TEACH ME TO PRAY WEEK #2

I hope everyone found it easy to do their assignment this past week.

Before I get into THANKSGIVING and SUPPLICATION I am going to give you more insight on prayer. I have been reading several books in preparing for this study and I have found wonderful information in them all.

Even though we are talking about Model Prayers Methods, these “tidbits” are extra information that may help you feel more comfortable about praying.

I have a few favorite preachers/writers that I love to hear and read what they have to say: Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, John McArthur, Max Lucado, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer. There are others you may have heard of and some that I have never heard of.  The following is from Billy Graham.

“Prayers is a two way conversation with God. It’s is us talking to Him and Him talking to us. It is essentially talking with God as you would talk with your parents, who loves you and wants the BEST for you. “

“Every man or woman whose life has counted for the church and the kingdom of God, has been a person of prayer. We cannot afford to be too busy to pray. A PRAYERLESS Christian is a POWERLESS Christian.” WOW!

Do you want to be powerless? I don’t.

Another said “Pray is not an option, it’s an obligation and an opportunity for us to glorify God’s name and receive His blessing”. Don’t you want some blessings for God?

It is also an opportunity to participate in a miracle! Now THAT is exciting!. For those of us in the medical field don’t you have the “warm-fuzzy” when a patient of yours looks like they are dying and there is no hope and miraculously survives that illness. It makes you feel good inside if you had a part of that patient’s care.

Yet another one said “Prayer isn’t a luxury; it is a necessity. We all need it”. I don’t know about you but I will take all the prayers anyone wants to say in my name. I need them EVERYDAY! Foolish is the one who thinks they don’t need prayers.

If prayerlessness is one of our sins, this is a good time to confess it.

We need to be like David in Psalms 63:1. “You are my God! Earnestly I seek you. I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a fry and parched land where there is no water” Has your life ever been like this? Feeling dry, stale in need of refreshment? We all get this way. And there is nothing like the refreshing you get from “the living water”.

OK, time to get back to our A.C.T.S Model of Prayer

THANKSGIVING

God is blessing us constantly. Take a moment to write down some wonderful things God has done for you and the gifts he has given you.

READ Ephesians 5:30 and Psalms 69:30

You have plenty of reasons to be thankful. Thank God for His love, His unconditional love, His faithfulness, His patience, etc. Express gratitude for what He is doing in your life NOW. Thank Him for dying on the cross, thank the Holy Spirit for indwelling in you and never leaving you. Thank Him for being your conscience, your counselor and that “still small voice”.

Thank God for keeping His promises in your life and those of your family and friends and the circumstances in your life.

READ Psalms 118: 29-29

DO NOT ASK the Lord for anything yet--- just THANK HIM . Thank Him for what He is going to do in your life. Remember the work of the Lord in EVERY area of your life. (Home, work, business. Finances, family, church, health)

Thank Him for the SIMPLE things that we take for granted. The fact that you woke up today, slept well last night and was safe from harm, for save travel to work and back, a good day’s work and yes even a bad day’s work. BAD DAY, WHY? First of all, because you HAVE a job and secondly you would not appreciate the good days without any bad days.

Take another moment to add any more wonderful things God has done for you.

We shouldn’t wait to the holiday of Thanksgiving to give thanks to God. However on facebook some people will do 30-day of Thanks for the Month of November. I have even participated. But what about the days of December, January and so forth. Certainly there are more than 30 things people are thankful for.

Why not do your own “Days of Thanks” throughout the year WITHOUT repeating ANYTHING? Give it a try today.

SUPPLICATION

What is supplication? Supplication is the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.  It is also known as petitioning. It’s a form of prayer. It is either asking for yourself or from someone else. If you ask for someone else, this is known as intercession, the action of intervening on behalf of another.

This is the time we ask for “stuff”. We ask God of our needs and the needs of others. Tell God what you want no matter how small it seems.

As believer we are called to prayer for others.

READ Luke 18:1, Col 4:2, 1 Tim.2:1-4 Phil 4:6

This we come before God on behalf of others.

READ Heb. 10:19-25, Rev 1:4-6

Spend time praying for your pastor, your church, “the Church”.

Spend time praying for specific people, events, states, countries and Missionaries. Act 12:5, Rom 10:1

Spend time praying for your personal needs. Matt. 6:11-13

As you enter this part of your prayer, ask God to give you the desires of His heart.

