Chapter Two – AFTER THIS MANNER, PRAY
(Using the Lord’s Prayer, phrase by phrase, as a model for expanding your prayer life)
“Putting First Things First”
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth as it is in heaven.”
Intervention
Father, I pray today that Your kingdom would become more real in my life today and that Your perfect will would be fulfilled on this earth today, as You want it to be fulfilled through my life, as Your perfect will is being done this day in heaven.
Father, “since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve [You] God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). I acknowledge, Lord, that it is You Who works in us both to will and do for Your good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). I ask You to intervene in my life today, as I purpose to do Your will, so that my light will shine before others, that they may see my good works, and glorify You, Father (Matt. 5:16).
Father, I pray that Your kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in and through the Holy Spirit will be established throughout this day in my life and in the life of each member of my family (mention by name your family members and others whom God prompts you to pray for). I pray that You will set within each of our spirit’s Your perfect will for each of our lives today.
I pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will empower me and my family (from here on, always mention others, too, whom you are prompted to pray for today) with ability, efficiency, might, strength, wisdom, and power, and with every resource we need this day concerning the issues of life which we face today as we seek to fulfill Your perfect will for our lives.
I ask You, Lord, to give us the mind of Christ today (1 Cor.2:16) so that we will think, act, react, and respond just like Jesus would and exactly like Jesus would in and to every situation, every circumstance, every conversation, every choice, every decision, and every thought that we are faced with today concerning the issues of life.
I pray that our schedules will be in Your will today, that my schedule and my family’s schedule will parallel, and that You will give us guidance, direction, wisdom, and discernment in a schedule today that will allow us to coordinate our schedules in order to fulfill Your perfect will for our lives today.
Introspection
Father, I want to put first things first today. So I pray that this day I will not seek me own will but Your will, Father (John 5:30). “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. . . . Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:1-5,23-24).
Lord, as my days were fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them (Ps. 139:16), I pray that you will teach me to do Your will where I am not heeding it, sensitive to it, or alert to do Your will, for you are my God. I pray through the presence of the Holy Spirit within me that You will lead me to and in the land of uprightness (Ps. 143:10), in those good paths that You have prepared in advance that I should walk in them.
“Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day” (Ps. 25:4-5). Lord, I know that Your Word is clear on some aspects of Your will for our lives which we are to seek to fulfill every day. But in Your specific will for my life, I will not move until I know beyond the shadow of a doubt what You want me to do.
Lord, I know that Your will for my life, and for all Christians, is to be not conformed to this world; to not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of my mind daily through Your Word and through prayer; to be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all I do and think so that I can prove—learn from my own experiences how Your ways really satisfy me—the good, acceptable, and perfect will of You, O God (Rom. 12:2).
Lord, Your blessed, Holy Word says that this is the will of God; that I should be consecrated, sanctified, separated, and set apart for pure and holy living; that I should abstain from sexual immorality; that I should know how to possess, control, and manage my own body in purity, separated from profane things, in sanctification, consecration, and honor, not in lustful passion as the heathen do, in their ignorance of You, God, and Your ways because they have no knowledge of Your will (1 Thess. 4:3-5).
I am thankful, Father, that I am Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which You, O God, prepared beforehand for me to do (Eph. 2:10). For I know that in Christ I have obtained an inheritance, being chosen and appointed beforehand in accordance with Your purpose, Who works all things according to the counsel and design of Your will (Eph. 1:11).
Therefore, Lord God, I do not want to be unwise, vague, thoughtless, and foolish, but I want to understand and firmly grasp what Your will is for my life. I want to find out and do whatever You want me to do, Lord. So I will look carefully how I walk today and every day; not as the unwise, but as a wise, sensible, intelligent person directed by the Light and Knowledge of Your Word. I will make the most of my time, especially making the most of every opportunity I have for doing good because these days are evil (Eph. 5:15-17).
Father, I will seek to always be joyful. I will be unceasing in prayer, praying persistently and perseveringly. I will thank You in everything, no matter what happens, no matter what the circumstances may be, for this is Your will, God, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
Lord, I want to be a man (woman, boy, girl) after Your own heart, who will do all Your will (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22).
Thank You, Father, that today, right now, You are working in me and through me, energizing me with the power and desire to will and to work for Your good pleasure, satisfaction, and delight (Phil. 2:13).
