QUIET TIME PRAYER
By Dr. Barry L. Davis
THE A.C.T.S. OF QUIET TIME PRAYER
ADORATION - Praising God for who He is
(Psa 8:1) O LORD,
our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory
above the heavens.
CONFESSION
- Admitting our transgressions
(Psa 25:18) Look
upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
THANKSGIVING
- Expressing our gratitude
(Psa 103:2) Praise
the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--
(Eph 1:3) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
SUPPLICATION
- Requesting from God
(Phil 4:6) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
P.R.A.I.S.E. (by Jack Hayford)
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalms 100)
PRESENT YOURSELF TO GOD IN HUMILITY
(Rom 12:1) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
(James 4:10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
RAISE HOLY HANDS IN PEACE
(Psa 63:3-4) Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. {4} I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
(1 Tim 2:8) I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
AUDIBLY SPEAK THANKS IN PRAISE
(Psa 34:1) I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
(Psa 35:18) I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.
INVITE FRESH HOLY SPIRIT FULNESS
(Eph 5:18-20) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Jude 20) But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
SING A NEW SONG IN HOPE
(Psa 96:1) Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
(Psa 98:1) Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
ENTER EACH NEW DAY IN FAITH
(Psa 84:10-11) Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
[Following is another good method for prayer taken from William Sangster's book Teach Me To Pray, copyright 1959 by The Upper Room]
A PLAN OF PRAYER
1. MORNING PRAYER
Scheme for fifteen minutes as a minimum in the morning, and as early as possible. Here is a rule of prayer I have found helpful myself.
Adoration: Think on the greatness of God - the incredibility of it that He should hear us at all. Does not the wonder of it almost strike you dumb? Praise be to God that God is the God that God is!
Thanksgiving: Go over your mercies. They are more than you know. Thank Him for health, home, love, work, friends, books, a night's rest…If you lack health, or home, or sleep, there are other great mercies to mention. Think of them till you grow with gratitude.
Dedication: you are already dedicated to God with wholelife vows. Nonetheless, follow the lead of the hymn writer: "That vow renewed shall daily hear". You are not your own. Nothing you have is your own. You are a given man or woman.
Guidance: Ask God for guidance all through the day. Forethink and foresee your day with Him. In imagination go over every task which you know the day has in store for you and meet it with Him. Even the things you cannot foresee will be better met because of this discipline.
Intercession: Pray for others. Have a prayer list. Praying without method is not serious prayer. When you get to heaven and realize all that prayer did on this earth, you will be ashamed that you prayed so ill. The casual recollection of people in need, or prayers only for one's dear ones, or prayers too general - common weaknesses as these are - can all be overcome by a prayer list kept up to date and daily used.
Petition: Some masters of prayer have no place for personal petition. Clement of Alexandria had none. He and many like him were content to leave God to give them what was good. Yet Jesus taught petition - and that is enough. But keep petition in a minor place. Nothing more reveals the juvenility of our prayers than praying with persistence and passion only when we want something for ourselves.
Meditation: It is a good thing to conclude prayer, as well as begin it, with meditation: deep brooding on love, wisdom, beauty, joy, peace, power, freedom, and holiness. A hymn may help you here.
2. EVENING PRAYER
Scheme for ten minutes as a minimum at the end of the day.
Review the day: Run over it backwards in the recollected presence of God, and you will almost certainly have a double need.
Confession: Things will come to your mind which will not be pleasant to recall. A failure here; a bit of posing there; something not strictly truthful; exaggeration; and missed opportunities for doing good…Deal with each separately. Itemize your sins. Do not bundle your beastliness or pettiness together in one of those all inclusive phrases, "Forgive me all my sins"; but blush over them in their separateness, claiming forgiveness and a greater wariness in the future. Make restitution where you can.
Thanksgiving: Every evening will bring its occasion for gratitude to God for morning prayers answered and for help through the day. Let the day close with a warm, inward awareness that God has, indeed, been with you "all through the day".
Before sleeping: Commit yourself to God again. "Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit."
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Savior's breast.
Last thoughts often color our dreams; and we, like the Christians of the eighteenth century, have need to pray: "O God, make my dreams holy."