PRAYER PLANS

Various places are beginning 2014 with PRAYER and FASTING! If you are interested in doing this for the first week of the New Year with a wonderful community, might I suggest HERE. 

I can also direct you to others, if you'd like, I will search for more choices. Here is one "Call to Pray" with 10 days of prayer and resources. I know different churches start their year this way, like my home church in Minnesota (sometimes the entire month) or some I found online: City Church, I think Saddleback with Pastor Rick Warren's Daniel Plan followed by "50 days of Transformation" study, Celebration Church (21 days), Church on the Rock, CrossGates or a day with Moody Church. I'm sure there are others. Some follow the Daniel Plan or other ways but the theme is not only PRAYER but FASTING so we are in tune and listening to what God may reveal. Many do not start until the week of January 5th ...  so you still have time to look around and decide. 

Meanwhile, I have been looking at You Version for specific reading plans that focus on PRAYER, which I will start sharing here. I found about 47 different ones, and a few struck me. The one I like most is a 40 day plan designed to help you pray for your neighbors and your own street (but the main site is for the UK, although it would work for any of us in our own neighborhoods; it would be quite the undertaking and not feasible for me from here for right now). So I looked at my next 2 favorite choices (due to content and length): 

1 "Teach Me to Pray"

or

2 "Authentic Prayer from James MacDonald"

There is also one specifically for a 21 Day Fast, if that interests you. Others are more specific and also quite a few just give readings in God's Word like another favorite that I considered, but it's a 52 day commitment (too much for me for right now to get started but I may consider it later in the year): A.C.T.S. Prayer Bible Reading. 

I considered taking a vote of your favorite that you might like but then I would not have been able to prepare them for posting, so perhaps another time, we'll do a vote.

I hope that you also take time to click (open) the DAILY PRAYER page above, which comes from author Germaine Copeland's Daily Prayer page (between the astericks) and have taken time to read or subscribe to the daily devotions offered by Prayer Central with Kathleen Dillard and team (excellent choices to daily guide your prayers) that follow on that same page above. My favorites this past year besides Kathleen's Weekly Word or Today's Prayer (from Fetch a Prayer with them) were "In His Name" and "Draw Near". Actually I could spend most of my day at her site, praying and interceding.

In two separate posts, I will be sharing Day 1 from my two favorites. Actually, they will probably be preposted before this on Dec. 31st or before the PRAISE TIME post, and you'll be wondering where the "Prayer Requests" went and why these are here. But it's because I wanted you to have these as samples to start Day 1 on January 1, 2014.

Yet, I still love "Neighbors Love Your Streets" and I have downloaded much of their resources to personally use. I already had chosen a 10 week study or plan by Beth Moore on P.R.A.I.S.E. (a new book - I think - at least it's new to me) where Beth leads us with a new "prayer formula" using the word "PRAISE" to journal our prayers: P=praise, R=repentance, A= acknowledgement, I=intercession, S=supplication, E=equipping. (the first two may be interchanged on some days, she writes because there are times when we cannot truly praise God without cleaning up our act first). Maybe God will lead me to share more of this or Stormie Omartian's books that I also read and pray fervently. 

I hope you will join me in one of these reading plans and start; PRAISING, ADORING, THANKING, and INTERCEDING as we do here at the Lighthouse of Prayer in 2014.  

LINKS to:

Day 1

Sample 1

Sample 2

PRAISE TIME!

Here at the Lighthouse of Prayer, we lift each other up and pray for our needs and those of others we see here and there throughout "blogland" and our daily lives.

“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart” 
Psalm 9:1

"Praise should always follow answered prayer, just like the mist of earth’s gratitude rises when the sun of heaven’s love warms the ground. Has the Lord been gracious to you, and heard your voice as your earnestly pray? Then praise Him as long as you live! Don’t deny a song to Him who has answered your prayer and given you the desire of your heart." Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings and Evenings,” entry for October 30th, AM. Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008 

Quite a while back, it was suggested to me to have a place to include PRAISE reports!!! I was hoping that in our Prayer Requests each month, we would come back and give a prayer when there is a praise or thanks for an answer to our prayers.