Intercession
Central Concerns
Father, I thank You today for my wife. The Bible says that the man who finds a wife, particularly, a prudent, understanding wife, has obtained favor from the Lord (Prov. 18:22; 19:14). I consider myself blessed because You have given me such a wife in ________.
Our fountain has been blessed, and I rejoice, and I always want to rejoice with the wife of my youth. I pray that we will always satisfy one another at all times, and I always want to be enraptured with her love (Prov. 5:18-19). I pray that ________ will always be enraptured with my love.
My children and I are blessed with such a godly mother and wife. There are many fine women in the world, but to me and my children, my wife and their mother is the best of them all (Prov. 31:28-29). ________ does excel above them all in our eyes.
She watches well over her (our) household. She does not eat the bread of idleness. She opens her mouth with wisdom because she reads and meditates upon Your precious Word, and It guides her thoughts, actions, decisions, and words. She lives it! She is truly a Proverbs 31 wife (Prov. 31:10-31). In ________, I have found a virtuous wife—worth far more than rubies and precious gems (Prov. 31:10-11).
Father, You say that a woman who fears You shall be praised (Prov. 31:30). Please give Wanda, today, the fruit of her faithful hands. Let her own works praise her in the gates of life through which we daily trod (Prov. 31:31). Lord, ________ delights in You. Please give her now all the desires of her heart (Ps. 37:4).
Lord, I want to render to ________ the affection she is due (1 Cor. 7:3), and I pray that she will do likewise for me as her husband. My commitment is to love her as my wife as Christ loved the Church, giving Himself for Her (Eph. 5:25). I love ________ as my own body, as myself (Eph. 5:28,33). May I always, I pray, love ________ and be affectionate, sympathetic, kind, understanding, and respectful to her (Col. 3:19).
I dwell with my wife in understanding, giving honor to her, as the weaker vessel, but realizing that we are both heirs together of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7). Lord, I realize that if I don’t treat ________ as I should, my prayers will be hindered—I will not get ready answers (1 Pet. 3:7). But I love her and I want to treat her as I should because she is the helpmeet that I prayed for. She’s everything I wanted in a wife and more. I am thankful that You gave ________ to me.
Lord, please meet all the needs and desires of her life today—spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, and materially.
Father, I thank You today for my husband. The Bible says that “an excellent wife is the crown of her husband” (Prov. 12:4). I pray that I will be as a crown to my husband, who is like a tree of life and a wellspring of joy to him. I desire to be a prudent wife (Prov. 19:14) so that ________ will consider himself blessed, having obtained favor from the Lord, because he has found a “good thing” in me (Prov. 18:22).
Our fountain has been blessed, and I pray that as we grow older, ________ will always rejoice that I am his wife (Prov. 5:18). As a loving deer and a graceful doe, I desire to satisfy ________ at all times (Prov. 5:19) so that he will always be enraptured with my love.
Lord, Your Word says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22). I submit to _______, “as the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23). “Just as the church is subject to Christ,” I will be subject to my husband “in everything” (Eph. 5:24). As my husband loves me “just as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for her” (Eph. 5:25), I will respect ‘s godly leadership over me.
I pray that I will be a holy woman, whom my husband honors and cherishes (1 Peter 3:7) because of “the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of [You,] God” (1 Peter 3:4). To build my house as a wise woman (Prov. 14:1), I want to build my husband up by speaking wholesome and proper words because such speech is a “tree of life” and “pleasant” (Prov. 15:4,26), for “pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the bones” (Prov. 16:4).
Lord, I resolve to be a good wife and a loving helpmate to ________. I accept the biblical role that you have divinely designed for a wife to fulfill. I love ________, and I want to treat him as I should because he is the husband that I prayed you would provide for me. He is everything I wanted in a husband and more.
I consider myself blessed because you brought us together as husband and wife.
Lord, please meet all the needs and desires of his life today—spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, and materially.
Father, I pray that as our children are taught of You, Lord, that great shall be the peace of our children (Isa. 54:13). I am thankful to know that my children are safe within Your hands because Your promise to me is that “I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children” (Isa. 49:25). How encouraging to know that You will perfect that which concerns me.
I pray that as parents we will not provoke—anger, irritate, frustrate, nag to exasperation, exasperate to resentment—our children, but that we will rear our children tenderly in You, Lord, bringing ________ [name(s) of your child(ren)] up in the loving nurture, training, discipline, counsel, and admonition that You approve of Lord, with wise suggestions and godly advice.
