prayer 101 (who to pray for, what to pray, ways to pray)
Hey, kingdom-builder.
One thing that is super important for connecting with God, giving Him glory, and building His kingdom is prayer. It's absolutely pivotal that we are praying bold prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ, for our ministries, and for the world, because prayer carries SO MUCH POWER.
And that's probably why prayer is so hard for so many of us.
I don't know about you, but prayer is hard for me. It's so hard to set aside time to pray, know what to pray, know who to pray for, and even how to pray. I'm a Type A person and I pretty much need a system for prayer in order to stay on top of it. Oopsy.
So, if you're like me, if you want to pray effectively and build God's kingdom, this post is for you.
Things/people that you can pray for:
Your family
Your friends
Government
Nation
Unbelievers
Orphans
Believers worldwide
Your enemies
Persecuted Christians
Your church
Your ministry (Ex: your school, job, blog, social media, etc.)
Things to pray:
that God's Will will be done in their lives
that they will love God with all of their hearts, souls, and minds
that they will love others as themselves
that they will not have a love for the world
that they will rejoice in God
that they will think of others above themselves
that they will guard their hearts and minds
that they will have a thirst for righteousness
that they will have a 1 Corinthians love
that they will listen to Jesus’ voice and follow Him
that the Spirit will convict them of sin
that they will respond to the Spirit’s conviction
that they will receive God’s message
that they will soften their hearts to God
that they will be sensitive to sin
that they will have the boldness to proclaim the Gospel
that they will confess their sins and turn to God
that they will bear the fruit of the Spirit
that they will be clothed with the Spirit’s armor
that they will have grateful hearts and lips
that they will flee temptation
that they will surrender and give themselves to God
that they will renew their mind with the Word
that they will love the Word
that they will go to God first with all of their worries
that they will think things that honor God
that they will be deep prayer warriors
that they will be radically alive for God
that they will defend those who cannot defend themselves
that they will be strong and gentle leaders
that they will silence lies with Truth
that they will be unashamed of the Gospel
that they will be forgivers
that they will walk in unity with others
that they will find peace in Jesus
that they will talk about God wherever they go
that they will put God first in their lives
that they will not place their identity in anything but God
that God's strength will be shown in their weakness
that they will be slow to anger
that they will be slow to speak
that they will be listeners
that they will have humble hearts
that God will open their eyes to the Truth
that they will show the love of Christ to all
that God will grow their faith
that they will do mighty things for God's kingdom
that they will fix their eyes on Jesus
that they will put their hope in Heaven
that they will live by grace, not works
that God will use them for His glory
that they will deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him
that they will pursue God's heart
that they will live for Christ
that they will boldly go wherever God calls them
that they will seek to know, love, and serve God
that they will be obedient to all that God calls them to
that they will be a light in a world of darkness
that they will show others the love of Christ
that they will build God's kingdom
If you're like me and have no idea how to set up a doable prayer strategy, here are a few ideas:
Prayer journals are fantastic! I like to keep my prayers in a journal with my bible study notes, sermon notes, poetry, quotes, etc. But there are so many ideas that you can find on Pinterest if you don't like that idea. I personally like this strategy because it gets my mind focused on God and it's a way to cast my burdens on God. I can also look back and see God working!
Stick them on your wall. Keep a list of things/people to pray for on sticky notes or pieces of paper and different prayers that you want to pray over them, and tape them on your wall. I use this strategy, and it has helped me soooo much! When I'm having my quiet time, all I have to do is just look over and see the prayers. You can also put them on your mirror so you can pray while you're getting ready in the morning!
Flashcards. Separate the things you pray for over the course of a week, write them on flashcards, and stick them on a claspy-ring thing. This is a way to make sure you pray for everything but also save time. I just started using this idea, and I like it. I also wrote a few prayers on flashcards so that I never run out of words, and I put a few bible verses on it. I got this idea from Allison at Simply Loving Jesus, where she posted her DIY here.
Prayer Mate is a free app that I just started using, and I looooveee it. It allows you to pick promises and bible verses to pray over certain people, create lists and categories, write prayers, and organize them by day! I'm still getting the hang of it, but I already know that it's going to up my prayer game.
Pray scripture. When you read your Bible and see a pray-able scripture, pray it! Psalms is a great place to start.
Doodle while you pray. I'm not much of a doodler, but I've heard great things about this technique! You can learn more about it here and here.
Set an alarm or reminder to go off everyday at a certain time to remind you to pray. You can set a couple different ones at different times to pray for different things. (Ignore the fact that I used the word "different" way too much in that sentence.)
Now, go out and build the kingdom, prayer warrior!