Make a prayer list of your supplication. Be sure to include a date and a place to write when it was answered. Then this will become a praise & thanksgiving. Here are the two things I used.

The first is my prayer box. I have written prayer request on slips of paper with a date. When they are answered I removed them.  Some I have been praying for since 2011, some longer.

When I pray for these request I will just tell God the request in my prayer box. The other is my phone app that I use to put down pray request. Those mentioned at church or those I may see on facebook or another source. It has some other functions too.

For homework this week, continue with Adoration and Confession in your prayer, but now add Thanksgiving and Supplication.

A.C.T.S Sample Prayer

Father you are completely Holy and omnipotent. I fall at your feet in adoration. Lord, you aks us to love our neighbours as ourselves. The truth is I have failed to love others and I've lost sight of how much you value me. Please forgive me. I ask for you strength to fill my being so that I will always live in your grace and love. For the power, the glory and the honor is yours. Amen

Next week we will talk about a new Model Prayer, but it can be considered part of Supplication.

TEACH ME TO PRAY WEEK # 1

Why should we pray?

1)  Pray because God tells you to. Look at these verses:

        Luke 18:1

        Philippians 4:6

        Ephesians 6:18

        1 Thessalonians 5:17

It’s a command that we are given over and over again.

2)  We pray because God has promised to answer. James 4:2

 If you want to see things accomplished, ask God. You can talk about it all you want, but it won’t happen unless you ask. Without prayer, nothing of lasting value is going to happen. God delights in answering the prayer of the faithful. Hebrew 11:6; Matthew 7:7; John 15:7

3)  Pray because major events must transpire in our life. Miracles. Sometimes the answer may take longer than we want, but keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. God truly answers prayers.

4)  Pray so that your joy may be full. John 16:24. Do you want to be full of joy?

5)  Pray because it is the best solution for worry and concern. When we pray, we leave the matter in God’s hands and are free from worry and concerns. God has given us an invite to cast all our cares upon Him. 1 Peter 5:7….. We should not worry Philippians 4:6-7…..Whatever is bothering you, pray and give it to God.

6)  Pray because it makes God happy. It brings joy to the heart of God when we turn to Him in prayer. It makes Him happy when we depend on Him to move in the circumstances of our lives.

HOW SHOULD BE PRAY

Here are Four Keys on How To Pray

1. Simply, believe when you pray. Matt.6:7
We all need to develop confidence; ABSOLUTE confidence that God hears us even when we pray a simple prayer like: “God help me.” He hears us and He will answer. We always can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do, as long as what we are asking is in accordance with His will. He is our Helper. Hebr.13:6.

Simple believing prayer comes straight from the heart of the one praying and goes straight to the heart of God and that is what we want isn’t it?

2. There is a time for secret prayer. Matthew 6:5-6
Although some prayers are public prayers or group prayers, most of our prayer life is done in secret and should be that way. We don’t have to let everybody know how much we pray and everything that we pray about. We can our friends know that we are praying about a certain country or so of course, but we never should make a display of our prayers to impress people.

3. Be humble when you pray. Luke 18:10-14
Prayer needs to come from a humble heart. Jesus taught us that by telling us about the Pharisees; He didn’t like that at all is it? They made a show about their prayer life and there was nothing secret about it at all. God hasn’t given us a bunch of complicated, hard-to-follow guidelines. Prayer can be simple, unless complicated people make it complicated.

4. Prayer needs to be fervent. James 5:16
If you desire for your prayers to be effective and they should be; they need to be fervent. When most of us hear the word fervent; we think we need to work our prayers up and need to show some strong emotion before we pray; otherwise our prayers will not be effective. The Message. Bible says it like this: …The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

This shows that our prayers must come from a sincere heart and not just our head. Sometimes we try to sound so devout and well-designed that we get lost. We don’t even know what we are trying to pray about. If we could ever get delivered from trying to impress God or people, we would be so much better off.

One thing is for sure that sometimes we have to change things in our lives to make room for prayer; we simply have to come to that understanding. We have to eliminate things that are less important and know that when we want to discover the life we were born to live and want to get passionate about it, we need to pray.

