Practical Helps For Prayer

We all need the Lord's help to enjoy and be more faithful in prayer. Here are some practical helps to assist us. 

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For Personal Prayer (A.C.T.S.):

• A – Adoration of God (His attributes, who He is)
• C – Confession of sin
• T – Thanksgiving
• S – Supplication (requests)

Praying for your church:

Days of week, letter that starts each day could be a prompt to pray for types of people, for example:  

• M - Monday – Men of church
• T – Tuesday – Teens and children
• W – Wednesday – Women of church
• Th – Thursday – Thanks for ministries and pray for any Threats to unity
• F – Friday – Fellowship among the body

Specific people:

• Use church photo directory to pray for a certain number of people or a page a day
• Consider reaching out to individuals to let them know you prayed for them or to ask for requests

Spiritual Requests (examples from Compelling Community by Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop):

• Pray for our daily lives this week at work and at home, to do good, honor God and the gospel
• Pray that we would see relationships in the local church as part of what it means to be a Christian
• Pray we understand our need to be transparent, admit our faults, and ask tough questions if needed
• Pray we grasp the importance of us encouraging each other with scripture
• Pray we see part of being a Christian means being a provider, rather than a consumer - that we would see church isn’t about meeting our own needs, but we’re to meet the needs of others for God’s glory
• Pray that we would see it as unusual when the local church is on the periphery of our life rather than the focal point of much of our life
• Pray that we would see hospitality as an important part of our service to the body

Praying with a fellow church member:

• In times of fellowship, before you depart, ask how you can pray for them
• Pray for them in person then and there where appropriate
• Make prayer a bigger part of groups or gatherings that you already do
• If you can’t connect in person, call and pray with them over the phone

Growing in G.R.A.C.E. (Colossians 4:6, Colossians 1:6, 2 Peter 3:18 “grow in grace…”) – ideas for a believer you interact with regularly:

• G - God’s Word and Prayer, stir one another
• R – Relationships (family, friends)
• A – Accountability (any area you or other person need?)
• C – Church, serving, etc. 
• E – Evangelism, 1 or 2 people you want to share more with