Day 4

How do I pray?

There is no one answer to this. I have recently read the Yada Yada Prayer Group Series. Now I LOVED this series. In fact it's part of what inspired me to do this subject. Many of their prayer meetings followed this format - Catch up, praise, prayer, and thanks. And the main character Jody adopted this for her personal prayer time. Well, minus the catch up anyways. So lets look at each of these. 

Catch up - In a church this would be called Fellowship but I don't really like the dictionary definition of the word :-) The ladies would spend some time catching up on what had happened since they last met. And depending on how busy the month had been it may have been awhile. And for many people this is a favorite part of prayer meetings and groups. (and for some church - but that's another subject...)

It is a time to be able to look in someones eyes as they tell you how their life is going. Part of what can bring people together is the quality face time. Its easy for someone to say everything is fine via text, or email or facebook or over the phone even when it isn't. Face to face it can be harder to fake it. So enjoy the time catching up. Look into the eyes of those you're with and really see them. You want to be a safe person for them to be around and you want them to be the same for you. Prayer can be very intimate even in a group setting. You want to feel safe praying about intensely private matters. This is one reason many people don't pray in public settings or out loud around other people - they don't feel safe to open up. If you're in a prayer group, do all you can to ensure it is a safe space to be in. Pray about it! Ask God to show you all how to make it a welcoming safe environment.

Praise - I'm only going to say this once. GOD does not care if you don't sing like Adele, or Christina, or Reba. And men you do NOT have to sound like Usher or Blake Shelton or Josh Turner (yep I love me some country music) When we open our mouths and hearts in praise it makes Him happy. And feel free to move outside of your comfort zone on this. There are sweet loving praise and worship songs out there. Some are soft and slow and others are fast and upbeat. And some mix both beautifully. Songs for every emotion and situation. There are songs that say the words you can't find. Just a song can put set you to crying, or laughing, or remember something long forgotten. We use lyrics to express our love to our spouses and children and girlfriends. We can do the same to express our love to our Heavenly Father. 

I'm going to leave you with a few songs and scriptures! Day 5 I'll focus on Prayer and Thanks!

Chris Tomlin 

Isreal and The New Breed

Psalm 150: 1-6 

Psalm 100:2

In fact for those that aren't yet aware - the Psalms are all about praise! :-) As you read through your Bible, you'll see various points where Gods people praise him! 

Till next time!