(This is day nineteen of the Rediscovering the Christmas Season Advent Study that can be found here. You don’t have to start at the beginning. In fact, you can jump in any time or go in any order. Care to join?)
Read Luke 11: 1-13.
Use the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern to write a prayer that has some of those same ideas in it. Father God, I stand in awe of how holy you are. Even when it seems like the world is falling apart, like Daniel said, “There is a God in heaven.” Nothing is ever going to change that. Your power will never dim. You will never leave us. You will always be right there, in charge, and loving us. How amazing is that? That you are the King on the throne, yet you bend down to reach us? That blows my mind. The more I look at the world, the more I want you to come soon. Not just because there is such craziness here, but because I long to see you face to face. I just want to be with you with nothing between us. That’s going to be amazing! Please provide what I need to get through this day Your way, serving where I need to serve. You know how I need new eyes and a new heart for that. And please help me to forgive and to love. Please forgive me for not doing what I should do, for going so fast that I miss what I need to see. Be glorified in me today. Guide me to love you and to serve others today. Help me to be selfless. In the name of Jesus… Amen.
What parts of Jesus’ prayer pattern do you leave out the most when you pray? How was writing prayer different from saying it? I often write my prayers, because I’m a better writer. It is more focused. It gives me more ability to say what I’m thinking, to consider my words and not just throw them up in the sky like I can do sometimes. It’s intimate to write something, and I feel like I’m more connected when I do. I often gloss over asking for forgiveness, like I can come back to it later. Oh man… How dangerous is that?
Read your prayer out loud. Ask someone you trust to pray it with you.
Discuss a time in your life where God answered an important prayer. Just one time? Every single time he brought my husband back to me safely from a warzone. We were just talking about that last night, how much our prayers and the prayers of others made a difference when he was deployed, all of the ways God protected Him. There are ways I won’t know on this side of heaven, but I know God did. And I see it in my husband.
-JB
Dawn Lucowitz says
1. I loved Jodie’s written prayer, but that is not surprising since I love everything she writes! I am not going to write my prayer here, but will absolutely do that tonight in my new prayer book.
2. I don’t give enough adoration to God. I mean, I know we can never give Him enough, but I really fall short at it. I am horrible at praying most of the time. My thoughts don’t stay focused and I jump around a ton. I usually get a lot out, but in no very clear or focused way. Thankfully, God knows what I mean and everything eventually gets in. I like writing prayer down because it keeps me on target. I can focus and really say what I want to say. My cousin just sent me a prayer binder and a nice engraved reflections pen for Christmas. I am excited because prayer is something I know I need to focus more on and I need to be more organized in it. This binder and pen will be an awesome way to really help me to focus. I like writing prayer down because it is so cool to come back to it later and see where God really moved! I am also excited to be able to get more into a routine of prayer. I like the idea of praying about specific things on specific days. I am excited to get organized and focused and will absolutely report back on how this goes over the next several months!
3. He has answered so many! The one I want to share is when I was really beginning to pray. It was the during the time right before I moved from Fort Drum to Fort Campbell and was really the beginning of my spiritual journey. I spent a lot of time praying over our move, but I spent more time praying over the friends I would make and the people I would encounter. I was leaving an amazing friend who really got me started on my walk with God. She was a rock for me and helped me to grow and stay focused. I would still have her to talk to but she wouldn’t be right there with me. Shortly after arriving to Fort Campbell I would be blessed with the most amazing new friends. Women were put in my life that helped me grow in my walk, grow as a person, grow as a wife, and so many other things. They helped to push and challenge me and each new friendship came in God’s perfect timing. It was like he would put one friend in my path for a specific reason, they would help me grow and expand, and then he’d hit me with the next (while still keeping the initial friends). That move brought me to know my best friend in the world and many of my other closest friends. I know that was an answer to many many prayers!
Jodie says
I love how God answered your prayers. I love that you prayed about friends. I should do that more! 🙂