FAST4

We are in Day 4 of 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting at Journey Church.

There are private manners of prayer and there are public ones.

The public is obvious.  We pray at restaurants while people sit in the booth next to us, listening, watching.  We pray when we’re together at church gatherings, asking God to do great things - miraculous things - supernatural.  We pray in life groups with friends - we pray in prayer meetings.

And God meets us.

Privately, though?  What does that look like for us?

Is it early morning, curled up in a favorite chair with a cup of coffee next to you and the Word of God open on your lap?  Or do you find yourself ready to go at 5 a.m. but by 5:06 you’re nodding off?

Maybe your primetime is evening.  Instead of Netflix you find yourself opening your favorite Bible app and diligently following along.  But before you finish up:  “God, I just want to thank You for zzzzzzzz … “

It happens.

Do you like to put on music while you absorb yourself into the Word?  Take a healthy jog and listen to audio Bible on your AirPods?

It’s all good.  Everything works as long as you find yourself connecting - abiding in Jesus.

Jesus said to His disciples in the Garden, when He took them to join Him in prayer and found them dozing off, “Could you not just pray for one hour?”

Evidently an hour was too much for them.

If we break down an hour, it’s more doable.  Less daunting.

So here’s a 5 x 12 x 60 way to do it.  Five minutes broken down in 12 segments that span 1 hour’s time in different prayer disciplines:

8:00 - 8:05 ADORATION - Exalt God's nature and character

8:05 - 8:10 ABIDING - Take time to quietly rest in God

8:10 - 8:15 CONFESSION - Acknowledge personal shortcomings and sins

8:15 - 8:20 SCRIPTURE - Pick a passage and read God’s Word

8:20 - 8:25 LISTEN - What is God saying in the moment?

8:25 - 8:30 OBSERVATION - Review what you read.  What deeper observations do you make?

8:30 - 8:35 APPLICATION - Apply the Word you read to your personal life today

8:35 - 8:40 INTERCESSION - Pray for the needs of others

8:40 - 8:45 PETITION - Bring your personal needs before God

8:45 - 8:50 THANKSGIVING - Give thanks to God

8:50 - 8:55 SINGING - Make a joyful noise - play a song on your device

8:55 - 9:00 ADORATION - End as you began, by praising God

Just an idea to get you going.

However it happens, make it regular.  Faith and prayer are both public and private in your life.  God is waiting for you.  He’s already in the room.