TEN Ways to Pray

I think it's about time to get into the mechanics of prayer.  And for this I will share what I learned from one of my favorite teachers: John Piper.  This post is a re-telling of one of his sermons.

He used the word FADES to explain HOW we pray.  It has helped me greatly as a sort of "checklist" when I evaluate how I'm doing in my pursuit of a rich and vibrant prayer life.

For each letter, there is a pair of words that describe how we pray.  We do both, not just one or true devotion to prayer is not sustainable.

FREE and FORMED

• Prayers are FREE in that they are a natural, free-style conversation that we are having with God.  Whatever pops into our head, we talk to Him about it.  Like conversation, we don't need a script when we talk to the one we love.

• Prayers are FORMED when we follow a prescribed format.  We either pray scripture, or we use a list, or a calendar.  We are systematic in what we pray. This type of prayer is disciplined and helps us truly intercede and move beyond ourselves.  (We'll talk about some forms later.)

ALONE and ASSEMBLED

• The idea of having a prayer closet, a "secret place."  A private place where we meet with God ALONE.  We need to have this in order to build our prayer life, to spend time with Him, to be real and vulnerable.

• We pray ASSEMBLED with other believers.  Where two or more are gathered, He is there.  We pray to build community and carry one another's burdens.

DESPERATE and DELIGHTED

• If you know God and you are despairing about something, prayer is quite instinctual.  We cry out when we are hurting, when we are DESPERATE. God wants us to cast all of our concerns onto Him, He cares for us.

• God also wants to hear from us when we are enjoying life and the blessings He has given us.  I think that this is where our gratitude shows up.  It honors God that we recognize that He is the giver of good gifts.  When we are DELIGHTED, we give Him the glory!

EXPLOSIVE and EXTENDED

• Like an explosive, this is referring to the length of our prayers.  We can send up EXPLOSIVE prayers when the situation calls for "arrow prayers."  I also like to call this "popcorn" prayer when we are assembled in a group, praying over a situation:  short prayers popping up from all over the room.  I think too, these are by nature very specific.

• Extended prayers are then longer prayers that take the time to develop and really focus on the topic of what is being lifted up in prayer.  These EXTENDED prayers cause us to truly invest in whatever we're praying.  These are the things our hearts invest in.

SPONTANEOUS and SCHEDULED

• This refers to WHEN we pray.  A SPONTANEOUS prayer goes up as the moment calls for it.  Think of the time you hear an ambulance going by, or a kid is hurt on the football field.  You see a need and you take it to the Father.

• SCHEDULED prayer time is when we have a plan for going to God and spending time with Him.  We cannot develop our relationship with Him if we do not have intentional time that we set aside for Him.

For each of these pairs, we need to be praying in both ways to truly develop and nurture our relationship with God in prayer.  If we do one and not the other, we will not be able to fully enjoy the amazing privilege of prayer.

Click here for index of all #write31days posts in this PRAYER series.