Simple, Shameless, Childlike, Practical Prayer

Disciples of Jesus pray simple, shameless, childlike prayers to their generous Heavenly Father. This is the main idea that I preached from Luke 11:1-13 this past Sunday evening. The essence of the sermon was the prayer should be simple, shameless, and childlike. Prayer is simple because it doesn’t have to be lengthy or wordy to be genuine. Prayer is also simple because to pray simply means to ask God for things, things specifically regarding God’s priorities and our provision. Prayer should also be shamelessly persistent and childlike. Just like our children shamelessly and persistently ask us for things, so should we shamelessly and persistently ask our Father for things. Let’s tease out what they may look like on a daily basis.

1. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Think of the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 as hangers to rest all of your requests. Praying the Lord’s Prayer does something for us in that it allows us to be shaped by God’s priorities and His glory before we ask for anything else.

2. Pray Scripture. This is probably my favorite way to have a time of prayer. Just this morning I prayed Luke 14:33 over my family, fellow pastors, and members of Fellowship. It says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” As this text spoke to me, I prayed it back to God and asked him that he would help me, my wife and kids, and my fellow church members to be fully committed disciples of Jesus. John Piper instructs us, “Open the Bible in front of you, and put one elbow on one side and one on the other, and pray every paragraph into contrition or praise or thanks or petition.”

3. Use a Prayer System. Let every person be persuaded in their own mind here. Some like to keep track of things that are praying for themselves and others by using a prayer list (on a notepad or Word processor), prayer cards (3x5 index cards to write the name or topic you are praying about on the top of the card and the rest of the card with the prayer request), or a digital app (such as PrayerMate). This allows you to keep track of the things you are praying for and what God is doing in each of those requests.

4. Pray through the Membership Directory. If you prayed through 1 page front and back every day of the Membership Directory it would only take you about 5 minutes a day for 24 days to pray through the entire things. There are two ways you could go about this. One, you could text the people the day before and ask them if there is anything you can pray for. Two, you could take the scripture you prayed for yourself (see Number 2) and pray it for the the people in the directory you are praying for that day. Or… you could do both!

5. Pray Without Ceasing. One of my favorite quotes that is attributed to Charles Spurgeon is this, “I always feel it well to put a few words of prayer between everything I do.” Yes, spend some time in the Bible and prayer to start your day. But as you go from home to work, pray that God would help you to work hard for his glory that day. After you finish one meeting and head to another, ask God for energy to stay sharp so that you can love your neighbor (co-worker) by listening attentively to what they say. Pray for purity of heart and mind when you drive to the gym. Pray for love for your spouse before you pull up to the house. Our days are full of transitions. We are constantly transitioning from one thing to another. Either we are going from meeting to meeting or dishes to laundry. The transitions don’t stop. Use them for times to ask God for things for yourself and others.

I pray that this MDWK article will help you to practically give yourself to the simple, shameless, and childlike way of praying that Jesus invites us into. Love you, church!