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P-R-A-Y
(‘Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.’)
1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
To help you remember the four parts of prayer, think of the acrostic P-R-A-Y:
P- Praise the Lord!
Not sure how? Think you’ll run out of words? Not if you use the scriptures.
David gives us an example in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13
It’s one you can use: ‘Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour......Yours, Lord, is the Kingdom.....In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now our God, we give you thanks and praise your glorious name’ (NIVUk)
R- Repent of your sins!
Just as heat forces impurities to the surface so the metal refiner can remove them, your prayer time will reveal attitudes that must be changed, habits that must be broken, and barriers to blessing that must be removed. It’s not enough to tell God about your sins. He already knows them. You must ask Him to help you turn away from them. This is true repentance.
A- Ask for yourself and others!
Your prayers invite God into, the situation, and your faith activates His power to change it. There’s no distance in prayer, no culture or language barrier it can’t overcome. It’s like throwing a power switch - things begin to move when we pray. Jesus said, ‘I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven....whatever doors you open on earth shall be open in heaven’ ( Matthew 16:19 TLB).
Y- Yield yourself to God’s will!
Declaring the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life is like signing your name to the bottom of a blank cheque and inviting Him to fill in the amount.
If your troubles are deep-seated or long-standing, try kneeling. – Anon
Pure prayers have pure blessings. – Thomas Goodwin
To spend an hour worrying on our knees is not prayer. Indeed, there are times when it is our duty, having committed a problem to God in prayer, to stop praying and to trust and to do the necessary work to arrive at a solution. – Oliver Barclay
Prayer is not an argument with God to persuade Him to move things our way, but an exercise by which we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to move ourselves His way. –Leonard Ravenshill