Do you need some ideas to direct your prayer time on those snowy and wintery days so typical of January? Find a comfortable chair, grab your favorite hot beverage, slip on a warm sweater, and have a Personal Prayer Retreat!
- Read a short book from the Bible: Mark, Ephesians, Philippians or 1 John. Talk to the Lord about what you are reading as you go. Share with Him what you feel when you read His words. Confess any sins He reveals. Let Him know what encourages, challenges, confuses, or stresses you as you hear His heart through this portion of Scripture.
- Play a worship CD and sing your worship to God.
- Pray some of the great prayers of all time. You might start with the Psalms or John 17. Use Google to look at Great Prayers or Famous Prayers. If you find you can’t pray parts of the prayer, sincerely stop, and talk to God about it. Ask Him to search your heart, to show you why it’s difficult for you to pray the part in question.
- Ask the Lord to refresh you spiritually and physically. Prayerfully select Scripture from the following: Ps 23:2-3, 62:1-5, 91:1, Prov. 11:25, Is 30:15, Mt 11:28-29, Acts 3:19, Heb 4:1-11. Sit and meditate on the verses, letting each word or phrase soak in. Ask God’s Spirit to let you see and experience all He has for you from these Scriptures.
- Bring a specific burden to the Lord and ask Him for wisdom, comfort, perspective, direction, correction, or help with it. Tell Him exactly how you feel, even if you feel angry, discouraged, confused, or skeptical. Invite Him to speak to you about your concern. Take time with this. Heart-to-heart conversations are not to be hurried.
- Spend time in intercession for those whom you have committed to pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to pray for them. He may lead you to intercede for their spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, or relational lives. Linger over the things God shows you to pray about and that seem especially significant.
- Ask God what He would like to talk to you about, and then just listen. Let Him pick the topic for a change. Write down what you believe He is saying so that you can reflect on it and respond to it.
- Make notes or journal about what was most significant or enjoyable about what you and God have shared together. Keep these notes to reflect upon in the future.1
If you follow all or some of these steps, you will find that the prayer concerns we normally mention here have been included in your prayers.
Have a happy, prayerful, and blessed 2023.
Larry Condra
Prayer Warrior
1Cynthia Bezek, “Ideas for Your Personal Prayer Retreat”, Pray!, Jan/Feb 2007, p. 32.