Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry,
My King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. ~Psalm 5:1-2~

Prayer is the most important activity a born-again Christian can engage in. It should head our list of priorities, for certainly the world around us desperately needs prayer. Prayer will open the door for God to do a glorious work in these last days. Prayer will stem the tide of evil.

Today, we are living in desperate times. Yet, the Church is not desperate before God in prayer; it is a privilege to pray, because it brings us into close fellowship with God, admitting our need for Him and our utter dependence upon Him.

It is our fervent prayer that this guide will help you in establishing an effective and meaningful prayer life.

Why Pray

When To Pray

How To Pray

Worship First
Prayer Patterns
Personal Prayer
Prayer Partners
Intercessory Prayer
Prayer Principles
What To Pray

Pray for Yourself
Pray for Others
Pray for Churches and Ministries
Pray for Neighborhoods
Pray for Cities, States, and Countries
Pray for the World

Why Pray
God's Word commands it: The Bible is clear about our need to pray (Luke 18:1 and Ephesians 6:18)

When To Pray
We should pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Establishing an effective prayer life is in many ways like pushing a heavy load up hill. Our progress may be slow at times, and we may need to stop from time to time in order to rest and renew our strength. The nature of heavy loads however is that when we are not pushing, the load is often slipping backwards down the hill. If we "rest" too long, we may find that that the load has returned to the point at which we started. In fact, it may have even slipped further back than our starting point!

We need to pray often enough so that the burden for which we are praying actually makes it over the "top of the hill" where it won't slip back any more. Of course, by the time we get one burden to the "top of the hill" there is usually another burden at the foot of the next hill to take its place. Nevertheless, it's important that our prayers actually accomplish something. After all, James 5:16-18 assures us that the prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective!

If we truly want to be effective in prayer remember - pray continually! Why not take a few minutes to pray right now? While we're at it, let's not forget to pray for our ministry here at The Potter's House Church!

How To Pray
As believers, we find that we have to use different types of prayer for different situations. Now matter what type of prayer we are using, our goal is be effectivene. We should be seeing the things that we are praying for coming to pass.

Worship First!!!
Begin your times of prayer with worship.

Worship happens when we praise God for who he is, and thank him for what he has done. You don't need to use religious language - just take an extended period of time to express to God, in your own words, how much you appreciate him. Don't let your worship depend on your feelings either. If you feel like worshipping - go for it! Even if you don't feel like worshipping however, God is still awesome and worthy of our praise and gratitude. Worship him anyway! The following passages are a small sample of what God's Word tells us about worship:

• Worship: Psalm 96:9; Psalm 100:2; John 4:23-24; Heb 12:28
• Praise: Psalm 9:1-2; Psalm 33:1-3; Psalm 150
• Thanksgiving: Psalm 95:1-2; Psalm 100:4; Psalm 147:7; Phil 4:6; 1Tim 2:1
  

Prayer Patterns
Jesus gave us a pattern when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4):

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’" (Matthew 6:3-13)

From this pattern we learn the following:

1. Prayer is addressed to the Father.
2. We must first acknowledge the Father's holiness. We can do this by worshipping the Father - praising Him for who He is, and thanking Him for what He has done.
3. Our prayer must be for the Father's will to be done on the earth just as it is done in heaven. This means that our prayers should line up with what the Father has already revealed (especially in his word - The Bible).
4. We should ask the Father to meet our current needs.
5. We should ask the Father to forgive any sin or failure that we are aware of.
6. We must forgive others.
7. If you're a beginner at prayer, the easiest way to start following this pattern is to find a more experienced person to help you. Ask our Pastor to help you find someone to mentor you in this area.

Personal Prayer
Be effective in personal prayer.

1. Set a regular time and place for your daily prayer time.
2. Start with a small but sustainable prayer time (5 - 15 minutes). You will find that your prayer time will expand as you are faithful in daily prayer.
3. Take a Bible, a notebook, and a pen with you during your prayer time. The Bible will help you to base your prayer requests on God's Word, and the notebook will help you keep track of prayer requests and the things that God says to you during prayer.
4. Take your time worshipping the Father as you begin your prayer time.
5. Take time to listen to the Father before you make your requests.
6. Organize your prayer requests - start with your most personal needs (including spiritual needs of course) and work your way out to the needs of others:
   • Pray for yourself
   • Pray for the members of your household
   • Pray for your family members
   • Pray for your prayer partner(s)
   • Pray for the people you serve with and for your church
   • Pray for people you work with or go to school with
   • Pray for your neighborhood, city, county, state
   • Pray for your country and for world needs
     

Prayer Partners
Prayer partnerships are an important prayer technique.

