Prayer
Prayer is pursuit. A pure desire to grow closer and to dwell deeper.
A conversation made available by grace.
The intimacy of a friendship founded in faith.
No requirements, just an invitation to communion.
To communicate with the Creator.
To confide in the Comforter with confident assurance.
Where words fumble the Spirit humbles.
There is power in prayer because it is propelled by the all Powerful One. God simply wants us to talk with Him daily, moment by moment. He made communication with Him available through Jesus, who understands everything we struggle with and long for. He is at the right hand of God interceding for us. (Romans 8:34) The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us. (Romans 8:26-27) He knows the pains and tensions in our hearts and minds. God hears every word uttered and where words fall short, He sees our hearts. He knows us intimately. Prayer is the bridge He created for us to know Him intimately. There is no special formula or perfect words. Just bring Him your heart and hurts. Our pursuit of God is purified in prayer as we remember we aren’t in control and God holds the ultimate power and authority over everything.
Cry out to Him. He’s already listening and ready to respond with so much love and understanding.
Some foundational, daily prayers that I always want to be etched on my heart and taken form in every area of my life through faith:
1) Wholehearted
“Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart.
For consider what great things he has done for you. “
1 Samuel 12:24
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13
Prayer
God, align my heart to yours. May You always be first, ruler and redeemer of my heart. Mold it and move it until it beats like Yours. Speak truth to it. Strip away complacency and comfort. Make it whole and wholly Yours. Here I surrender all. I want You more than favor or a feeling. Your heart moved for me, move mine for You.
Amen.
2) Spirit Led
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
Romans 8:26
Prayer
Your Spirit is alive in me, Lord. Guide me in Your ways. Lead me with Your truth. Keep me alert to the stirring of Your Spirit inside of me. Embolden me to live by the Spirit, free from fleshly failings. Pour Your Spirit out, overflow in me.
Amen.
3)Surrender/ Thy will be done
“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you.
Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Mark 14:36
Prayer
Jesus, You surrendered all for me. You owed nothing, yet You paid the full cost, everything I did owe. You stood in my place. You gave Your life so I could have life with You again. I don’t deserve You or the life you offer, but You are worthy of every breath, every thought, every action. Help me to live with open hands, receiving in grace, releasing in faith. Let Your will be done in me and through me.
Amen.
4) Awake my soul
“And do this, understanding the present time:
the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
Romans 13:11
Prayer
God, may You be the sole captivator of my soul. Awaken me with Your love, move me by Your grace. Awake vision, revive dreams. Make me ever aware to Your presence and Your voice. Bring dead things to life. Restore lost souls. Revive hearts and stir minds to alignment with Your heart and mind.
Amen.
5)Purify me
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,
along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
2 Timothy 2:22
Prayer
Purify me with Your refining fire, God, until all that’s left is You. May my pursuit of You always be true and steady, just as is Your pursuit of me. Burn away any false fixations. Fix my gaze on You alone. Give me a pure passion and desire for You.
Amen.
6) Pace of grace
“But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
By this we may know that we are in him:
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
1 John 2:5-6
Prayer
God, may I never step outside Your stride. Keep me in step with you. Your ways are higher and far better than mine. I don’t want to rush ahead of you. I don’t want to fall behind in fear. I want to be with You. I want to walk beside You. You’ve already paved the way. Keep me at your pace, full of grace and wonder.
Amen.
7) Mustard seed of faith
“Again he said, “what shall we say the kingdom of God is like,
or what parable shall we use to describe it?
It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth.
Yet when planted it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants,
with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Mark 4:30-32
Prayer
God, You have planted Your Word in me and given me faith to believe it. Help me to keep sowing Your word in my heart and in the world. You’ve given the seeds, give me strength and obedience to steward and sow them faithfully. Help me to trust You for the growth and give me vision for the harvest.
Amen.
8)Rooted/ Remain/ Abide
“Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,
unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you,
unless you abide in me.”
John 15:4
Prayer
Root me deep in You God. I want to dwell richly in Your presence. I want to abide deeply in Your Spirit. Soften the soil of my heart. Strengthen and extend my roots to be sustained by the nutrients of Your Word. Satisfy my soul in You.
Amen.
9)Humble me
“He must become greater; I must become less.”
John 3:30
Prayer
Humble me God. Strip away pride, selfishness, and any desire that is not of You. I want more of You, less of me. May I only boast in You alone. May Your light and truth shine brighter than my longing for acceptance and acknowledgement. I am a vessel for Your glory. May everything I say and do point to You and reveal more of who You are.
Amen.
10) Sanctify me
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Prayer
God, make me more like Jesus. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Take away anything that is not pleasing to You. I want to behold You alone. I want to look more like You, less like this world. Help me to live set apart and in the freedom of the work You have already done.
Amen.
11) Bear fruit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23
Prayer
God, I want to bear the fruit of Your Spirit. Help me abide in your character as you shape mine. Help me to be patient in the process and entrust the progress to You. Help me not to strive for fruit without first being found in You.
Amen.
12) It is finished
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed. “
1 Peter 2:24
Prayer
God, help me to always look back at the cross in remembrance of the sacrifice you made in order to restore what was broken by my sin. May I always live in repentance of my sin while walking in the hope and freedom of Your redemption. The cross has the final word because You had the final word over death and darkness. You defied death and now so can I. May I always choose the death of my old self so that I may live fully in the life You give.
Amen.