The moment you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. “Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer” has finally hit the stands. Just in time for the New Year, you can now read the full story of Steve and Sarah, a Christian couple who woke up one Sunday morning in a spiritual rut.

Steve and Sarah didn’t really know what to do next. They just didn’t want to continue on in the rat-race of just going to church as usual. They thought maybe they just needed a change of scenery. Maybe a new church would do the trick. Providentially, one of their shepherds, brother Davis, checks in on them and challenges them to a “High Voltage Prayer Challenge”–thirteen weeks of prayer. You can read their story and face the “High Voltage Prayer Challenge” with them.

“Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer (The Classbook)” takes some of the major themes found in it’s predecessor Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer (plus a couple new lessons) and presents them in a format perfect for a small group study or a quarterly Bible class. Or go through the study with a friend, with your family, or on your own.

The great thing is this is a downloadable pdf. You don’t have to wait for shipping. Simply purchase the license option you want, download and print your copies. For more info, visit the product page, click the banner above or the box below.

Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer (The Classbook)

The story of Steve and Sarah, a Christian couple in a spiritual rut. Learn about the power of God through prayer as you read their story and work through the challenges and questions they face as they figure out the place prayer really has in their spiritual lives.

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on my special Bible class material project: “Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer-The Bible Class.” I am excited to announce that within the next few weeks the story of Steve and Sarah and their victory in Christ through prayer will be released for personal and congregational use. I’ve received great feedback about this class material and I’m truly excited to be able to offer it to you.

“Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer–The Bible Class” takes the 12 greatest lessons about prayer and brings them to you in the midst of a story of Steve and Sarah. They are in a spiritual slump, ready to turn their back on their congregation and their own spiritual growth. But one shepherd takes them under his wing and leads them through a journey of faith, teaching them how prayer can connect them to God and bring the spark of power back into their walk with the Lord.

In each lesson, you get to see how a powerful principle of prayer helps bring Steve and Sarah back into a closer walk with the Lord. They will meet with several different Christians from different backgrounds who help them get back on track.

The great thing about this different approach to Bible class material is you do not learn these lessons about prayer in a vacuum. Rather, you learn them in the context of a true to life story. You easily see the immediate application of the principles you learn about and discuss in the class or small group setting.

The story is at times humorous and at other times heart-wrenching. Steve and Sarah’s lives are not easy. But the God they serve is powerful enough to help them through. And they learn that prayer is the connection to that power. You will too.

The time is drawing near for you to learn what Steve and Sarah did. The book is presently in the midst of editing, revision, and design work. But we are fast approaching release. If you’d like to see what is coming, download the sample and read through the introduction and the first three lessons.

I know that many of your congregations are presently considering what to teach in your Bible classes in 2012. Please pass on this information to those who plan your curriculum and classes. I’m certain this is one class they will want to offer.

Click the book or here to download the sample.

I want your help and input. I’ve had what I think is a cool idea for a Bible class to go along with my book: “Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer.” Instead of just giving you 13 lessons about prayer with questions in a vacuum, I want to get the lessons to fit into real life. Therefore, I’ve decided to tell a story about “Steve and Sarah.” As the students learn Steve and Sarah’s story, they learn about how High Voltage Prayer fits in real life. Check out my introduction in this post and let me know if this kind of class or small group study would interest you.

I’m copying in the introduction. I know it is lengthy for a blog post. But I’d love your input.

Let me know if you think this is a good idea for a Bible class and if you would want to be in this kind of class or small group study in the comments section below. Thanks.

Meet Steve and Sarah

Sarah was shocked to say the least. Steve had just announced that he didn’t feel like going to Bible class or the assembly, but what shocked her the most was her own relief. She wasn’t much up to going, either. She still had her faith. She believed God was there, and she believed Jesus had died for her. She was really thankful for that. It was just that the weekly grind of “church-as-normal” wasn’t cutting it for her. She felt like she was missing something and thought she was the only one. She was relieved to know Steve was right there with her.

Steve had been raised by Christians; Sarah hadn’t. While at college, one of Sarah’s roommates attended the same congregation as Steve. Sarah and her roommate decided to have an end-of-semester party, and Sarah’s roommate had invited Steve, along with all the other college students from the congregation. Apparently, when Steve saw Sarah, it was love at first sight. He spent the next two years winning her heart. While they dated, he began to talk to her about God, invited her to church, and introduced her to Jesus. Her family had been good people, but not interested in spiritual things. She had always felt a hole there and absolutely ate up everything Steve taught her and everything she learned at the congregation where he was. When she was baptized, she felt like she had a new life. It was wonderful. The hole had been filled. About a year later, after graduation, she and Steve married. They were both 23.

