Hour of Prayer

Praise & Worship – 15 minutes

Praise God for the things he has done. Worship God for who his acts reveal him to be.

Examination & Confession – 5 minutes

We fall short. It is good for us to recognize our faults and sins. Confessing our failures helps us to grow. Ask God to reveal sins that you don’t know about. Prayerfully read Scriptures such as Romans 12, Galatians 5, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, James, and 1 John.  You may not need to read much. Allow God to show you where you can improve. Confess your sins and ask for more grace to grow to full Christian maturity.

Intercession – 20 minutes

Prayer changes things. Make lists. Pray freely.
Pray for governments, universities, cities, nations, family, spiritual needs, physical needs, just pray.
Scripture and experience reveal that
prayer changes things.

Personal Petitions – 5 minutes

God enjoys giving good gifts to his children. Pray confidently.

Thanksgiving – 5 minutes

Express thanks for what God has done. Give thanks for what you expect he will do in response to prayer.

Praise, Sing & Listen – 10 minutes

Delight in God’s presence. Make sure to take time to be quiet in his presence. God still speaks.

Too Strong to Be Broken

"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." -- Samuel Johnson

I just added four workouts a week to my calendar. Why did I put it in my calendar (time and alarm attached)? I feared that otherwise I might not follow through on my good intentions. There is a principle here. Good habits don't tend to happen accidentally. Consider applying this principle to the practice of prayer. Simply wanting to pray, wishing to pray, acknowledging the needfulness of prayer, is not necessarily sufficient to cause one to actually pray. We might do better if we intentionally schedule prayer into our daily routine. Hopefully that will be the first step toward a holy habit "too strong to be broken".