Pray About Your Praying
Have you ever found yourself in this awkward position—someone comes up to you and says, “Thank you so much for praying about . . .,” when the reality is that you meant to pray, but forgot? Then there’s the awareness of needed spiritual growth in your life and in the lives of those whom you love, coupled with the realization that you can’t make that spiritual growth happen. God used those events and others to bring me to the conclusion that I needed help in my prayer life, which led me to see the need to pray about my praying. The Lord is so gracious to hear the cry of our hearts!
As I continued to pray, God opened an opportunity to do a workshop on prayer at a retreat. I developed a prayer sheet based on that workshop that would revolutionize my prayer life, and in turn, the lives of those with whom I shared this tool. The Lord answered the prayer of my heart by bringing me to think more clearly about two things: The glory of God and the value of order. I learned from God’s Word that the glory of God is His ultimate goal for my prayers. And I discovered the importance of an organized method that encourages consistency and focus. Praying about my praying caused me to look for a way to order my praying so that my focus was on His glory.
Here’s an example of what I mean:
As an employee, I might pray,“Lord, please let them pass over me when the layoffs come.” Seeking God’s glory as my ultimate goal, I would pray a little further, “Lord, empower me to have a good work ethic. Build me up in my holy faith; help me to maintain a testimony so others know that I really believe You are in control.” That can be written out or broken down on a prayer list and might look something like this: person’s name: layoffs / work ethic / testimony of faith.
Sounds good, but how do you remember to pray that way? And what about the overwhelming list of prayer requests? Here are some practical ways I have found to overcome these challenges:
• Use a 5½″ x 8½″ three-ring binder and page protectors to set up categories and lists. The page protectors allow me to easily change and update my lists. And I’ve found that making lists is helpful! They provide a tool by which the Holy Spirit can train me to pray with my focus on God’s glory until it becomes a habit.
• In response to that overwhelming list of prayer requests, I pray for some things on a weekly and monthly basis. With others, I work down a list using a small Post-it® note, praying daily as time permits. The next day I pick up where I left off.
• I keep up on short-term requests by using business cards, which I make from cardstock. There are business-card page protectors designed to hold eight different cards—or, in my case, eight requests. I date the corner of each card for reference.
Yes, praying this way takes thought and time. It challenges you to think through your praying. That’s why you begin with praying about your praying. In doing that, you are acknowledging your dependency on the Holy Spirit to guide and teach you. The process of breaking down your ever-growing prayer list to manageable daily, weekly, and monthly bites allows you to concentrate and be consistent. I am still learning to pray based on God’s Word with my focus on God’s glory and eternal purpose—and so it should be.
*Adapted from an article originally published in the January/February 2018 FrontLine magazine. Used here by permission.