It seemed like a textbook good marriage. They both got good jobs in a new town. They moved into an apartment, bought some cars and furniture, and became active members of the congregation they found there. They had several friends their age with whom they studied and did other things. Everything was going in the right direction. Then their friends all started having children, so they decided it was time to try, too. But no dice.

They tried for three years with no results. They prayed and prayed and prayed and asked others to do the same. But nothing happened. They decided to get some testing done and look into alternative methods of getting pregnant or having children, and were completely stunned when the doctor called them after their testing to say, “I can’t do anything for you right now. Would you believe that Sarah’s blood test showed she is already pregnant?” What a shock. They had it announced to the congregation. They thanked God every night and told everyone about His answer to their prayers. They were positively beaming. But then the unthinkable happened. Sarah had a miscarriage. A few months later she had a second one. A year later she had a third. It was a dark time for them, but they hung on to their faith.

After a couple more years, they decided to adopt. It was costly, but they had scraped together some savings, and they devoted it all to the adoption. Every day they prayed that the adoption would go smoothly and successfully. They had heard too many horror stories. Everything was coming together when Steve lost his job due to company downsizing in the poor economy. They decided to go ahead with the adoption, but Steve couldn’t find another job where they lived. They had to move to another state. This was a must, because they had decided they wanted Sarah to quit her job to stay home with their new little boy James. Once again, they found a faithful congregation and plugged in. But there weren’t very many their age and those that were had older kids. They didn’t seem to have anything in common. About three months after the adoption, and despite efforts to keep it from happening, Sarah became pregnant again. However, this pregnancy had no complications whatsoever, and their second child Marnie was born. A year and a half later, Caleb came along.

Steve started working longer hours in order to afford the bigger house and cars they had purchased. Plus, there were larger grocery bills, diapers, more gas, and on and on and on. Things were mostly good in their relationship, but they did find themselves getting short with each other. Between Steve working so much and Sarah dealing with the children, they were not spending as much time together. It was all they could do to make it to church on time. Then the kids started school, which, of course, added a whole new dimension to their schedule. But they kept on trucking.

Over the years, they had developed some friendships. Some were in the church; some with friends from Steve’s work; some with other parents they had connected with through their kids’ school and sports. They had a full schedule, but they tried to maintain their involvement in the church’s work, teaching classes, hosting home studies, having get-togethers.

On this odd Sunday morning, they had just celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary earlier in the week. Things weren’t stellar, but they were making it. They had gotten comfortable. Neither feared for their marriage, but neither felt like it was entirely fulfilling, either. The kids were doing as kids do, some good days, some bad. Sometimes they broke things. Sometimes they were completely shocking with their maturity. The biggest issue for Steve and Sarah was that they just felt exhausted. The daily grind was getting them down. They had both wrapped up teaching Bible classes a few weeks earlier and decided to take a break to recharge their batteries.

Then, while they still lay in bed, Steve announced he just didn’t feel like attending class or the assembly this morning.

“What’s the matter?” Sarah asked. “Are you getting sick?”

“No, I’m just tired. I think I’d rather stay home and read my Bible or something. I just don’t feel like going. Besides, going to church there doesn’t seem to be helping me much, anyway. You go if you want to, but I’m staying home.”

Sarah was shocked. Steve was the one who had introduced her to the Lord. But she was more shocked by her relief. She wouldn’t have to get the kids ready, deal with the arguments and fusses, or rush around getting ready herself. They could sleep in, do some Bible reading, and catch the evening assembly. That would be okay.

*******

It had been a couple months since that Sunday morning. When one of the shepherds, brother Davis, had called to check on them, Steve fudged the truth.

“Thanks for checking on us, brother Davis. We’re doing alright. We just didn’t feel well enough to make it yesterday. We’ll be there Wednesday night.”

And they were. But it seemed hollow. Over these months, their attendance had been sporadic, but what got the most attention was that the next time they were asked to teach a Bible class, they both declined. Brother Davis had called and wanted to visit them this evening. Steve and Sarah knew it was coming. They had discussed the meeting and decided they were going to tell brother Davis they were checking out the new congregation in town. They did things differently over there. It was a little more exciting. They always felt a little more pumped up when they attended there. Maybe that was what they needed to help them recharge and get back on track spiritually.
Sarah was thinking about that as she perused what she had just written in her journal.

