The first pairing--FREE and FORMED--needs more detail than what I put on there.
Because of how I'm wired, I think I'm more likely to respond to the FORMED prayers. I can use a list, I can follow a plan when it is laid out for me. I'm not as comfortable with pre-written prayers, but they too help me. As an example, I have used a small and mighty book over the years, 31 Days of Praise to train me to praise God for all things.
God used this book to train me to see His hand in ALL things. I highly recommend it.
Given that I want to use helps to pray--lists and books and schedules, I am also prone to being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of what I was want to pray for. Then, of course, I would feel defeated for not getting to it all. Satan used this against me to whisper lies of failure and defeat.
My prayer life had become mechanical, when I prayed, and a source of pride when I actually could get to things. Either way, I was not nurturing my relationship with God.
Then I heard Paul Miller speak and consequently bought his book, A Praying Life.
His insight into prayer has set me on my current trajectory of prayer as the way we know and are known by God. Yes, he knows us, but He also wants us to take all things to Him.
Miller challenged me to be real with God--to take all things to Him, to trust Him, to ask for BIG and BOLD things. This helped me understand the FREE prayers--the real conversation I can have with God as I talk to Him about everything, anywhere, anytime.
Now, I am moving back to a balance and have been feeling the conviction to plan when, where, and what I pray.
I want to prepare my closet for that alone time I know I need.
I also want to prepare a schedule so that I can systematically pray for my pastor, the staff and elders at my church, for my teaching leader and other leaders at Bible study, for missionaries and people groups who have yet to hear of Jesus. I pray for those I shepherd, but I need to pray specific things for them: soft hearts and teachable spirits, hunger for God, passion for His Word, vibrant relationship with Jesus.
And of course, I need to set an appointment with myself so that it happens. It is true what is said, that we are too busy not to pray.
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