PRAYER MODELS

Many people follow prayer models when they pray, others just “goes with the flow” or “Shoot from the hip”. Prayer models are excellent to use when you are praying in public. Prayer Models will help you keep your mind focused while praying so it doesn’t wander.  Hopeful these models will not only give you a better idea on HOW to pray, but it will make is much easier for you to pray and therefor you will do it more often.

The first one we are going to look at is the ACTS Prayer Model

A-Adoration

C-Confession

T-Thanksgiving

S-Supplication

Adoration is praising God for who he is. Confession is owning out sins. Thanksgiving is giving thanks to God for all he has done and is going to do. Supplication are prayer request of others and ourselves. Let’s talk about Adoration.

ADORATION

We put aside all out thoughts and troubles and come into the presence of God. It is time for “turning out heart home”, a pause in our activities to focus on God and God alone.

Adoration means worship. It is adoring and praising God for who he is. Tell God what he means to you and how you love him. Praise him for His nature and attributes. He is Holy. He is unchanging. He is Omniscient.

READ Psalm 18.

David began the Psalm by saying  “I love you O Lord my strength”. When was the last time you ever said to God “I love you”?

Then David acknowledged who God is…..”My rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold..” . In another Psalm, “my light”. As David continues, he gives God praise for what he does, “he rescued me because he delighted in me”.

Who is God to you? King of Kings, eternal, compassionate, loving, forgiving, merciful, omnipotent, patient,.

Write down at least ten things that describe who God is to you? Then look up 10 more things that describe who God is, in the Bible. Write these down. You will be using them for your homework. J

CONFESSION

This is the time for truth telling. Even as we know God is aware of all our faults and failures, it is important to let God know that WE are aware of them as well.  Too often we can hid and deny the places that hold the most pain. Too often the world rushed on and we allow situations to fester.

Truth telling involves honest appraisal both of the good and the bad in our life. It is a time to speak to God with the deepest trust that these circumstances need attention, healing and resolution. Often this honesty needs to be spoken aloud, shared with a trusted friend or spiritual leader for in the speaking, insight often comes.

Being honest before God may lead us into some painful realizations as to our needs for seeking help, reconciliation or guidance. Such honesty is the most direct and powerful way to resolve the situations of our life.

So this week, as you pray each day, Start with Adoration followed by Confession of sin (those that you are aware of and those that you are not). This will get you on the way of a habit.

Next week we will talk about Thanksgiving and Supplication.

BEST PRACTICE # 4 USE A PRAYER MODEL

The number one complain people have about prayer is “ I can’t stay focused”. Someone called it “monkey-mind” swinging non-stop from one distraction to another. Has this happened to you? It has to me too, quite often.

Best Practice #2 talked about routine. A routine condition your minds ability.

So how do we stay focused? Engagement. Engage out minds by using Prayer Models. This is what our Bible Study will be focusing on starting May 13, 2015.

There are different “prayer models” out there. That basically help you. One is CHAT. Mnemonic C- Cheers for who God is. H- Humble yourself ask for forgiveness. A- appreciate God for what he has done, give thanks and T-tell Him your needs.

It is like an outline or a recipe or a nursing skill.

So get ready. We will be practicing a few of these models during our study and then you can pick which one fits you. Hope you all have your “prayer space” ready!

BEST PRACTICE # 3 INCLUDE SCRIPTURES

Reading the Word (aka Bible) and prayer do hand in hand. When you incorporate and read scripture during devotional times.

God will answer prayers through scripture.

Scripture will train your to recognize the truth.

Scripture is loaded with examples of how to pray.

GREAT PRAYERS TO READ:

Psalm 51; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Habbakuk 3:2-19; Ezra 9:9-15; Luke 1:44-55; Lord’s Prayer; Matthew 6:9-13; John 17:1-26; Ephesians 3:14-21; Jude 1:24-25

Scripture will feed your prayers.

Devotional reading is more about pondering a text and listening for how it might apply to YOUR life. Or you can use a systematic Bible reading plan, free apps like “YouVersion”

****WHATEVER the reading method you use, the KEY ELEMENT IS TAKING TIME TO PONDER WHAT YOU’VE READ!

National Nurse's Week Bible Study

I AM PROUD OF MY PROFESSION. IT IS A REWARDING PROFESSION AND I DON’T MEAN MONETARY BUT SPIRITUAL. THESE TWO BIBLE STUDIES CAME FROM THE INTERVASITY NURSES CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. CHECK THEIR WEB SITE AT WWW.NCF.JCN.ORG

The two studies are” Nurses Leading the Way” and “Ethical Practice, Quality Care”. You are probably like me and wonder how this can related to the Bible.  Good reason to do the studies.