I don’t know what’s going on with me anymore. I feel terrible empty. I’ve got this huge gaping hole where God used to be. What on earth is the point of church and all this stuff we’re doing if I’m going to feel like this anyway? I don’t remember feeling like this since before I was baptized. I thought that would fix everything forever. How could God let me get like this? What’s the deal God? Aren’t you there? Aren’t you listening? Please, give me something.

That was it. The hole had come back. How could that happen? Shouldn’t God keep that from happening? They had been faithful. They always attended (until recently). They were always involved. Why would this happen? Maybe this is what she really needed to talk to brother Davis about.

Brother Davis was right on schedule. They ushered him into the dining room, shooed the kids into their bedrooms to work on homework, poured some coffee, and then sat there wringing their hands under the table.

After a few minutes of “nice-weather-we’re-having” conversation, brother Davis broached the subject of their increasingly sporadic attendance and their decision not to teach. He assured them he wasn’t upset with them, just concerned that this might be a sign of some greater spiritual struggle and wanted them to know he was there for them to talk to.

Steve set in with the planned defense. He was saying things like, “No, everything is alright,” and, “We just don’t seem to be getting as much out of the services and classes as we used to.” He wrapped up with the climax: “We’re just checking out the new church across town some. They do things a little differently, and that seems to be giving us a bigger boost spiritually each week.”

The plan had been that Steve would speak, getting them through this uncomfortable evening, and then they wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. But Sarah couldn’t help herself. She spoke up.

“The problem is, right now I feel empty. I’ve been a Christian for just over twenty years. Steve has been in the church his whole life. Frankly, I’m just dry right now. We’ve been working and working and working. We’ve been their faithfully. We’ve attended, given, been involved. And right now, I feel—spiritually—about like I did before becoming a Christian. I’ve just got to try something new. I think this new church may help me get back on track. I’ve been in a rut, and I need to get out of it. I hope you can understand.”

She expected brother Davis to become cold and distant, perhaps even threatening. But if anything, as he took a deep breath, his eyes softened, and he became more comfortable.

“Wow. That sounds like a heavy burden,” he began. “I can understand why you’re thinking about trying something new. I’ve been exactly where you are, and when I felt like that, I was willing to try just about anything to get back to feeling truly connected with God. Is that what you’re telling me right now?”

Sarah leaned in with head nodding, “Yes. Yes, that’s it exactly. I hope you’ll understand. It isn’t really about the church. We’ve just got to try something.”

“Well,” brother Davis continued, “I’ve heard about the new congregation, and as far as I know, they aren’t doing anything wrong. It may be different, but I’m sure you’re smart enough to know if they do something unscriptural or unhealthy. If that really will help you, then I’m glad for you to try that.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Steve visibly scoot down in his chair as he sighed and relaxed. She knew he was thinking that this was all going to work out, and brother Davis would soon be out of their hair. But she wasn’t so sure. In fact, brother Davis kept talking.

“However, I’m not just trying to blow smoke when I say that I’ve been where you are right now. And I’ve seen lots of people at your exact same spot. But rarely have I seen someone change churches and that fixed their problem. Oh, it seems good for a while, but it wears off, and then they feel the hole again and need something new. I’ve seen people hop, skip, and jump around churches all their life, looking for something to fill the hole, and it doesn’t work. But I do know something that has truly helped fill the hole for me. Now, you can go to the new church across town. We won’t stop you, though we will miss you. But if you’re really willing to do anything to get over this slump, I’d like to share something with you. I’d like to share something that has really helped me, and I know it’s helped several others in our congregation, too.”

Steve was getting tense in his chair again, but Sarah was actually intrigued. She just nodded.

“I’ve got one question for you,” brother Davis said. “What is your prayer life like?”

At this point, Steve cut in. “Our prayer life is fine. We pray. ‘Pray without ceasing’ you know,” and he chuckled, looking to Sarah for support. She just stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Good,” brother Davis responded. “But how much do you pray? Once a day, twice a day? Once a week?”