Lord, I pray that ________ will develop a love and respect for one another, even from early age, that others will notice. I pray that their love for one another and their parents will be a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love.
Lord, I pray that our children will:
Determine to live for You, Lord, above all else and all others (Luke 1:15a). As a direct result, they will please their Mom and Dad as Your earthly representatives (Luke 1:14a; Eph. 6:1-3).
Delight the lives of others by their attitudes, actions, and pure affections (Luke 1:14b).
Decline the lure of alcohol, drugs, and other substances and influences that are harmful not only to the body but also to the soul and spirit (Luke 1:15b).
Depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit in and over every area of their lives. I pray that they will walk in the power, directing, and anointing of the Holy Spirit, even from childhood, and it will be evident that Your touch is on their lives all their lives (Luke 1:15c).
Desire to lead others to Christ (Luke 1:16), even from childhood. I pray that the best, the biggest, the largest, and the most amount of trophies they win will be trophies of grace.
Father, I realize for these requests and desires that I have for my children to be fulfilled that they must be true and lived out in my life and in their mother’s life (Deut. 6:6-19).
Father, thank You for these precious children You have given to us, these blessings, our heritage from You, our reward (Ps. 127:3). I pray that we will always be happy in and with them, and that we will never do anything to bring them shame or cause them to be ashamed of us (Ps. 127:5) or to bring You shame or cause You to be ashamed of us. I pray that ________ will never do anything to bring us shame or cause us to be ashamed of them or to bring You shame or cause You to be ashamed of them.
I pray, Lord, that we will always use all parts of our bodies—minds, souls, and spirits—for Your glory, honor, and praise.
I pray, Lord, that You will be a hedge of protection throughout this day around me and my family (and others whom God prompts you to pray for) to keep us safe from harm, hurt, injury, danger, illness, temptation, evil, or bondage of any kind. I pray that You will protect us behind and before, above and beneath, and around on every side like an unbreakable, impenetrable, bubble and hedge of protection. I pray that You will be a hedge of protection around our home and property, around our church, around our school(s), around where we work, around our van, around our going outs and our coming ins, around where we are, where we are going, what we are in, or what we are doing to protect these places, possessions, and things from damage, destruction, theft, wreck, or mechanical breakdown. I pray that
You will protect them behind and before, above and beneath, and around on every side like an unbreakable, impenetrable bubble and hedge of protection. We are thankful to know that You give Your angels charge over us to protect and preserve us in all our ways.
Thank You, Father, for fulfilling Your perfect will this day and every day in my life and in the life of my family to the glory, honor, and praise of Jesus Christ.
Church Concerns
Lord, I pray today for our church that we will be a holy people. May we live up to the words of Peter: “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . . But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:5,9). May the people of our church be “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Peter 1:14-16).
I pray that our church will be a happy church. I pray, Lord, that ongoing revival will be a way of life for our church that Your people at Church may rejoice in You (Ps. 85:6). Lord, Your Word says, “Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!” (Ps. 144:15). Lord, may our hope and trust be in You, for Your blessed, holy Word says that is how we shall be happy (Ps. 146:5; Prov. 16:20; 29:18).
Father, I pray in the name of Jesus, the foundation of the Church, that all of us in Your Body at ______________ Church will be in perfect harmony and full agreement in what we say, and there will be no dissensions or factions or divisions among us, but that we will be perfectly united in our common understanding and in our opinions and judgments. Holy Spirit, teach us how to spiritually harmonize (agree) together and be like a spiritual symphony about anything and everything we do so that whatever we ask will come to pass and be done for us by you, Father, and all we attempt to do will succeed because we are led by they Holy Spirit, doing all to the glory and honor of Jesus Christ.
Father, for our church, I pray that You will “revive Your work in the midst of these years” (Hab. 3:2). Please work a work in our days for Your glory, and in a positive sense, that people will not believe except that they will see it and be a part of it” (Hab. 1:5). Lord, that is how we shall be a truly healthy church that is breathing in through fellowship and breathing out in evangelism.
I pray today for the spiritual and physical healthiness of our pastor (and other ministers). Lord God, I pray today for __________, that You will anoint him, speak to him, and direct him. I ask You to give him a shepherd’s heart, as You have led him to be the shepherd and spiritual leader of our church.