NURSES LEADING THE WAY

What does leadership look like in nursing? What are the characteristics of good leaders? No matter what your role in nursing, YOU ARE A LEADER. In this New Testament letter, Peter urges church leaders to remember a few basic principles and encourages them to be guides by Jesus’ example.  I will post some discussion questions under the EVENT notice. (Don’t want to confuse others with our upcoming Prayer Study.

READ 1 PETER 5:1-11

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.     What qualities does Peter encourage leaders to cultivate?

2.     What leadership responsibilities do you have? Who are you in a position to influence in your personal and professional life?

3.     If you applied these leadership qualities in your workplace, what effect might this have?

4.     How does the image of Christ as a shepherd impact you as a leader? Looking at verses 6-7, what do we learn about how God relates to us? How does his care for us to live differently?

5.     If God has a vision for our potential, how can we also unlock the potential in those around us? What steps can you take to strengthen the leadership characteristics found in this passage as you lead the way for others?

ETHICAL PRACTICE, QUALITY CARE

Throughout 2015, ANA is encouraging nurses to celebrate their role in delivering the highest level of quality care to their patients. We recognize that highly ethical nursing practice directly impacts patient care quality and safety for the better.

How would you define “ethical practice” in nursing? What are the foundational principles and standards for ethical practice? This year’s theme for National Nurse’s Week can generate some thoughtful discussions with your nurse friends and coworkers.

The ANA Code of Ethic and nurse practice acts provide guidelines and rules for nursing practice, but they don’t absolve us from making appropriate individual decisions. Ethics in nursing involves individual interpretation. It is based on individual morals and values and our own principles of right and wrong. We have to decide what is right and wrong for ourselves.

The Bible has a lot to say about right and wrong attitudes and behaviors and caring for others, yet most of our efforts at righteous living are limited and fall short of God’s standards. Because of God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, we are constantly given new opportunities to reflect God’s standards for Christ-like attitudes and behaviors that we can incorporate into our nursing practice.

READ Philippians 4:8-9. Read it aloud.

TRUE. What effect can rumors, gossip and lies have on one’s life? What is true about God? About people and the world? How do these truths influence your attitudes and behaviors, your nursing practice? How can you promote truth in your workplace?

NOBLE/RIGHT: How do you determine what is right and wrong? What injustices do you see in your workplace? What are some ways you can make things right or just in your circumstances?

PURE/LOVELY/ADMIRABLE: What is the difference between these characteristics? What images come to mind as you reflect on them?

EXCELLENT/PRAISEWORTHY: What are ways you can intentionally promote excellence in your work environment? What do you see that is worthy of praise? How does thinking about positive things have an effect on your attitude?

REFLECTION

How does our thought life influence our actions?

What is your vision for ethical practice?

What attitudes and behaviors do you aim for? Why?

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

As nurses, we see very ill people who are in pain and often at their worst. We clean up messes, work short-staffed and encounter unexpected and critical situations. Through our work circumstances, how can we continue to think of good things? What outcomes do we want to see for our patients, our workplace and ourselves?

What is one step you can take to put these attitudes and behaviors into daily practice?

Scripture says that if we think on these things and put them into practice, the God of peace will be with us. How does this promise give you hope?

BEST PRACTICE # 2 ESTABLISH A ROUTINE

It has been said that it takes 21-30 days to obtain a habit.  Think of the habits that you have. It took about 30 days to make those habits a routine.  If we are dedicated to our upcoming study and it’s activities, by the time we finish you will have a habit to prayer. There is NOT a better habit to have to me!!

Yesterday I posted about you finding a place and dedicate it to your prayer time. Today will be talking about the routine. At a minimum, this routine will help you create consistence and build your ability to focus.  I know I need help sometimes focusing when I pray.

SETTING THE STAGE

1.   LIGHT A CANDLE.

  This helps trigger your attention toward God, Because He is the Light of the World. It also gets your mind transitioned to a prayerful mindset. What thoughts go through your mind when your light a candle? It was invented to be able to see in the darkness. As you pray, this candle can represent the darkness of your prayer needs and the light is God. Even scented candles is nice. Incense has been used in Christian worship throughout history to represent the prayers of the faithful rising to heaven.

