Week 1 - Listening prayer

‍Set aside 10 minutes (or an hour, or just 5 minutes- whatever you can get!) each day to connect with God and pay attention to what he might be trying to say to you. Go to a quiet place where you can be alone, take a deep breath or two, and simply listen. Pay attention to God. Believe that God wants to speak to you through his Holy Spirit- in fact, that he already is speaking. Consider what thoughts come to mind. Who is God putting on your heart? What is he saying to you? Don’t worry if you get distracted- just gently guide your attention back to God and his quiet voice speaking to you. Do that every day this week and see if you don’t sense God speaking to you through the Holy Spirit.

Week 2 - Praying Scripture

‍Scripture is full of great prayers that the people of God have prayed before us. Oftentimes it can be difficult to know what to say or how to pray. Simply praying through these passages in the Bible can be a helpful way to shape your prayer life. Feel free to add to the words of the passages or insert names of people as the Spirit leads you. There is no one formula to prayer. Consider praying Matthew 6:9-13 every day this week, and mixing in other prayers from these passages in Scripture.

• Colossians 1:9-14 9
  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
• Ephesians 1:17-23 17
  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
• Ephesians 3:14-19 14
  For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
• 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 12
  May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
• Hebrews 13:20-21 20
  Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Week 3 - Prayer of thankfulness and adoration

‍The Bible says that God’s divine nature and eternal power are clearly portrayed throughout his creation (Romans 1:18-23). Often, however, in our busy days we fail to notice it or to take time to thank God for all of the ways he has blessed.

Week 4 - Prayer of intercession (for other people)

Intercession is probably the type of prayer you are most familiar with- it is the prayer of asking God to act in some way for the benefit of other people. However, we placed it last for a reason: intercessory prayer is really the outgrowth of the other types of prayer. Take 10 minutes each day this week to listen to God, be formed by Scripture, and be attentive to his grandness and goodness to you. Then, partner with God through intercessory prayer. His will being done produces the best outcome in every situation. What might God’s will be for you and the people in your life today? What situations and pressures are you facing, and how might you pray boldly for God’s will to be done in those situations and in those people’s lives?

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