Growing up I did not have much of a prayer life. I saw prayer and other disciplines as things that I was supposed to do for God to be okay with me. It was not until I went to college that I learned God doesn’t need our prayers but actually delights in us coming to Him (Proverbs 15:8) like a Father with his children.
There isn’t just one way to pray, but Jesus models prayer in Matthew 6:9-13:
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.’”
The Lord’s prayer has been a fruitful guide for my prayer life. I often pray through it line by line whether I am on a walk, driving, or sitting to spend time with God. The Psalms are also great guides for prayer. Praying through a few lines or an entire Psalm has helped deepen my relationship with God and given me words when I don’t have any.
One of our desires at Providence is that we would be a prayerfully dependent people. This isn’t a new concept because God has already been working and will continue to form us into a people of prayer, completely dependent on Him to move. But if you’re like me, you can continue to grow in deepening your relationship with God through prayer. As a church, we want to be intentional in helping our people do that.
You may have noticed that each week at Providence, we have a weekly prayer focus. We invite you to pray for a local church, a local school, a mission partner, and an unreached people group. Each week, our staff asks how we can pray for the people of our focus. Recently, we contacted a local elementary school principal to ask how we could be praying for her staff and students. She was shocked and blessed by this offer and responded with gratitude and specific prayer requests. It is so wonderful to see how a simple question and an offer to pray can impact the lives of those serving in our community!
One of the best ways that you can participate in corporate prayer is by joining our weekly prayer call. We gather via Zoom every Tuesday at 7am to pray over the prayer focus for the week, especially our missionary partners and unreached people groups. You can request more information here.
We also invite you to join us for a Providence Day of Prayer on April 21-22. On this day, the Connection Center will be open for twenty-four hours for you to pray, worship, and intercede for our city and the world! You can sign up for an hour in the prayer room but if you cannot commit to an hour then come whenever and however long you can!
I have been so encouraged by the growing passion for prayer at Providence. As we respond to God’s Word (as Afshin taught us in his sermon on Luke 11) there are many prayer meetings popping up throughout the week that you can join. God is definitely up to something!
