Prayer covers the whole of a man’s life. There is no thought, feeling, yearning, or desire, however low, trifling, or vulgar we may deem it, which, if it affects our interest or happiness, we may not lay before God and be sure of sympathy. His nature is such that our often coming does not tire Him. The whole burden of the whole life of every man may be rolled on to God and not weary Him, though it has wearied the man.
Henry Ward Beecher
Begin with Adoration
This week we are going to reach back to part of a hymn first published in 1695 by Anglican Bishop Thomas Ken. These four lines are some of the most treasured and sung in the history of the Church. We know it as the Doxology.
We want to encourage you to read, and sing—yes, sing—the Doxology as your prayer of adoration! You may want to sing it a few times. If you would like, sing along by clicking the play button below. Praise God…for all His blessings.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.The Doxology, by Thomas Ken
Continue with Confession
This week, let’s allow sections of David’s Psalm 32 guide us in confession…
Psalm 32
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
As the Spirit brings any sin to mind, confess it as sin and turn from it (repent). Thank God that He forgives our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Now offer words of Thanksgiving
Today is October 31st. Start now and begin writing down things that you are thankful for, and before you go to sleep tonight, see if your list can get to 31 things for which you are grateful…
Conclude with Supplication
God is not wearied by our asking or our requests. He invites us to make our needs known. It is not because we deserve His answer to our prayers; we don’t. We come because He invites us to come, and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God invites us to come confidently.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Closely related to supplication is intercession, a word that simply means “to pray for someone else.” Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:1,
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men…
1 Timothy 2:1
When we come to our times of supplication, we are going to include our prayers of intercession. In other words, we are not just making our own needs known to God, but we are making the needs of others known, and asking God to act on their behalf.
Along those lines, let’s begin our times of supplication and intercession each day by praying for those we know who do not know Christ. As Rob Sweet taught us in his message on Acts 4:1-22
