Sometimes prayer can seem ambiguous. Following is a prayer model that we use in our family. It’s simple enough for Rose, our four year old to comprehend and can be complex enough for my wife and I. This would be a great model to share with your new converts, students or people simply looking for an organized way to pray. I personally use this each day and record my responses in a prayer journal. I will try to find different verses each day to go under each heading and many times the verses will guide my prayers.
P.RAISE
Every prayer should begin with praise. In Psalms 103:1 David says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” David starts the stanza by blessing The Lord with “ALL that is within me” this is referencing his flesh. Then he concludes the stanza by saying, “forget not all his benefits.” He begins by blessing God for all that is within him (flesh), then blesses God for His benefits (Spirit). We must bless The Lord for everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
MY EXAMPLE: I praise you Lord for borrowed blessings. Thank you for the opportunity to walk by the beach, ride 4 wheelers, have a Canadian birthday party and watch Rose make new friends. Thank you for an amazing ministry opportunity during VBS. I praise you for first time kids coming to the church, excitement with the staff and a tremendous spirit of prayer and worship.
R.EPENT
After we praise Him, we move into repentance. We must clear out all the old ashes if we desire a new fire. David once again leads us by praying, “Psalms 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
MY EXAMPLE: Lord, I ask that you will, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” Please forgive me for ungratefulness and a lack of faith. You have always taken care if me, yet I still get anxious and discouraged during times of silence. Please help me embrace your plan and be joyful in the fat times AND in the lean times! In Jesus Name! Amen.
A.SK
Our “asking” is broken up in two categories. The first is intercession, our prayer for others. The second is supplication, our personal requests from God.
A) INTERCESSION
Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
MY EXAMPLE: Lord, I pray you touch my friend’s little boy who had surgery on his hand. I ask for a quick recovery. I also ask for restoration in my friends career. Please help him find a job quickly. I ask for people to get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost in my upcoming revival services. I am standing in the gap for the unsaved and praying that you will lead them to salvation.
B) SUPPLICATION
Matthew 7:7 instructs us to, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” The Amplified Bible translates this as, “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.” The idea the AMP translation is relating is that of “continuing or repeated action.” We must pray for our special requests and be persistent in these requests.
MY EXAMPLE: Lord, I pray that you continue to heal my daughter Rose from her skin diseases. I praise you for the healing that you have already given her, yet I continue to ask for complete healing. Please bless my wife on a daily basis. I pray for strength of leadership in her community, decisiveness of her decisions, meekness of spirit, confidence of my love and support and finally FAVOR with you! I pray for focus in my next few weeks for all that I need to accomplish. Please guide me and give me the strength to trust in you. In Jesus Name! Amen.
Y.ES (Y.IELD TO GOD)
I Samuel 3:16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. The final part of our prayer is to say YES! Through all of our praying the most important thing we must do is yield to God. Ultimately we desire that God’s will to be done in our lives.
MY EXAMPLE: Here am I Lord! I give myself to you. I yield to you in every area of my life. I yield to you in ministry. I yield to you with my finances. I yield to you with whatever you want to do through my family. Not my will but thine will be done. I YIELD TO YOU! In Jesus Name! Amen.
CONCLUSION
As I previously stated, I use this for my personal devotion as well as with our family. I have also lead adult congregations and youth classes through this prayer. Of course this is just a model. Please feel free to use it to meet your specific needs. I tried to give a detailed explanation to make it clear as possible, but the most important thing to remember is P.raise, Repent, Ask and Y.ield. I pray this model will be a blessing to you. I would love to hear how you use this in your specific setting. I would love to hear your feedback in the comment section below.
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