2.   PRAY FOR UNDERSTANDING before you read your devotion. Pray for God’s help to understand His word.

3.   READ THE BIBLE. Devotional readings not for study. Study involves lots of critical thinking.

4.   JOURNAL- Write down your thoughts, prayers or Bible verse that “spoke” to you.

5.   IDENTIFY A TAKE-AWAY. Always look and listen for actions steps that God is calling you to do.

6.   MEDITATE and LISTEN. Pause in silence to listen what God has to say. Just be very quiet.

7.   THANKS GOD. For insight and the time together.

I know you are problem thinking I thought we were going to talk about HOW to pray. We will get to that in our study, but the point I am making here is that we should spend time with God daily not just when we need Him.

For example, when you are trying to have a relationship with someone, do you only talk to them when YOU WANT something? As nurses, do you have so-called friends call you ONLY when they need medical advice? Or money? How does that make you feel? How do you think God feels when that is the only time we talk to him?

This prayer time/ devotional time doesn’t have to be 30mins. It can be as short as 5 mins. There are so many short devotional books, emails and apps that you can uses, for this “getting to know you more” time and make your relationship with God more intimate.

This time is, among other things, a training ground for life. It’s where GOD shapes you to perform better in the “mission field of life”

TOMORROW…..INCLUDE SCRIPTURE…….

PRELUDE TO PRAYER STUDY: BEST PRACTICE #1 ESTABLISH A TIME AND PLACE TO PRAY

As I sit here thinking about my past weekend, working the "Walk to Emmaus" I am rejuvenated in my walk with God. As much as when I attend the "Walk to Emmaus" for the first time as a pilgrim. (Your first time you are a pilgrim the other times you are workers or "the team". ) We did a lot of praying this weekend and it made me think about our upcoming study on prayer.

I want to give you a little introduction information, some REFLECTION questions and some activities to do before we officially begin. Just to get us in the right mood and atmosphere for the study.

If you want to improve or learn to pray, you need to set the stage. Just as if you are cooking. You need a place to cook, a cookbook/recipe, the right utensil and ingredients along with equipment.  In fact for each room in your house, there a specific things there to MAKE THAT ROOM what it is. Think about it, the bedroom, the bathroom, the living room, and the laundry room. You should have EVERY THING you need, to accomplish what is expected and necessary for those task specific for those rooms.

5 FACTORS SHAPE YOUR PRAYER

1.    CONSISTENCY. How often do you pray?

2.    BREADTH. Do you struggle with what to say?

3.    DEPTH. Do you have a growing sense of intimacy with God? Do you recognize God at work?

4.    FOCUS. How well can you stay focused during prayer? Does your mind tend to wander to other things?

5.    INTEGRATION. How much is prayer a part of your life? Is it shaping who you are or just an extra curricular activity?

As most of us are nurses, we have heard a lot about “BEST PRACTICES” when it comes to patients. 

Wikipedia says “A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark. In addition, a "best" practice can evolve to become better as improvements are discovered.”

 Prayers have “Best Practices” too.

During this week, I will be posting these “Best Practices” for you to prepare for our study next week.

1)   ESTABLISH A DAILY DEVOTION/PRAY TIME AND PLACE

Prayer should not be left to WHEN ever and WHERE ever. It is simply too critical. That’s why you need to sit aside a TIME and PLACE for PRAYER.

Your prayer time/devotional time is a sacred time, holy time, a time set apart from all other times, just for GOD.

Just as you schedule your workday, important appointments, schedule time for GOD. This is one way to make prayer a priority.

Many People pray at night as they fall asleep. They may offer thanks for meals or just run to God when life gets so overwhelming.

God is with us constantly, throughout the day and always giving us HIS very best, shouldn’t we do the same?

A PLACE. You can pray anywhere you want. However have a set place will make you more focused.  Your prayer “spot” can be as simple as a chair in your living room

or maybe you want to dedicate a closet as a “prayer closet”. (I am planning this myself).

It may be somewhere outdoors or more than one place.

 Wherever the place or places are, make sure that your space is one where you can be ALONE with God and uninterrupted. Yes, it can even be in the Bathroom.

NEXT TOPIC....ESTABLISH A ROUTINE......................