“Well…” Steve drew this word out as he tilted his head and shrugged, “we pray at our meals every day. I try to pray before I go to sleep, but that gets tough, because I work so hard, sometimes I just fall asleep. I mean, I’m no psalmist or anything, but I’m doing alright.”

Sarah chimed in, “I try to pray every day. But lately I just haven’t felt like it. Even when I do it, I usually feel like it isn’t doing any good. Sometimes I think that after being a Christian for twenty years, I don’t even know how to pray.”

“I know the feeling,” brother Davis said. “I think I have the perfect challenge for you, if you really are willing to try anything. I call it ‘Plugged In: High Voltage Prayer.’ It’s all about learning to really plug in to the power of God through prayer. But it is going to take a little time. In fact, it will take at least three months. I’d like to ask you to give me thirteen weeks. During those thirteen weeks, you are committed to being at all our assemblies and classes, and you will meet with me or someone I’ve chosen once a week. At the end, if things aren’t any better, you can try your plan and start attending the new church across town. In fact, even if things are better, you may still want to try the other congregation, but at least I’ll feel better about why you’re going and how you’re doing spiritually. How does that sound?”

Steve spoke first. “I don’t know, we’ve already been at this congregation for a long time and nothing has worked so far.”

“That’s true,” brother Davis said. “You’ve been a great part of the congregation for right at about 10 years now. What’s three more months if it can help you get back to the way you felt about the Lord when you were younger?”

“Steve,” Sarah said, “I think brother Davis has a good point. I’d really like to try this. I really am willing to do anything, even stick it out for three more months. If it doesn’t work, then we can go. After all, all our Christian friends are in this congregation, not to mention the kids’ friends. Maybe we should hang on a little longer and try.”

Steve slumped back in his chair. “Okay. Fine. We’ll try. But I have to tell you, I just don’t think it will do much good.”

“I understand, Steve. But I’m going to be a little more optimistic,” responded brother Davis. “Like I said, I need your commitment to be at all of our classes and assemblies for the next three months. Plus you’ll meet with me or someone I’ve chosen once per week. How about we meet again this same time next week?”

After checking their calendar, Steve and Sarah agreed to the next meeting. Then brother Davis asked to lead them in prayer:

Dear God,

Thank You so much for this opportunity to meet with Steve and Sarah tonight. I know they’re good children of Yours, and I can tell they’re going through some spiritual struggles right now, just like all of Your children do. Thank You for letting them be in my life. It is such an encouragement to have friends that are willing to do anything to maintain their relationship with You. Please strengthen that resolve in them.

Help us, Father, as we start a journey over these next thirteen weeks. Help us learn how to plug in to Your power. Help us learn how to be filled with Your Spirit so that we’ll no longer feel the hole that comes with being disconnected from You. Please give Steve and Sarah the resolve to make every meeting we have scheduled and complete all the challenges we have planned. In the end, help them to be strengthened, encouraged, and connected to You.

Thank You for this growth opportunity for all of us.

Through Your Son I pray

Amen

“I’ll look forward to seeing you on Wednesday and Sunday. Then I’ll meet you here the same time next week.”

——————————————–

Well, there it is. Let me know what you think about this idea for Bible class or small group study material. It will be a 12 lesson book with a review lesson. Each lesson will tell another part of the story of Steve and Sarah’s growth as well as introducing you to someone else who had to learn to grow in prayer. Discussion questions will be mingled into the story to provide topics of discussion for the actual class time.

You can add your input about this in the comments section below.

Thanks for your input.

I know this may shock you, but my family and I have a terrible struggle with keeping a scheduled family Bible study and prayer time. We’ve learned all kinds of great ways to study and pray together. I’ve written about one of my favorites on this blog. But despite how inspiring some of these methods are, we get them started, do well for a while, and then it falls off. The struggle is often with making the schedules work. I don’t have a set schedule. I’ll have meetings come up or studies come up or I’ll have to go out of town. Or maybe something comes up for Marita or the kids. It gets in the way of our Bible study and prayer schedule and then, after a few misses, the habit is broken. A few weeks or months later, we are convicted about our lack of devotion and we get back on the family Bible study bandwagon feeling all kinds of shame and guilt.

If you’re like us, I’ve got something that might help. We’ve discovered a way to overcome this struggle. At least it is working for us. Although all kinds of things mess up our schedules every week and keep us from being able to set a timed schedule for Bible study, we recognized that we are actually pretty good at making sure we eat no matter what our scheduling does. No, we don’t actually get three family meals together every day. But we do get several family meals together each week.