Please give him wisdom and allow him the time to spend in Your Word and in prayer. Please make him a pure channel through which the gift(s), power, and anointing of the Holy Spirit can flow. Please let Your touch on his life be evident in the eyes of our church members and those on the outside.
Father, I pray that You will keep the clutter away from him so that he can major on the majors and through Him You will lead our church to be a church that is spiritually alive and alert, that is true to Your Word, that is filled with the Spirit, living Christ day by day, and that is a light for the Lord in our local community and throughout our city and county.
Lord, I pray that You will send the Holy Spirit to be his teacher, counselor, guide, instructor, comforter, and friend this day, and that the Holy Spirit will teach him all things and guide him into all the truth as he prepares sermons and faces the issues of life this day (John 14:16-17,26; 15:26).
Lord, I pray that You will meet every need in his life and in the life of his wife and children—spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, and materially.
I pray today for the spiritual healthiness of our church leaders—chairman of the deacons, chairmen of the various committees, Sunday School teachers, especially those who teach our children and youth, and leaders of the organizations of our church—that You, Lord God, will help these teachers and leaders to be true to Your Word, the Holy Bible, to live Christ and to have a Christ-like spirit, and to be men and women of prayer who daily read and meditate upon Your Word.
Dear God, please make the various ministries/organizations (e.g. Sunday School, Deacons, Choirs, Women’s ministry, Homebound, Youth ministry, Senior Citizens, Royal Ambassadors, Girls In Action, AWANA, etc.) in our church healthy, Spirit-empowered, breathing in through fellowship and breathing out in evangelism.
I pray for our members that they will be faithful to their families, to our church, and to Jesus. Please plant them in Your House at our church this Sunday, Lord, so that they will bring forth fruit as soulwinners and intercessors. I pray that our church members will be faithful in bringing their tithes and offerings into our church this Sunday and that they will serve You as You deserve to be served.
Lord God, I pray for the harvest at our church. I pray that the powers and principalities of the air who work in the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2) cannot hold rein over the men, women, boys, and girls who need to be spiritually fed and disciplined by our ministry.
Father, I believe and stand upon Isaiah 43:5-7 as Your desire and delight for our church:
“Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth—Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
Lord, there are men, women, boys, and girls to the North, South, East, and West whom You will to become a part of our family of faith at ________________ Church. In the name of Jesus, I pray you will release and guide us to every person who is supposed to become a part of the Body of Christ at our church. Please release every one and lead us to—not every other one—but every man, woman, boy, and girl whom You, God, have ordained to be saved, planted, strengthened, established, encouraged, and discipled at ___________ Church.
Lord God, in Jesus name, I ask You to dispatch angels, if need be, to minister to these heirs of Your marvelous salvation and these heirs to be brothers and sisters in Christ with us in our family of faith at _______________ Church. Lord, I pray for the North, South, East, West, to “Give them up” in the name of the Lord. Do not keep back these men, women, boys, and girls whom God desires to be heirs of His marvelous salvation at our church . . . men, women, boys, and girls who have already become heirs of Your marvelous salvation but who need to have the joy of their salvation restored (Ps. 51:12) . . . men, women, boys, and girls who are lukewarm Christians (Rev. 3:16) who need to be at our church to become hot Christians (Rev. 3:15) in order to make a difference in our city and our corner of the world for Jesus . . . men, women, boys, and girls who are hot Christians who are not in churches where the Word is being preached, or where they are not being used as they ought to be, or who have moved into our area, whom You can use here at our church and whom we need, Lord, to be spiritual leaders in our church where ministries are not reaching their potential or are needed.
Give them up, North, South, East, and West, in the name of Jesus! Do not keep them back! Surrender in the name of the Lord! Lord God, I pray that You will move upon the North, South, East, and West to “bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears” (Isa. 43:8). “Let all the [redeemed and the lost who need to be redeemed] be gathered together, and let the people be assembled” (Isa. 43:9) this Sunday at our church. Please let our members and all these heirs of this family of faith be assembled and gathered together this Sunday, and “let them hear, and say, ‘It is truth'” (Isa. 43:9).
