Prayer

             Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (II Corinthians 5:17)

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Ephesians 6:18)

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (I Timothy 2:1-2)

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44)

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:28)

 

I’ve been thinking about prayer recently. One of the thoughts is that I get distracted. I know someone whose solution to this is to write her prayers.  It’s a good idea, but I tend to pray while walking my dog or doing other things, and this is when I get distracted. Before the election, my prayers tended to begin with the candidates. Then I worked my way closer and closer to home.

As I meditated, one of the things that came to mind was that I was praying in the wrong direction, with the wrong priorities. I rearranged things a little, and here’s my current list:

The Church as a whole and in the localities that come to mind. Pastors, elders, staff, and missionaries are included here.

Families are the next topic. We can pray for the strength of all families in our area or in other areas that are on our hearts, for strong marriages, wisdom with children, etc. This area includes our own families, of course.

Communities are next, including our neighbors, neighborhoods and people we know. Prayer for schools, businesses, and community centers would fit here.  

After communities, I branch into governments: township/city, county, state, and federal. I would include other nations in this category, praying over the situation in the Ukraine, in Israel, etc.

The next to last category is to pray for our enemies. This category may end up being addressed as I work my way through the others because the people with whom we are having difficulties are natural directions for our thoughts to go as we consider the others, but if not, we should keep in mind that we are commanded to pray for our enemies, and to love them.

And after all these others, then I return to myself as the topic with those requests that don’t involve me with the other categories.

I’m not saying this is how you should pray. It just seems to me to put the emphasis in the right places and helps me build and maintain a prayer habit. Feel free to make suggestions.