So, we bought two cheap Bibles (Bibles that we didn’t mind getting a little food or drink spilled on them). Then we set them on our two tables. Now we have a reminder every time we sit down to eat to pull the Bible out and discuss it. We read a chapter and talk about it and then we pray.

This has been great for us because we are studying, praying, and having quality family time in actual communication. What is really great about this (since we are going through Proverbs right now) is how it has helped with discipline. We keep coming across Proverbs that apply to real life situations in our family. When one of us crosses the line on something, we’ve probably read a proverb about it that day. Now it is no longer just parents disciplining children; it is God disciplining our family.

You may not struggle with the scheduling. But if you do, I recommend this approach. See if it doesn’t help. Make sure you come back and let us know how it helps.

What do you do to help you study with your family? Click here to add your input.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Making the most of our time is essential for us these days. We are so busy, flitting from here to there, church, work, school, PTA, clubs, sports, and on the list goes.

Through all of this, we spend a lot of time alone in our cars. That time can be wasted or it can be invested. Here are 6 ways to invest and redeem your commute time.

1. Pray: Have you been looking for consistent time to devote to prayer? Why not use your daily commute? You don’t have to close your eyes to pray. You can talk with God as if He is sitting in the passenger seat. You may even find time to pray for those other drivers instead of yelling at them.
2. Listen: Get the Bible on cd or mp3 and listen to it. Or you may get on the mailing list for sermons on cd from some of the preachers you’ve found most helpful. If you have an iPod and an auxiliary jack, you can subscribe to all kinds of sermon or growth podcasts and listen to those during your commute. You might try this one.
3. Memorize scripture: Write down the passage you want to memorize on a card and carry it with you. When you are in the car, start repeating it over and over again until you can say it without looking (which is good because you are driving). If you have a smart phone or an iPod touch, you can download a Bible program and use that as your prompt.
4. Meditate: I don’t mean close your eyes, touch your finger tips, and hum. Rather, I mean think about the scriptures you are presently studying or memorizing. What do they mean? How do they connect to other passages you know? How do they apply in your life today? How can they help you and your family if you live by them? How will they help you on the job? Take specific time to think about them and apply them.
5. Phone calls: I know I’m going to take flak for this one from the “Hang up and Drive” bumper sticker brigade. Make sure you do this with a hands-free set; keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. If you have that capability, use your drive time to connect with those who hold you accountable and those you hold accountable. It’s private. It’s consistent. It’s perfect.
6. Relax: Yep. That’s right. Relax. I don’t mean do nothing. I mean purposefully use this time to relax. Especially your commute home after work time. Play music that relaxes you. Breathe deeply. Be grateful for delays because they give you more time to simply relax and exist without the pressure of having to do something at that moment. Be thankful you are alive and can drive.

When you’ve done all of this, you might also take some time to drive. We would all appreciate that.

What other tips have you learned to help you redeem the time? Click here to add your input.

If there is one thing consistent among almost every Christian I have ever talked to, preached to, studied with, no matter what level of maturity, no matter how long we’ve been a Christian, most of us think we need to do better at prayer. Either by praying more, praying longer, praying deeper. I say “almost every Christian” because I did poll one congregation during a sermon and one brother raised his hand to say his prayer life was good enough. But I think my polling now ranks in the thousands. One in thousands is not too inspiring.* So, what can we do to improve our prayers lives?  I’d like to share 5 things that have improved my prayer life. I hope they may help you as well.

#1: Schedule an appointment with God.

Don’t just intend to pray. Schedule it. Mark it in your day-planner. Put it on the calendar. If you wanted to meet with your boss, you’d schedule it. If you wanted to go on a date, you’d schedule it. When you want to meet with God, schedule it. When someone asks you to have coffee during that time, politely explain you already have an appointment with someone far more important.

#2: Have a place of prayer.

Obviously you can pray anywhere at anytime. I encourage you to pray everywhere. But I have also found that having a place dedicated to my specific and purposeful prayer time has been very powerful. Why? When I have a place dedicated to praying, every time I even pass by it, I start thinking about prayer. Sometimes it prompts prayer even when I wasn’t planning it.

