M
ost of us struggle with prayer. Our lives are so busy from dawn to
dark that there is little, if any, time for quiet moments alone with
God. We trade our walk with God for a pot of porrige. We cheat
ourselves out of the richest experiences God has to offer by not
learning the art of intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer is
not easy. It does not come naturally. It must be learned in the school
of personal discipline. It will not come to us. We must pursue it.We
must to want it bad enough to sacrifice treasured activities to have
it.
This is a training course in intercessory prayer. It is born out of
the struggle that all of us feel. It begins with the simple discipline
of "being still" and grows from there. We start with 1 minute alone
with God and grow from there. A three-minute egg timer will become
your best friend as you seek to discipline your mind and heart in
prayer. It is based on 12 biblical steps of intercession. Begin
with one step. Learn that well until you can discipline yourself to
spend three minutes on it without distraction. When you learn all of
them begin small with one minute on each. From there grow strong and
disciplined in your intercession. You may not be able to do this plan
EVERY DAY but while you learn it make yourself do it every day for 4-6
weeks. That will build habit into your prayer time. Then use the plan
several times a week for intense intercession. Use it in your all-day
prayer retreats or in extended times of fasting and prayer. Expand
your exercise from 3 minutes to an hour on each when you are doing an
all-night or all-day intercession. Pastors, use it as a guide to
intercession in your Prayer Meetings. It will revitalize your prayer
times and train your people at the same time.