Lord, please bring them to our church this Sunday. Please do not let them have wrecks on the way to church. Do not let them oversleep. Please do not let them get sick. Please do not let unexpected or expected company drop by and keep them from coming to church. Please do not let an argument with their mate, a former mate, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a roommate, with one or more of their children, or a hassle at work keep them from being at our church this Sunday. Please do not let them have to work this Sunday or get called into work that they can be saved this Sunday. Please do not let recreation keep them from church this Sunday. Oh, God, in Your omnipotent power, please do not let anything hinder them from being in Your house at _____________ Church this Sunday. I pray, Father, that you will minister grace to them as they are on their way to our church. Father, If they are lost, I pray that You will give them the prompting, courage, and desire to get saved this Sunday, and that they will make it public at Invitation Time. If they do not come to Sunday School this Sunday, please bring them to Sunday School next Sunday. Please give our members a friendly spirit so that they will join our church, our Sunday School, and become active in our Sunday School and in our church.
Dear God, I pray that You will add to Your church weekly here at ______________. Please show us, guide us, and direct us as to how to organize our classes and how to expand our ministry as the North, South, East, and West give up men, women, boys, and girls to Church.
God, I pray that Your Spirit will be released to do what You want to do in our midst in our church. Come Kingdom of God. Be done, will of God in and at our church.
Community/City/County/Country/Continent Concerns
Father, in Jesus name, I give thanks today for the United States of America and its government. As we are a nation founded as “one nation under God,” I pray that we will stay true to the Godly values, principles, and beliefs which have been the foundation of our country. I hold up before You today the men and women who are in positions of authority.
I pray for our President, that he will have Your wisdom in the critical issues he is faced with today and every day. I pray that You will surround our President with Christian men and women who make their hearts attentive to Your wisdom and Your Word. Please give our President courage to stand up for what You have spoken through Your Word, Your Spirit, and Your people.
I pray, Father, for the leaders of our country, our state, our county, our city, and our community—our senators, representatives, Governor, mayor, councilmen, trustees, and other elected and appointed officials—that they will walk in wisdom, that they will be heirs of Your salvation if they are not saved, that they will be led by Your Word, that they will be men and women of prayer, and that they will be kept by Your power.
Father, I pray for revival in our country, in our county, in our city, in our community, and in our church. May 2 Chronicles 7:14 be true for our country, our state, our county, our city, our community, and our church:
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Father, Your precious Word declares, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance” (Ps. 33:12), and “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:34). I pray that You will continue to bless those who are striving to keep our nation righteous and You as the central focus of our lives.
I pray that Jesus will be Lord over the United States of America. Jesus, whether people accept You and serve You, You are Lord and Savior over the USA. We acknowledge You as Lord and Savior over the USA. We acknowledge You as Lord and Savior of our lives and of our land. God bless America again!
Father, I pray today for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6) and for the success of the nation of Israel. You have said that “they shall prosper who love you.” I pray that there will be peace within the walls of Jerusalem and prosperity within her palaces (Ps. 122:7). I pray, Lord, that You will make even her enemies to be at peace with the nation of Israel. I pray for the salvation unto eternal life for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the citizens of the nation of Israel.
I pray, Lord, for the country (or countries) or continent that You impress upon my heart to pray for and for those in this country or continent who are missionaries and who are seeking to advance Your Kingdom there. I pray that Your presence will go before them this day as they take the Gospel of Christ to those in a foreign land who have never known or accepted the Good News of Jesus. I pray, Lord, that You will protect them and their families by hedging them behind and before, above and beneath, and around on every side. I pray that You will meet every need in their lives—spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, and materially. I pray that You will establish them in all their ways and in the work they do for You. I commit these dear brothers and sisters in Christ to You, Lord, entrusting them to Your direction, protection, provision, and care.
Illumination
Father, as I have prayed today for Your divine intervention in my life and in the life of my loved ones, as I have introspected my own life in regards to my commitment and faithfulness to You, and as I have interceded on behalf of my family, others in the Body of Christ, and those whom You have prompted me to pray for, I thank You for the illumination that You have promised me this day.
As the steps of a righteous man are ordered of You, O Lord (Ps. 37:23), I pray for Your illumination regarding all the issues of life which I face this day. As I have been predestined according to the purpose of Him Who works all things after the counsel of His own will, I pray that You will clearly illuminate that good path You have prepared in advance this day for me that I should walk in it (Eph. 1:11; 2:10). I pray for illumination that I will walk circumspectly . . . as wise, redeeming the time . . . understanding what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:15-17).
“Now to Him Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21). Thanks be to You, O God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57).