I recently read the book “Praying With Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation” by D.A. Carson.
With each chapter, I jotted down one principle of roughly one sentence in length. These were not summary statements of the chapter, but rather they were my personal take aways, lessons I learned from reading the chapter.
On an aside, this is a new practice I think I will adopt. With any book I read, I will attempt to write down at least one major take-away from each chapter. I offer that idea to you–maybe it will help you. Let me know if it does.
Here’s my 12 short prayer principles:
- Planning prayer time is absolutely essential. Schedule it!
- A proper framework for prayer is to keep in mind the eternal destiny of believers.
- Our goals and visions must be birthed out of prayer and must be prayed about over and over again.
- If we are going to follow Paul’s example, we will never overlook the importance of praying for others.
- Praying for others and loving others are related; if one grows the other will naturally grow as well.
- To be a healthy Christian, means that one will be living according to the will of God; which is living a life worthy of Him and pleasing Him, having endurance and patience. We must pray to this end.
- There is no legitimate excuse for not praying. Stop making them and get on with the important business of prayer.
- In every area of life, for myself and others, pray to know what is best.
- God’s sovereignty should not lead me to be lazy in prayer; rather I should see it as a way of partnering with God’s purpose.
- Of all the things to pray, whether for ourselves or others, knowing God is one of the most important.
- The integrity and intensity of our prayer lives is directly related to our experiencing God.
- Prayer is not like a recipe or magic—it is the essential communication of a vital relationship.
Which of these do you find most helpful? Let me know by scrolling down and typing in the comments below.