(As an aside, don’t make your place of prayer your bed or easy chair. One complaint I’ve often heard among those who pray is, “I want to pray more, better, longer, but every time I start praying, I fall asleep.” I ask, “Where are you praying?” The response, “Oh, in bed.” I agree with many who say, “What better way to fall asleep.” However, I also agree with those who say, “If you feel asleep every time you talked to me, I’d start to get offended.” I have a place dedicated for sleep. I try not to confuse the issue by also making that my place dedicated to prayer.)

#3: Pray out loud.

This may sound odd, but it has helped me tremendously. Obviously, there are times praying out loud isn’t appropriate. When you are in that staff meeting and your boss is getting on your last nerve, you probably shouldn’t pray out loud, “Dear God, help me deal with this man.” But, pray out loud sometimes and see if it doesn’t help. It helps me because when I’m praying my mind can tend to wander. When I’m praying in my head, it is often hard to tell when I’m praying and when I’m just thinking. When I pray out loud, I can always tell. I’m praying when I’m making noise, I’m just thinking when I’m not. By the way, it is great to spend some time thinking while we pray. So even when you pray out loud, don’t be worried about times of silence. Take some time to think about what you are praying, but then pray it out loud.

#4: Make lists.

One of the most helpful tools I’ve developed is my “prayer Moleskine.” In it, I have lists of prayers from the Bible and other sources that I love to repeat. I have lists of praise prayers from the psalms that help me praise God. I have lists for thanksgiving, special requests, evangelists I know, churches I’ve been to, family, friends, granted requests. With these lists all in one place, I don’t have any trouble praying more and longer. In fact, the big trouble is now I have so much to pray for that I struggle finding the time.

#5: Plan your praying.

Now that I have so much to pray for, I’ve learned to plan my praying. This is different from scheduling. Scheduling was setting a time to pray. Planning means figuring out what to pray when. You don’t have to pray for everything on your lists every day. Rather, plan to pray for certain things on each day. For instance, Sunday is my praise and thanksgiving day. While I do some of that every day, Sunday is specifically for that purpose. Monday is my day to pray for evangelism and evangelists. Tuesday is my day to pray for my family and friends. And so on. Obviously, this is not hard and fast. I have some issues going on in my extended family that I pray for every day right now. These are just general guidelines that help me.

I’m always looking for other things to help me pray better, deeper, to connect more meaningfully with God. What practical tools or concepts have helped improve your prayer life? You can add your input by clicking here.

*By the way, I’m not too worried that almost all Christians think they need to improve in prayer. I’m far more concerned about the spiritual status of the one brother who said his prayer life was good enough than I am about the thousands who claim they wanted to do better. We all need to grow always.

What kind of praying do you think is best? You can tell us your thoughts by clicking here.

PS: I share this video because I love the overall point about the nature of our praying. I do need to point out that, doctrinally speaking, I do not agree with The Skit Guys interpretation of “Thy kingdom come” in the model prayer. I do not believe it refers to something Jesus will do at His return. I believe it refers to establishing His rule throughout our lives on earth even now. His kingdom was established on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and has continued to be spread through the earth ever since (cf. Mark 9:1; Colossians 2:13; Revelation 1:6).

Last week we looked at a plan for spending some in depth time with God and making it last. However, the reality is, as you grow in your prayer life, those lists you develop are going to start taking more than 5 minutes a piece. You’re going to start wondering how to get it all in. Or perhaps your schedule just doesn’t allow for an hour. Maybe you’re shooting for 30 minutes or 15 minutes per day (no matter what anyone says, that’s okay). In any event, you’re going to wonder how to get it all in.

You need to set yourself free from the idea that you have to pray for everything in every prayer. You don’t have to cover it all every time you pray. Instead, plan out your prayers for the week and assign different topics to each day. 

Obviously, there will be aspects of prayer you keep up with every day. I’m sure you’ll offer some praise and thanksgiving along with confession every day. However, as you consider your intercessions and petitions, you can schedule them out each day.

Consider the following schedule as just a suggestion:

Sunday: Praise and thanksgiving

Monday: Personal requests and family issues

Tuesday: The local congregation, members, elders, deacons, evangelists, the work, special events

Wednesday: Other congregations, their elders, deacons and evangelists

Thursday: Special needs, the lost, the sick

Friday: Our nation, the world, war and peace

Saturday: Clean-up (anything that has come up over the week that you need to pray about)

Obviously, you can make up your own schedule, but you get the idea.