Establish a group of 2 - 3 believers who will commit to pray together at least once a week (either in person or over the phone). Opening yourself up to pray with someone else can be a challenge. For this reason we offer you the following guidelines:

• Set up a mutually agreeable time to pray. Do it at after our next worship service or do it over the phone, but set a time! Note - if you set up a time on the phone, pray before you hang up (even if only for 1 - 2 minutes).
• Plan to start off with a small but sustainable prayer time (5 - 15 minutes). You will find that your prayer time will expand as you are faithful in coming together to pray.
• Be faithful!
• Start with easy, less personal prayer requests (e.g. the pastors, the growth of the ministry of Life Church, the growth of the life group, the needs of other life group members, etc.). It takes time to build the trust necessary to share more personal prayer requests.
• Spend at least twice as much time praying as you spend talking about your prayer requests (or anything else). We need to do some talking to share prayer requests and come to agreement about how to pray, but resist the temptation to turn prayer time into fellowship time.
  

Intercessory Prayer
Intercessory prayer, or intercession should be a significant part of your prayer life.

This takes place when you come to The Father to make requests on behalf of others. You may experience times of intercession in the midst of what would otherwise be an "ordinary" time of prayer:

• You sense a strong urge to focus on a particular prayer need. This urge may begin suddenly or gradually.
• You may not initially know how to pray for this need, but you sense the Holy Spirit guiding your prayers (Rom 8:26-27). This guidance may take the form of prayer in your native language, or in a supernaturally imparted language that you have not learned (i.e. praying in "tongues" - 1Cor 14:14-15).
• You sense that you are fighting against unseen opposition to "get your request through" (e.g. Dan 10:1-14).
• You continue to intercede until the urge to pray for the need leaves.
  

Prayer Principles
Begin with worship, praise, and thanksgiving - Psalm 100:2; John 4:23-24; Heb 12:28; Psalm 9:1-2; Psalm 150; Psalm 100:4; Phil 4:6
Know your standing as a son in God’s Kingdom – Gal 3:22 – 4:7; Col 1:9-14
Walk in forgiveness – Mat 6:14-15; Mat 18:21-35; Mark 11:25
Pray in the Spirit – Eph 6:18
Pray according to God’s will - 1John 5:14-15
Pray in faith – Mark 11:20-25
Pray in agreement – Mat 18:18-20

What To Pray
Remember that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. (Eph 3:20).

Don't limit your self to praying for problem situations to stop being problems. Pray your problem situations into blessings:

1. Don't merely pray for unsaved family and friends to accept Jesus - pray for them to become pillars in God's Kingdom.
2. When you pray for brothers or sisters who struggle with issues in their lives don't merely pray for the issues to go away - pray for them to come to a level of maturity that will enable them to carry the burdens of others.
3. In general, don't just pray for people to grow to the place where you won't have to spend time supporting them. Instead pray for those same people to grow to the place where they will spend their own time supporting others.

Here are some helpful ways to pray for important areas:

Pray for Yourself
Wisdom and revelation; to know God better; to know the hope to which God has called you; to know His power at work in you(Eph 1:17-23).
Strength through His Spirit in your inner being; for power to grasp the vastness of the love of Christ; to know Christ's love; to be filled with the fullness of God(Eph 3:16-19).
Knowledge of God's will; for spiritual wisdom and understanding; to live a life worthy of the Lord; to please Him, bear fruit, and know Him better; for endurance and patience(Col 1:9-12).
Effectiveness in making disciples(Mat 28:18-20).
Faithfulness
Protection from the enemy

Pray for Others
Salvation(1Tim 2:1-4; 2Pet 3:9)
(For all of the items above that you pray for for yourself)

Pray for Churches and Ministries
For Pastors and Ministry Leaders as individuals
For clear revelation from God
For agreement among leaders
For protection from the enemy
For effectiveness in Evangelism, Discipleship, and Fellowship

Pray for Neighborhoods
For peace and safety for your neighbors - 1Tim 2:1-4
For your effectiveness in expanding God's Kingdom in your neighborhood
For God to send more laborers to reach your neighborhood
For neighborhood issues (e.g., drug houses, local gangs, local prostitution, etc.)
For public safety officials (e.g., Police, Firefighters, Emergency Medical Technicians) - that they will operate with integrity and effectiveness
For key social services (e.g., Health Centers, Hospitals, Schools, Community Centers, Courts)

Pray for Cities, States, Countries
Leaders by name:

• Executive Leaders (Mayors, Governors, The President, etc.)
• Legislative Leaders (City Councilman, State Representatives, State Senators, Members of Congress, and Judges)
  

  For all of these leaders we should pray as follows:
  For their salvation
  For them to be surrounded by godly advisors
  For their health and well-being
  For their integrity
  For them to promote policies that enhance the well-being of the poor and oppressed
  For them to uphold justice
  For the churches and ministries within the city, state, or country for which you are praying (pray for specific churches and ministries).
  For God to raise up men and women of God to do the work of his Kingdom within the city, state, or country for which you are praying.

Pray for the World
Foreign missions work.

Specific countries that God lays on your heart.

Global organizations that affect the lives of many.

• United Nations
• World Bank
  
• International Monetary Fund

Remember to pray for specific needs of specific targets. Allow the Father to give you a burden for a specific global need.

Now that you've read our prayer guidelines why not take a few minutes to put them into practice by praying right now? While you're at it, don't forget to pray for our ministry here at The Potter's House Church!