{"id":63,"date":"2020-03-30T12:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T11:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/?p=63"},"modified":"2025-12-01T12:05:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:05:33","slug":"celebration-of-discipline-week-2-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/celebration-of-discipline-week-2-prayer","title":{"rendered":"Celebration of Discipline Week 2: Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

'I want it all, and I want it now\u2026\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyrics from Queen which sum up the consumerism at the heart of Western culture. We want more clothes, more money and more ___ [you fill in the blank] to make us \u2018happy\u2019. The unconscious \u2018if I just had one more ___, then I would be satisfied\u2019. The ease and speed of things like Amazon Prime and next-day delivery from nearly all stores as standard means that our desire for more \u2013 more, now \u2013 is easily and quickly gratified. But perhaps we all know somewhere deep inside that this doesn\u2019t really satisfy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all too easy to treat prayer like this too: transactional and instantaneous \u2013 and if we don\u2019t see our prayers answered immediately then we can give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s so much more to prayer than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foster reminds us that, \u2018Of all the spiritual disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father\u2019. This means that as we pray, we not only bring to God what is on our hearts but it draws our hearts closer to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to pray<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It seems like you don\u2019t need to be a Christian to see some value in prayer. In light of the current global pandemic we are seeing world leaders call for \u2018National Days of Prayer\u2019 \u2013 because things have become desparate. But it\u2019s about so much more than a simple cry for hope in the middle of troubles (although that is part of it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer is a relationship with Jesus. Just like a regular conversation, it doesn\u2019t look like simply talking and not pausing to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Luther said, \u2018The fewer the words, the better the prayer.\u2019 So how can our prayer life look like a two-way relationship with the King of Kings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the disciples \u2013 who journeyed around with Jesus, saw him perform miracles and got to talk to him every day \u2013 still asked him, \u2018Lord, teach us to pray\u2019 (Luke 11:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real prayer is something we learn.vHere are five things the Bible teaches us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Pray Patiently<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stop what you are doing, make space for God and listen to what he might be saying to you. Psalm 40 has been a comfort to me over many years, and it seems fitting in light of the Covid-19 crisis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

'I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.\u2019<\/em> \u2013 Psalm 40:1\u20133<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m using this Psalm to quiet my anxious heart and to remind me that God hears our cry as we wait upon him \u2013and he lifts us and restores us. Why not try using it too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Pray Daily<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Lord\u2019s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to ask for our daily bread. Much like when God taught the Israelites in the desert to learn to trust him and come to him everyday for their literal daily bread, we must also come to him daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Pray Simply<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we\u2019re praying for other people, Jesus gives us a model which is rooted in compassion. If we have God-given compassion and concern for others, our faith will grow and strengthen as we pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus taught us to pray directly, saying, \u2018Walk\u2019, \u2018Be well\u2019, or \u2018Stand up\u2019, rather than tip-toeing around our prayer requests and \u2018killing it with words\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we pray for our friends, we should start by asking God to give us compassion and take time to listen to what he says. And it helps to start small \u2013 by praying for a cold or headache rather than praying for a brain tumour or broken leg. Success in the small corners of life gives us authority in the larger matters. If we remain obedient in praying for the small things, we will learn more about who God is and how he chooses to move when it comes to the bigger things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Pray Like a Child<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to overcomplicate prayer. Instead, Jesus taught us to come to the Father like children. What he meant by this was to not hesitate to ask for the seemingly simplest requests, but do so confidently, like we see small children do so to their Father. We should allow Jesus to use our minds like He uses children\u2019s \u2013 to use our imaginations to show us pictures of what He is saying and how He wants us to pray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do we put all these things into action and actually pray? We do it. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can so easily allow the distractions of life and my busyness mean that my prayer life is squeezed out. But prayer is all about stopping and engaging in an active relationship with our Heavenly Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer Challenges <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This week there are four challenges for you to choose from. Why not pick one and stick to it for a week?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge One: Get Biblical<\/strong>
Richard Foster recommends these daily scripture readings as we explore prayer this week. Pray and ask God to speak to you through his word:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday: The pattern of prayer \u2013 Matthew 6:5\u201315<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday: The prayer of worship \u2013 Psalm 103<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday: The prayer of repentance \u2013 Psalm 51<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday: The prayer of thanksgiving \u2013 Psalm 150<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday: The prayer of guidance \u2013 Matthew 26:36\u201346<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday: The prayer of faith \u2013 James 5:13\u201318<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday: The prayer of command \u2013 Mark 9:14\u201329<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge Two: Handwashing Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of singing Happy Birthday or a Rick Astley song as you wash your hands, say the Lord\u2019s Prayer. It\u2019s the full 20 seconds too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge Three: Choose Three<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choose three people you can intentionally pray for this week. Bring them up in conversation with God for a few minutes each day. If it feels appropriate, you could send them a message to let them know you\u2019re praying for them, and share anything you feel that God is saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge Four: Midday Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole Onelife team are pausing for five minutes at noon every day to say the Lord\u2019s Prayer, to pray for our nation and to pray against the spread of the coronavirus. Put an alarm on your phone for 12pm and join us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read about the discipline of Prayer, from our series unpacking the Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/66"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirteencreative.co.uk\/onelife25\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}