I know some people will say, “But, Edwin, that means I’m not praying for it all every day.” That’s true. However, to be quite honest, before I started this plan, I kept saying, “I don’t have time to pray right now.” Then I wasn’t praying for anything. With this plan, at least I’m getting it all prayed for in a timely fashion. 

This is just a suggestion. Just make sure you are praying. You need the connection to God to survive.

We sing the song “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” but then we start praying and wonder how on earth we can even make it through sweet 10 minutes of prayer. I want to thank my friend and fellow preacher Jeff May for showing me a great tool to organize our prayers and help us spend some real meaningful time with God.

Of course, let me first point out that you don’t have to pray for an hour for it to be legitimate. Prayer isn’t real because of the length. At the same time, many of us know there is so much more to be done in our prayer lives but when we finally hit our knees we get that deer-in-the-headlights feeling, we stammer something out and then spend the rest of the day thinking of other things we should have prayed for.

In those cases, don’t worry. When you think of them you can offer up a prayer right then. However, if you want to work on having some serious, in-depth, on your knees time try the PRAYER CLOCK approach.

An hour divides into 12 sections of 5 minutes. Think of 12 areas for which you want to pray and devote 5 minutes for each area. When you are done, you spent an hour in prayer. You don’t have to follow my list this is just for example purposes.

5 minutes of…

1. Praise
2. Thanksgiving
3. Confession
4. Family
5. Home congregation
6. Elders and Deacons (Home congregation and others)
7. Preachers (Home congregation and others)
8. Other churches
9. The lost and evangelism
10. Special needs, sick, etc.
11. Our nation (other nations)
12. Praise

You just spent an hour in prayer.

Granted, to make even 5 minutes in prayer for each topic, you probably want to start developing some lists. Make a list of special needs, elders, deacons, preachers, churches, things for which you are thankful, folks who are lost, etc. As you work on this, you’ll be surprised to find out that 5 minutes won’t be enough for some areas. You’ll have to come up with a plan for getting all these prayers in over the week.

In fact, come back next Monday to learn a plan for getting in all your prayers when you just have so much to pray for you can’t get it in all in one prayer session–even if you’re going for an hour.

(If you are stumbling across this for the first time, you may want to start at the beginning of the series and work your way through the links at the end of each post.  Or check out the index for this entire series of posts. We’ve learned so much about the psalmists and their relationship with God. I hope today’s is no exception.)

God is Love

A popular modern approach to God as revealed in the Bible is to change God between the testaments. Folks look at the God of the Old Testament as a harsh, legalistic, sometimes mean, sometimes brutal, judging God. Then they come to the New Testament and say all that has changed. Now, God is a God of love. He doesn’t judge, He is never harsh. He just wants us to know how much He loves us.

However, that doesn’t mesh with the Psalmists view of God at all. Despite the brutal judgment God sometimes administered, the Psalmists were completely sure that God was a God of love. The psalmists mention God’s love 123 times. Consider just a few of the statements.

• God’s steadfast love is precious (Psalm 36:7).
• We enter His house through His steadfast love (Psalm 5:7).
• He delivers us for the sake of His steadfast love (Psalm 6:4).
• He is merciful and forgets our sins because of His steadfast love (Psalm 25:6-7).
• His steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts Him (Psalm 32:10).
• His steadfast love endures all day (Psalm 52:1).
• God answers our pleas because of His steadfast love (Psalm 69:16).
• His steadfast love holds us up when we think we’ll slip (Psalm 94:18).
• His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 100:5).

This story of God’s love crescendoes in Psalm 136. Here the Psalmist repeats “For his steadfast love endures forever” 26 times. In fact, this was most certainly a liturgical psalm used in public assemblies and worship for the Jews. The priest or officiate would say the first line of each couplet and the congregation would shout the refrain–”For his steadfast love endures forever.” What an amazing experience that must have been, hearing the entire congregation praise God for his love as the stories of God’s love were repeated to them.

No doubt, the psalmists were sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes hurt, sometimes angry, sometimes lonely, sometimes joyful, sometimes bitter. But they always knew God loved them.

How can we not pray to a God whose steadfast love for us endures forever, no matter who we are, where we come from, or what we’ve done?

Whatever you do today, don’t forget–God Loves You!

(I think we’re going to take a little break from this study of the Psalms. But keep your eyes open, in a few weeks we’ll get back to them and start learning to look at ourselves the way the Psalmists did.)