Energize your Life with Prayer

in Rob's Blog

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There is something special about the beginning of a new year and the hope it brings for a fresh start or new beginning.  Often that includes becoming disciplined in one area of life or another.  Discipline is a scary term for some, but it is not an idea to run from.  Rather, it is a way of life to embrace.  Jesus lived a disciplined life – and it energized and strengthened Him!  The spiritual disciplines of Jesus will do the same for us as we place our focus more squarely on Him.

There are 3 WAYS that a disciplined prayer life can energize our life:

1: PRIZE Prayer – Live the vine (devoted) life

  • Key verse: John 15:1-11
  • Prayer must be valued and we need to make it a way of life. It is a primary way in which we can remain in Him.
  • Ask yourself these 4 questions:
    1. How is my connection? (v. 1)
    2. What in my life needs to be pruned? (v. 2)
    3. Am I committed to being great for God? (v. 4-5)
    4. Do I fear fruitlessness? (v. 6)
  • Here are some ways to be a vine dweller:
    1. Remember your source: He is the vine, we are the branch (v. 1).
    2. Repent your sins: Confess and turn (pruning) (v. 2).
    3. Recount your salvation: You are clean through Christ (v. 3)
    4. Renew your strength: Be energized with His power (v. 4).
  • The results of vine living are:
    1. Power (v. 7)
    2. Fruitfulness (v. 8)
    3. Love (v. 9)
    4. Obedience (v. 10)
    5. Joy (v. 11)

2: PRIORITIZE Prayer – Develop a prayer plan

  • What’s your plan? Failure to plan is a plan to fail. So… what’s your prayer plan?
  • Prioritize prayer in your daily schedule. Don’t just talk a good game – get into the game! (Luke 18:1)
  • Personally connecting with the Lord through prayer is only half of it. Other people are depending on your prayers – your kids, husband/wife, family and friends, and many more. Don’t rob yourself and your loved ones by being undisciplined. Pray!
  • Pray ACTS prayers:
    • A: Adoration
    • C: Confession
    • T: Thanksgiving
    • S: Supplication
  • Pray a wall of protection: Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, sexually, and financially.
  • Look at the 7 Ps of the Lord’s Prayer:
    1. Pattern – “This, then, is how you should pray:”
    2. Praise – “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”
    3. Plead – “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
    4. Petition –  “Give us today our daily bread.”
    5. Penitence – “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
    6. Purity –  “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
    7. Proclaim –  “For yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen.'”
  • It takes time to pray around your family, around your church, around your community, and around the world. Someone once said, “To be a great for God is to be great with God.”
  • We have to build up our prayer muscle. Things happen when we pray. Our job is to pray; it is God’s job to answer prayer. And He is really good at His job!

3: PERSONALIZE Prayer – Make prayer deeply personal (John 17)

  • Prayer is not some esoteric, abstract, philosophical, way-out-there deal. It is not a mere academic exercise. Prayer is deeply personal.
  • When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane He sweat drops of blood. That’s raw. That’s real. That’s personal!
  • John 17 is Jesus’ longest recorded prayer. In it, Jesus…
    • Prayed for Himself (v. 1-5)
    • Prayed for those close to Him (v. 6-19)
    • Prayed for other believers (v. 20-24)
    • Prayed for the world (v. 25-26)
  • It was all very personal for Him. There was deep meaning to what He was praying for.

Let’s be real.  There are too many things out of my control.  I need to plug into a power source greater than me.  Much like when our phones get low and we plug it in to get re-energized, we need to plug into the power of the Lord through prayer and be re-energized.  We need to prize, prioritize, and personalize our prayer life – and be re-energized by the Lord!  Let’s do it – for us and for others – and watch God work.

Here are some great books to enhance your spiritual disciplines: