I first learned how to pray an hour a day by using the Lord’s prayer as a guide. I was what the Bible calls a God-fearing person for as long as I can remember but it was not until the age of twenty-one that I received Christ as my Savior. I began to learn how to delight myself in the Lord when I began to spend an hour each day in prayer using the Lord’s prayer which I referred to as the “Our Father.” I began to teach my friends how to do the same as they would come over to my house and spend an hour in prayer and then share what they had learned. I eventually began to teach a Sunday School class which grew every week. We would teach a class and then practice what we learned, each week we would add more prayer until the last class we spent the whole hour in prayer as a corportate body of believers. We began to see real break throughs in the relationships they had with the Lord.

I eventually went on to be discipled by a man of prayer for three years in Carbondale, Illinois. I spent three years learning how to pray two hours everyday, we met seven days a week at 6:00 am to spend the first hour in personal devotions and the next hour in corportate prayer. The number of people who would show up would vary throughout the year but this prayer meeting has gone on for over fifteen years now. The ministry has continued to see people saved weekly and nations discipled because of the prayer that goes on at the College Campus of Southern Illinois University.

I have now come full circle and developed a prayer time that once again is based on the Lord’s prayer. The outline I use is as follows:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name…

I meditate on a name of God for that week. By learning and using the names of God in prayer we can begin to personalize our time and we find all of our answers in knowing God through His names. Knowing God addresses our need for security. We know we are loved, accepted, transformed, provided for and every other need that God addresses by making Himself known to us through His names.

Example Emmanuel, God is with us. I meditate on the fact that God is with me right now, Jehovah Shammah, He will never forsake me. He is present in all my battles, He will never leave me and by faith I receive Him in my life to abide with me and I in Him as I go about my day. I simply allow these thoughts to prevail in my heart until I have answered my deep question of being secure in His love. As I am satisfied in His love I can be an overflowing giver of His love to others. This is how we become Noble in Christ Jesus. We must first receive a good and perfect gift from above before we can willingly offer it to another.

Thy kingdom come and thy will be done…

I pray that God’s commands be carried out in five life roles. I pray as a:

• Person – I would allow Jesus to live in and through me to fulfill this command in my personal life. I ask God to search my heart and show me how to yield to Him in this command so His will can be done in my life.

• Partner – I pray for my spouse.

• Parent – I pray for my children.

• Provider – I pray for my co-workers, vendors, clients, and others associated with my calling of work.

• Proclaimer – I pray for those in authority, for the nations, for those I am called to minister to so they will yield to Christ’s commands.

This part of the prayer meets our need for significance. There is nothing more significant in life than allowing the eternal Word of God to grown in the eternal souls of men. We all have a need to do something great and achieve things that last. Heaven and earth will pass away but the Commands of Christ will stand for eternity.

Example Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I begin to pray for repentance so that times of refreshing can come. I pray that God would cause us to turn at Hisreproof so that He would make His Word known to us, and pour out His Spirit upon us. (See Prov. 1:23)

Give us this day our daily bread…

I begin to pray for God’s daily provision for:

• A constant infilling of the Holy Spirit. (See Eph. 5:18)
• The wisdom of God for daily decisions. (See Jas 1:5)
• The Grace of God to do His good pleasure. (Phil 2:13)
• Favor with God and all men. Soul Needs
• Grow in Stature. Physical Needs
• Provisions to fulfill our assignment and calling.

Example I begin to pray that God would open the heavens and pour out a blessing that we could not contain. I want the daily provision of His Word, or His Spirit, of His grace. We want more of Jesus. We want to rely completely on Him and know that our provison comes from the Lord. I will pray for specific needs that I have and for those that I have committed to pray.

Forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those…

Most trespasses are due to a lack of Godly character in our lives so I pray for God to bless me and my offenders with the character of Christ so we can be reconciled. This part of the prayer addresses our need to be heard by God as David demonstrated, “I love the Lord because He has heard my voice.” (See Psalm 116:1) Every person has a need to express his heart and feel understood. We will either express our hurts to one another and defile many or suppress them and defile ourselves. God’s way is to share our heart with him and take it all to the cross so it can be properly healed and we can be made whole.

Example Humility is the character trait that goes with the command of repent. Therefore I pray for God’s will to be done in repentance and for the results of obeying this command to be manifested in our lives. This is a way to bless those who curse you. We bless them with the character qualities they are lacking so God can transform them through His love. It is God’s goodness that leads us to repentance. By blessing a person we are discerning their needs rather than judging and exposing them for not meeting our needs.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us…

I pray for two things in this part of the prayer.

1. The need for a headge of protection as outlined in the book of Hosea.
2. The need for God’s ministering angels to stand guard and be ascending and descending as necessary upon our lives even as they did upon Jesus.

For thine is the kingdom, the glory, and the power.

I dedicate myself and those in my family to God, our spirits, souls, minds and bodies. I confess any known selfish motives and receive God’s moties of love for all we do today. This meets the need to receive recognition. We want to hear our Heavenly Father say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Some of the Names of God as related to the commands of Christ, and the character of Christ.

1. I am Jesus, Emmanuel – Repent – Humility
2. I am meek and lowly of heart – Follow Me – Meekness
3. I am the source of joy – Rejoice – Joyfulness
4. I am the Light of the world – Let Your Light Shine – Generosity
5. I am the Living Word – Honor God’s Law – Love
6. I am the Lord, thy Redeemer – Be Reconciled – Responsibility
7. I am the Bridegroom – Do Not Commit Adultery – Self-Controlled
8. I am the Truth – Keep Your Word – Truthfulness
9. I am thy Creator and Redeemer – Go the Second Mile – Deference
10. I am the Great High Priest – Love Your Enemies – Creativity
11. I am the Express Image of God – Be Perfect – Sincerity
12. I am the Vine – Practice Secret Disciplines – Faith
13. I am thy Great Reward – Lay Up Treasures – Thriftiness
14. I am the King Eternal – Seek God’s Kingdom – Initiative
15. I am the Righteous Judge – Judge Not – Discernment
16. I am the Holy One of Israel – Do Not Cast Pearls – Discretion
17. I am the Door – Ask, Seek, and Knock – Resourcefulness
18. I am the Give of Good Gifts – Do Unto Others – Sensitivity
19. I am the Way – Choose the Narrow Way – Decisiveness
20. I am the Good Shepherd – Beware of False Prophets – Alertness
21. I am the Lord of the Harvest – Pray for Laborers – Compassion
22. I am Wisdom and Prudence – Be Wise as Serpents – Wisdom
23. I am the Wonderul Counseler – Hear God’s Voice – Attentiveness
24. I am the Lamb of God – Take My Yoke – Obedience
25. I am the Son of the Living God – Honor Your Parents – Honor

Related Resources

• The Power of Kingdom Living by Bill Gothard
• The Power of True Success
• Daily Success E-mails
• The Commands of Christ Series by Bill Gothard

Posted by Chris Hogan on Saturday, December 23, 2006 at 10:05 AM