Coming to God in prayer is often difficult if you don’t know what you should pray. People struggle to focus, spend more than ten minutes, or find themselves repeating the same things over and over.
Having a simple plan (or outline) for prayer can help make prayer time fruitful and more exciting.
In this episode, join Nathan as he gives a couple simple plans for prayer that you can use to be intentional and more focused in your prayer time.
Listen to and Download the Episode
Prayer Plan 1: The Hour that Changes the World (from Dick Eastman)
Dick Eastman, in his classic book The Hour that Changes the World, gives a practical twelve-step plan for prayer, breaking an hour into twelve five-minute topics.
- Praise – start with setting your mind on God and praising Him
- Waiting – be still and know He is God (see Psalm 46:10)
- Confession – let God search and try your heart and see if there is anything that is hindering prayer. Repent and confess the sin.
- Pray Scripture – declare God’s attributes, Names, and accomplishments. Take Scripture and use it as a prayer (for example see Ephesians 1:17)
- Watch – be alert and guarded against distractions and be watchful for things God wants you to pray for
- Intercession – pray for others
- Petition – prayers for yourself
- Thanksgiving – our prayers should be accompanied by thanksgiving to God (see 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Philippians 4:6)
- Singing/Worship – sing praises unto the Lord
- Meditation – focus and ponder the Word of God
- Listening – is God asking anything of you, what is He saying to you through His Word and the pressing of His Spirit?
- Praise – end with focusing upon the wonder and majesty of our great Savior Jesus Christ
Prayer Plan 2: The Sandi McConnaughey Outline
- Clean out the heart (come before the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart)
- Come into His presence with thanksgiving (worship, praise, hymns)
- Lift up others before God
- Pray for revival
- Listen to God’s heart
- Pray for self and surrender yourself afresh to Him
- End with worship and praise
Nathan’s Weekly Outline for Praying for Others
- Monday: missionaries and ministries
- Tuesday: people who need salvation
- Wednesday: world issues and the government
- Thursday: friends and people I mentor
- Friday: family
- Saturday: marriages, Ellerslie Alumni
- Sunday: local church, persecuted church
Join the Conversation
Question: Do you have a plan or outline for how you pray? I’d love to hear about it.
Leave a response or ask a question and we will try to address it in a future episode.
The difficulty with podcasts is that they are one-sided—so each week I ask one question for you to participate in the conversation. Head over to the deeperChristian Facebook page to leave a comment and join in the conversation.
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About NRJohnson
NRJohnson (Nathan Johnson) is a Christian who has an overwhelming passion for Jesus, the Gospel, and Studying God’s Word. He is a writer, teacher, and communicator who helps other believers understand and apply the Bible as they grow and mature in their faith—desiring that they gain greater intimacy with Christ, experience the victorious Christian life, and transform the world through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Read more about him here.
About the Deeper Christian Podcast
Many Christians feel frustrated because they don’t grow spiritually. The Deeper Christian Podcast helps equip Christians to understand the Word of God and cultivate a passionate love for Jesus that turns the world upside down.
Whether you want to learn how to study God’s Word, grow in your faith, cultivate a powerful and effective prayer life, share the Gospel boldly, deepen your intimacy with Jesus, live victoriously, or transform the world through the indwelling life of the Holy Spirit, the Deeper Christian Podcast with NRJohnson (Nathan Johnson) will encourage and equip you to grow spiritually and live a Christ-centered life.