How we FOCUS in Prayer
Here are 5 ways we can handily keep on track to pray 5 minutes
In our so-called multi-tasking world, we are often unable to fully focus on one task alone for any length of time. We are so used giving partial attention to too many things to really concentrate, study, or meditate on more than a few moments. Truly giving total consideration to just one thing is rare as we are always distracted by the next thing.
Thus our prayer life can be unfocused, inconsistent and we are left feeling ineffective in prayers. That is not at all uncommon among the people with whom I’ve prayed. We can say a lot of words, but did we really pray much?
So let’s learn to focus our prayer time. Similar to the FACTS of prayer in a recent newsletter, we are using the word FOCUS as an acronym to guide us on paying attention to 5 things, one for each finger on one hand.
And if you only have 5 minutes (and really, we all have at least 5 minutes) you can pray each of these for one minute each. This is not all we can pray, but it feels like a complete prayer time when we do.
Let’s FOCUS on these 5 areas:
Father – He is First, Foremost, and Forever. Focus on the Lord, the Almighty, the one who is Faithful and True. What are His Names? His Attributes? Focus on these. Jesus taught us in His prayer that when you pray, pray this: Heavenly Father...He Himself prayed to the Father, how much should we? He is the Lord of Hosts, He is the Lord who Provides, He is Holy, He is Good and His mercy endures, He is on the Throne.
Others – You likely have a friend or neighbor, coworker or a family member who is going through a tough time. Maybe they are sick or unemployed or having trouble in a relationship, or they are unsaved. Focus on that one person and pray for them. That they would know the Lord – ask Him for their salvation; that they would grow in the Lord; that they would have health, blessing, grace, peace, mercy, love, etc. Pray for one with whom you are at odds with!
Church – Our intercessions (praying on behalf of another) are largely for the Church, the people of God, and we include a few verses to use to pray for the church in each newsletter. This is a time to read the verse and then pray that back to the Lord, asking Him to bring that word to pass – to answer His promise on behalf of his children. Pray these for your own fellowship, your pastor, elders, etc and the body of believers.
Useful - Focus here on asking the Lord to make you useful for the Kingdom of God. That you would be shaped like clay by the Potter to be a vessel for His use. I often pray that - like a staff in Moses hand or like the sling in young David’s, I might be of use for Him. May He fit us for every good work of service, that we would bear fruit, do the work of ministry, stand firm is all His will.
Scripture – Probably the best way to learn to pray is by praying His Word, certainly the Psalms are an excellent place for this. If they were important enough to be preserved for our reading today, they are good enough as our prayer guide! I would pray one each day, just read through it as if you were praying it yourself. Or focus on a verse or two. There are 150 chapters, so at one a day it covers about 5 months. Then maybe pray the Proverbs and you have daily Scripture prayers for half a year.
F-O-C-U-S your prayer!
Praying the Word of God on behalf of the People of God
Mon- Matthew 26:40, 41
Tue - Mark 4:14-20
Wed - Luke 11:1-4; 13
Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?
Until Thursday’s newsletter, grace and peace to you