Praying the Bible Way - Scripture Writing Challenge
Have you ever heard the old hymn, Sweet Hour of Prayer?
One of the verses goes like this. . . .
Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
Sweet Hour of Prayer was written by William W. Walford. He was born in England in 1772. Walford was described as an obscure, blind lay preacher who served in the hamlet of Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, in the mid-19th century. He owned a small trinket shop in the village.
This hymn goes to the heart of one of the most intrinsic Christian practices: prayer. For William W. Walford prayer was an intensely private affair where one seeks refuge from temptations and trials and pours out the depths of one’s soul before God who already knows our “wants and wishes.”
The kind of prayer fostered in this hymn is private prayer, rather than prayers of the body of Christ gathered in worship.
May Scripture Writing Challenge - Prayer
Our May Scripture writing challenge will focus on prayer. This month we are going to write scripture verses about prayer. We are going to talk about what prayer is, the elements of prayer and I am also going to give you some tips for prayer, and methods of prayer, and we are going to add to our habit stack.
April Review
We wrote thankfulness verses. I hope you enjoyed writing the verses as much as I did. It is easy to get bogged down in the negativity of the world. I hope that you also started writing down 5 things that you are thankful for each day. If you don’t already have a Bible reading plan, I suggested reading the chapter that our scripture verse came from.
Habit Stack
Now let’s talk about our habit stack so far.
- In February we started writing a verse a day
- In March we added reading a chapter in the Bible each day
- In April we added writing down 5 things we are thankful for each day.
- In May we are going to add another habit, which we will talk about in a few minutes.
The scripture writing theme for May is “Sweet Hour of Prayer” Have you ever prayed for a whole hour? I have not timed myself, but I don’t think that I have ever prayed for a whole hour all at once. However, there are many great Christians who have. In our world of constant distraction, it is difficult to stay focused on anything for very long. However, I think this is one of the reasons why we see mental illness, loneliness, and drug abuse on the rise. We have lost connection with God with our constant need for entertainment.
Listen, I am guilty too. I am ashamed to say that I spend more time scrolling my phone than I do reading my bible and praying. However, by building habits we can fight against the distractions in our lives and focus on what really matters.
What is prayer and why is it essential to the Christian Life?
Prayer is essentially talking to God. It is the most intimate way that we can know God. To me, reading the Bible is how God talks to us, and praying is how we talk to God.
What are the elements of prayer?
I want to share a couple of acrostics about prayer. An acrostic is using a word and then each letter of that word corresponds with a verse or word beginning with that letter. For example, the acrostic for the word Grace is God’s Riches at Christ's Expense.
I use the word pray when I am praying. Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield.
- Praise - Praise God for His Goodness, His Attributes, His Mercy, His Love. Thanking God is also a part of praising Him, so those 5 things you have been writing down each day, Praise God for those.
- Repent - Ask God to forgive you of your sins. Ask Him to help you live righteously, and peaceably with others. Ask Him to reveal your hidden sin to you and to change your heart.
- Ask - Ask God to provide the needs of others, of our country, of ourselves. God wants to answer our prayers. The Bible says in Luke 11:11-13 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
- Yield - Submit to God's will in your Life.
Will God give you everything you ask for? Probably not, but He will give you what is best for you. God always answers our prayers. Sometimes he says yes, sometimes, he says no, sometimes he says wait.
Another acrostic for prayer is the word Acts.
Ask, Confess, Thank, Supplication
Tips and methods for prayer
There is no perfect way to pray. But we can find many verses in the Bible about praying. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says, “ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
In verse 5, Jesus had just told His disciples not to pray in the open for the praise of men. But to get alone with God, pour your heart out to him and you don’t hold back from God. He already knows everything about you.
It says in Matthew 6:8 Be not ye, therefore, like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask.” But God wants to hear from his children. He wants us to ask for what we need. In that verse, who is them, be not like them?
Let’s read verse 7, but when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. .
However, a good model for prayer is the Lord’s Prayer. You can find that in Matthew 6:9-15. I am going to be real honest with you. Before I became a true Christian, I memorized and prayed this prayer in my mainline denomination church my whole childhood. I even learned how to say it in sign language. But it wasn’t until I accepted Jesus as my Savior that I really understood what the words meant.
I challenge you to read the Lord’s prayer verse by verse and meditate on it. The verses have all the elements of the acrostic that I mentioned. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name (that’s praise and adoration), Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (that’s submission or yielding) Give us this day our daily bread (that’s asking) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever (that’s repentance, confession, asking, yielding and praising.
Sometimes, when you are in a perilous situation, you can pray the shortest prayer in the Bible, “Lord, save me” That is found in Mathew 14:30 when Jesus told Peter to come walk on water with Him. But Peter was afraid and started to sink. Many people fault Peter for that, but Peter did the right thing in my opinion, he called out to Jesus to save him.
God is so good and he wants to hear from His child. I hope these ideas will help you develop a stronger prayer life or start a prayer life if you haven’t.
What is our habit for May to add to the habit stack?
Write down 5 things to pray for and then pray for 5 minutes. Set a timer. This will help you develop a habit. Once you have started praying past your time, start increasing the time. There is no prescribed amount of time to pray. This is just a suggestion to get you into the prayer habit. It is such a valuable and essential habit in the Christian life.
So let’s review our our habit stack
- Write your daily scripture verse
- Read a chapter in the Bible
- Write down 5 things that you are thankful for.
- Write down 5 things to pray for and spend 5 minutes praying for those things.
If you did April’s challenge, you will automatically receive the new scripture writing challenge via email.
