realized it at the time. I need to seek that brother or sister’s forgiveness as well.
VI. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
a. Now this is a significant portion of the prayer, not that they are not all significant. I ask the Lord to keep me away from anything that might tempt me to sin. Especially my eyes. The Bible says that the root of sin is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. I pray that God will shield me from these areas throughout the day.
b. I also pray that the Lord will deliver me from the evil one and his demons. I believe in angels, and I ask the Lord to station a mighty angel beside me and my wife throughout the day. I also pray that God will station mighty warriors – with flaming swords – on the four corners of my property and one above and one below – to keep the evil one at bay. I also pray for the same protection for my children, my grandchildren and their homes.
c. Then I put on my spiritual clothing (armor). This may sound silly, but I remember from my kindergarten class that my teacher was showing us kids how to get dressed properly. For some reason, she told us to start at the bottom with our socks. So, when I put on the “whole armor of God” as found in Ephesians 6:I0 don’t necessarily follow the order found in the Scripture. I shod my feet with preparation of the Gospel of peace (witnessing tool). Then I put on the belt of truth, followed by the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. You’ll notice it is ‘bottoms up’. Then I ask for the shield of faith which extinguishes the fiery darts of the enemy and finally the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This is our only offensive weapon. The only part that is exposed is our back – since we should never run from the enemy, but always be in an offensive battle position. The Lord promises in a scripture in Isaiah that I can’t remember to be our “rear guard”. Now I am fully prepared to meet the challenges of the day ahead.
VII. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever.
a. Now I return to praising the Lord and giving Him all the glory. He is a mighty God and the only true God. There is no other. He is the Master and creator of all things and is worthy of our praise. I praise Jesus for coming and dying for my sins – for making me clean before the Father. I praise the Holy Spirit for coming into my heart and teaching God’s truth; for leading me in the pathways of the Lord – for being the Light in this dark world.
By this time, my prayer has gone for a long time – and I have covered almost everything I could ever think of to pray for. The most important thing is – when my mind strays during my prayer time, I can pick up my prayer at where I left off and not miss a beat. This keeps me on a steady course for my prayer time – a most difficult thing during these busy times.
You can take this outline and modify it according to your own special circumstances, but keep the foundation that which the Lord Jesus gave us in the prayer itself. Use it as an outline as I have described above and you will never lack for something to pray for. And you will have the comforting knowledge that you are praying according to God’s will.
I hope this has been of some help to you. Many years ago it revolutionized my own prayer life. I have shared this before several times during sermons and some people have adhered to it. I would imagine that many who did not may still have problems praying for any length of time. If you can’t pray this all at once due to time constraints, you can break it up and pick it up where you left off as soon as you can.
May the Lord continue to bless you as you seek Him and desire to speak to Him regularly.
God bless,
Pastor Tony Marinelli