Prayer Partners

Prayer Partners Some people do their best praying with others. Some do their best praying alone. If praying with others helps you to concentrate and be consistent in prayer, then prayer partnerships can be a wonderful way of encountering God and offering your concerns to him. Prayer partnerships may be established around shared concerns regarding the workplace, school and family issues. But prayer partnerships may also evolve as two people discover they both care about particular missionaries or a particular part of the world. The partnership may form for a short period of time, or it may last over decades. Prayer partners meet together regularly to share prayer requests and pray. Prayer partnerships are more than chat sessions with a brief prayer tacked on at the end. Prayer and thanksgiving for answered prayer is the essential stuff of the gathering. Some prayer partners agree to pray at certain times of the day even though they are not together. This common discipline becomes a thread they share until their next meeting. Prayer partnerships can also be done over the phone (see also “Intercessory Prayer,” “Fasting” and “Prayer Walking”) ACTS is a simple acronym to serve as a framework for your prayers: A—adoration of God and his character, plans and purposes C—confession of anything in us that has broken relationships; naming anything in our lives that would hinder serving God in prayer T—thanksgiving for God’s presence, blessings, Word and goodness S—supplication for the world, ourselves and those whose lives are closely linked with ours Reflection Questions What is it like for you to pray with others? What are your rhythms of corporate prayer and private prayer? How do you meet God differently in each of these kinds of prayer? How do you pray about personal concerns that bring you constant anxiety? How might sharing prayer concerns with another help you bear your anxieties differently? Spiritual Exercises Pray for a prayer partner. Listen to who God might bring to mind. Approach them about becoming a prayer partner for the next six weeks. At the end of six weeks determine if you will continue. Where do you feel a deep desire to pray for a particular need surfacing in your life? Consider if there is anyone else who shares your desire. If God brings a name to mind, contact that person and see if they would be willing to join you in prayer twice a month. • What is this experience like for you? Become a prayer partner with someone in your immediate family. Form a partnership with a child or a spouse for a particular situation and season. When the concern is answered, spend time talking about what it was like to share prayer concerns. What sense of trust developed? Form a prayer partnership in which you experiment with the various types of prayer disciplines described in this book. Spend several weeks on each prayer discipline. • What is it like for you? Is one style of prayer easier for you than another? For your prayer partner? • What do you learn about God in these prayer settings? Resources on Prayer Partners Moms in Touch International www.momsintouch.com “For Jesus prayer seems to be a matter of waiting in love. Returning to love. Trusting that love is the bottom stream of reality.” —Richard Rohr Praying Scripture DESIRE to allow God to shape my prayer life through the words of Scripture DEFINITION Praying Scripture allows God to direct the content of prayer. It opens the heart to praying particular prayers, psalms, teachings and hopes found in the Bible. SCRIPTURE “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40) “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Psalm 119:97) “The unfolding of your words gives light.” (Psalm 119:130) PRACTICE INCLUDES meditating on Scripture; interacting with God around the revelation its stories bring listening to the Lord and lingering at the spaces for reflection that biblical stories allow listening for the questions Jesus puts to the disciples as if they were questions he is putting to you placing your name in the place of “you” pronouns adopting a prayer of David, Daniel, Paul, Mary, Jabez or Jesus GOD-GIVEN FRUIT letting Jesus lead you into prayer through Scripture growing in your love for God and his Word receiving guidance in prayer allowing a biblical story to give voice and action to inner needs, desires and feelings entering into prayer through the touch, confrontation, healing, invitations and challenges of Scripture releasing your agenda in prayer and responding to God’s agenda as revealed in Scripture slowing down Scripture reading to a pace that serves listening personalizing Scripture by substituting your name where it is appropriate to do so

Prayer Partners

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