challenge – Transformed ♥ Heart

Many years ago I came across this book on prayer, and during the times that I followed Dick Eastman’s simple method of praying, I found that my daily prayer walk with the Lord was much deeper. Well, I recently came across this book again, and I realized that I had forgotten some of things that I had learned about prayer from this book. The prayer plan outlined in this book was not necessarily meant to be the one and only method for praying, but it simply contains suggestions based on Scripture that have helped many Christians in the United States (and around the world) revitalize their prayer lives. In fact, Joni Eareckson Tada has written the following about it: “Full of biblical insights about prayer, packed with testimonies of prayer warriors from years past, brimming with practical suggestions that will help you carve out a purposeful time of praise and intercession, Dick Eastman’s book is arguably the most significant book on prayer written in modern times.”

I want to challenge you to spend at least one hour of prayer using these twelve points of focus. Although you can vary the length of time that you spend on each part, including some of all of them is important. Everyone’s life is somewhat different depending upon what stage of life we are in; for various reasons, some may honestly find it almost impossible to spend an hour in prayer everyday, but I would guess that for most of us that an hour is not an impossible goal. And of course, you don’t have to limit your prayer to only one hour a day! God has told us that if we seek Him, we will find Him, when we search for Him with all of our heart (Jeremiah 29:130). Also, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are told to pray without ceasing. Although we can be in a prayerful state of mind while talking to God about everything throughout the day, having longer, and more focused prayer is also very important. We see different times in the gospels that even Jesus spent long periods of time praying. In Matthew 26:40, while in the garden on the Mount of Olives, Jesus pleaded with the disciples to pray with Him for one hour (before He was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, condemned to death on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, and separated from God the Father).

The following is a very brief summary of what is included in the prayer plan from The Hour That Changes the World:

PRAISE-(Psalm 63:3, Hebrews 13:15, Matthew 6:9b)- the aspect of prayer which vocally esteems God for His virtues and accomplishments.

WAITING-(Psalm37:7, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:25)- being quiet in God’s presence, and simply taking time to love God and to let God love you.

CONFESSION-(Psalm139:23, 1 John 1:9)- since sin is one of the greatest roadblocks to answered prayer (Psalm 66:18), we need to take time to confess any sin in our lives.

THE WORD-(2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 19:7,8)- bringing God’s Word into our prayer, we are opening our eyes to new possibilities as we simply read sections of His Word.

INTERCESSION-(1Timothy 2:1,2, Psalm 2:8, Matthew 9:37, 38)- center your intercession on our lost and dying world.

PETITION-Matthew 6:11, Matthew 7:7, Philippians 4:6b, James 4:2)- this aspect concerns our personal needs.

THE WORD-(Jeremiah 23:29, 2 Samuel 22:31, Numbers 23:19)- now pray God’s will. You can never pray out of God’s will when you pray God’s Word back to Him.

THANKSGIVING-(Psalm 100:4, Philippians 4d:6)- recognizes God for specific things that He has done, while praise recognizes God for who He is.

SINGING-(Psalm 100:2, Ephesians 5:19, Psalm 144:9)- learn the beauty of singing a “new” song unto God during your prayer.

MEDITATION-(Joshua 1:8, Psalm 77:12, Psalm 1:1,2)- to meditate is to ponder spiritual themes in reference to God.

LISTENING-(Ecclesiastes 5:2, 1 Kings 19:11, 12)- we must take time to listen for specific direction from God, not just to talk.

PRAISE-(Matthew 6:13, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 150)- when our prayer moves toward its conclusion, we focus our praise on His omnipotence (power), His omniscience (knowledge), and His omnipresence (presence everywhere).

Photo by Roshan Kamath on Pexels.com

beautiful big snowflake on a blue background.

One of my favorite old movies is the “Sound of Music” (minus just a couple scenes). When I first saw the movie many years ago, I kind of felt like I could somewhat relate to Maria (played by Julie Andrews) in personality, character, and actions (especially in the early part of the movie). Interestingly, before I had ever seen the movie, one of my close friends told me that I reminded her of Maria in the movie, but that’s not the main reason I like it. There are so many positive things that we can take from that movie, and the one I’m going to focus on in this blog is the song that Maria sang to all the children when they were afraid of the thunderstorm.

“Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things…”

During this unusually difficult time of isolation and stress for some people as we all are experiencing the pandemic of Covid-19, it is a good time to think about some of your “favorite things”- things for which you are thankful. You are going to have to choose to turn off the news, and choose to bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” as it says in II Corinthians 10:5, and to practice obeying what Philippians 4:8 says: “whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Although sometimes it will be more difficult to stay cheerful, positive, and focused on those “favorite things”, especially in times of pain, suffering, and lamenting, II Thessalonians 5:14-24 (and lots of other Scriptures) has some simple instructions and an uplifting message for us. I encourage you to look those verses up soon.

First, those of you who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ may be experiencing a lot of fear, worry, and anxiety; so my recommendation to you, is to use this time to really seek God through the Bible, and get to know Him personally as His child.

If He is already your Lord, then you can start by thinking about, and then focusing on some of your “favorite things” that bring you happiness. For me, most of those things would be found in God and His creation, like beautifully colored sunsets, rainbows, birds, and butterflies. Other things that bring me joy are the smiles and laughter of babies and children, the variety of songs that the birds sing, and the many different kinds, colors, and behaviors of dogs and cats (especially puppies and kittens). I also enjoy listening to praise and worship music, and writing blogs with the purpose of trying to encourage my readers.

Now, I have a creative challenge for you: See if you can put some of your favorite things to the tune of “These are a few of my favorite things”, and message the words of your song to me; then, I will you and post your name and song on a future blog soon.