About Prayer

| Home | Prayers in War | About Prayer | Prayer Resources |

| Resources for Life Home | Faith Resource Group | Site Map |

Numerous scientific studies repeatedly document the powerful impact of prayer. Books have been written on the subject. Today, many organizations and businesses have rooms dedicated for the purpose of prayer. Some organizations have budgets for prayer development and people on staff who work full-time as prayer coordinators.

There are many kinds of prayer, here are a few to consider incorporating into your prayer time:

	Thanksgiving. Prayers of thanksgiving are very important. If you use a prayer journal (mentioned above) it is possible to develop a record of the many things you have to be thankful for. This can become the source of encouragement later on if you are discouraged.
	Worship. Prayers of worship may include music and come from a thankful and appreciative heart acknowledging God's goodness. Hymns and religious songs are commonly written as prayers put to music.
	Request for Wisdom. Solomon asked for wisdom and it is recorded that he became one of the wisest people in the world. Gaining and applying wisdom can help make our lives more effective and meaningful. This may also include asking for a deeper understanding of purpose, focus, vision, calling, or mission for your own life.
	Request for Personal Need / Want. Praying for your own needs may seem selfish. However, if you are praying to be better equipped to more effectively serve and care for others, then your motives are good and your prayers are indirectly for those who will be served by your life.
	Request for Favor. Having favor with people is important. It is important that your motives are right and that your desire for favor is for the end purpose of better serving others for the common good.
	Intercession. This type of prayer involves pleading for and desiring good for someone on their behalf.

Category Prayer List - Prayers to Heal the Planet

It is common for people to have prayer lists that include family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, leaders, and others. One effective way of guiding and enhancing prayer is to have a prayer list organized by categories. There will probably be specific prayer needs. However, here are some examples of categories and how to pray for those in each category.

	Individuals. Pray for the seven areas of life mentioned under the heading 'Personal Foundations of Prayer.'
	Marriages and Couples. Pray for unity, clear communications, positive and uplifting communications, respect, healthy and mutually fulfilling interactions, equality, growth, time for relationship building and strengthening.
	Families. Pray for unity, clear communications, respect, healthy and mutually fulfilling interactions.
	Issues, Causes, Programs, and Concepts. Pray that socially beneficial issues and concepts will be embraced.
	Leaders. There are all kinds of leaders in our society today: community leaders, activist leaders, business leaders, and leaders in education or other fields. Pray for wisdom, excellence in leadership skills, ability to listen and communicate, ability to serve constituency, vision.
	Professionals in Public Service, Law Enforcement, Military Service, Fire Safety/Prevention, Doctors, Nurses, and Emergency Medical Care. These people are often called to work long hours and are sometimes called away with little advance notice. Work can require traveling far from home and family. Pray for safety, pray for time with family, pray for reasonable work schedules, pray for alertness, pray for strong support networks.
	Organizations. Pray for clear communications, vision, fiscal sustainability and responsibility.
	Businesses & Entrepreneurs. Pray for insight, vision, wisdom, quality employees, socially responsible practices, ability to pursue service to others above seeking money.
	Actors. Same as prayer for individuals with the addition of praying for wisdom and discernment regarding finances, product endorsements, and avoiding roles that support or encourage self/socially destructive behaviors.
	Writers & Traveling Writers. Pray for inspiration, creativity, renewal, quality time and a special place to write. For writers who are traveling around interviewing people and doing necessary research for a book, pray for great favor everywhere they go, for sustained health, times of refreshing, for generous hosts, that they will meet just the right people, that the necessary funding would be available, pray that the funding would stretch and be more than enough to complete their project.
	Film/Video Producers. Pray for cooperative weather, good lighting, good sound, no technical problems, reliable transportation, meeting the right people, coming in under budget, not forgetting necessary equipment, plenty of funding, quality programming that inspires people with a hopeful message resulting in life changing action that heals the planet.
	Governments, States, and Nations. Pray that nations would not be imperialist saber-rattling war-bent and globally exploitative of other nations and the earth. Pray that nations would grow to become increasingly self-sustaining both environmentally and economically. Pray for nations that are suffering to be restored and healed. Pray for nations to reach out to help and heal other nations, just as civilized people do on a micro-level.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for additional categories or ways to pray for those in the categories mentioned above. [click here for feedback form]

Prayer Tours

One effective prayer activity is to organize a prayer tour. Prayer tours are typically similar to a tour you might arrange through a travel agency, except the focus and purpose of the tour is to pray for the people and places you visit covering the various prayer categories mentioned above. It would also be possible to arrange a prayer tour of your own community. Some people do this in the form of prayer mapping or prayer walking to cover entire cities and regions in prayer.

Fasting

One way to enhance your prayer life and spiritual life is to have times of fasting. While fasting is an integral part of the religious observance for some religions such as Judaism and Islam, other religions do not have clear guidelines for the practice of fasting. Regardless of this, it is good to establish your own personal times of fasting as you ar able. Fasting usually involves abstaining from food and other pleasures. Some people have chosen a life of fasting from some activities.

Prayer Matrix

A prayer matrix is a dynamic and interactive three or four dimensional grid-like model that illustrates independent as well as relational prayer areas, topics, points, or concerns. A simple prayer matrix can be drawn on a piece of paper using a table-like structure. Down the left hand side of the page, list people, families, organizations, businesses, entities, institutions, communities, governments, or issues to be prayed for. In the case of individuals and families, the columns to the right can indicate faith, health, employment, finances, family, outreach, and effective living.

Prayer Resources

For additional information and resources, please visit our Prayer Resources page. [click here]

[Previous | Next]