Because of course, we always want to come back and give glory to Our Lord, praise Him and thank Him. In fact, I'm sure that we had a place long ago when we started here. So since we try to keep everything as a prayer around here, I was not sure how this might work ... but I'm leaving it up to YOU! I have noticed some PRAISE shared in the Prayer Requests more often as I wrote above (which I truly appreciate) but I just wanted to make a special place and point of this again. These can be general or specific (if you can remember prayer requests answered or the month we lifted that prayer). God surely knows. Let's just make a public declaration of how faithful He is.

We tried this back in September 2012 (Part I) then (Part II.) so this will be Part III for 2013 (that's a whole lot of thanks and praise). If you'd like to see how it was done before then go back and read or view a video with some scriptures on PRAISE, just click on Part I. We need to do this more often, but most definitely at the end of a year as this is! 

If at all possible, write your PRAISE, ANSWER to prayers or THANKS in a form of a prayer ... Thank you and God bless!

[the current monthly prayer request post still follows below this]

SAMPLE PRAYER READING PLAN #2

"Authentic Prayer from James MacDonald" as shared with You Version from James MacDonald (this is a 7 day plan) that "will help you assess your prayer life, check your methods and motivations, and show you how to turn up the power of personal prayer. Use these daily readings to increase your confidence that God hears, answers, and can change your life through prayer."

Day 1
Hebrews 10:23-25

"Stirred Up to Pray Paul gives us a term that really helps us describe the kind of prayer we’re going after—unceasing. Unceasing prayer brings the glory of God down. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says we are to “Pray without ceasing.” That doesn't mean you're not doing anything else. It means that just as you are always physically breathing in and out as you go about your day, you should always be spiritually in a conversation with God. Always talking: "Yes, Lord;" and "See that, Father?" and "Help me, God," and always, always in an attitude of prayer. When it comes to prayer, God Himself is in the stirring-up business. He doesn’t do it for His own good but for our good. We need to pray unceasingly because it is immeasurably good for us! Let’s look closely at God’s move to stir up Jeremiah (and us) to prayer: “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time while he was still shut in the court of the guard. Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is His name: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known’” (Jeremiah 33:1-3). Within these verses are four distinct promises from God to Jeremiah related to prayer. Do you see them? And when you do pray, ask God to bring the people and events into your life that will stir you up to pray even more. Stirring things are around us every moment, but we need the eyes and heart to see them. Prayer: Father, continue to stir me toward a consistent attitude of prayer so that my sensitivity to immediate and momentary times for prayer is increased. Help me not only to pray without ceasing but to jump to special invitations to pray. Thank You for drawing near to me as I draw near to You! In Jesus’ name, Amen. "

You can continue with these  by signing up with YouVersion and even receive them in your email or via your phone  (I think, I know very little about this new tech stuff)
I especially like the prayers at the end of each day's devotion in this one.
there's only 6 more to go with this reading plan on AUTHENTIC PRAYER by James MacDonald Day 2 "Call to Me" Jeremiah 33:1-3 Day 3 "Moses' Vertical Call" Exodus 3:10-11 Day 4 "God's Invitation" 2 Timothy 2:11-13 Day 5 "God's Insurance" Isaiah 46:8-11 Day 6 "Until You Pray" Psalm 91:14-16 Day 7 "Hidden Things" Jeremiah 33:2-3
This pumps me up or as this first devotion says "STIRS ME UP TO PRAY" and I hope it does you as well

NO COMMENTS HERE  ONLY PRAYERS accepted on this site so they are CLOSED for here
Sample #1 is HERE I had to switch these when I chose to go with the other plan

SAMPLE PRAYER READING PLAN #1

"Teach Me to Pray" from Time of Grace org as shared with YouVersion.

This one is for 32 days. 

"Is your prayer life sometimes unfulfilling? forced? confused? nonexistent? The Bible is full of stories and passages that can guide and inspire you to a better prayer life. These devotions, one for each day of your month plus one bonus devotion, offer encouraging words from the Word to help you with your prayer time with God."

Day 1
Luke 11:1 1 Thessalonians 5:17

"Introduction “Teach us to pray,” one of Jesus’ disciples asked Him one day (Luke 11:1). Now--it wasn’t that they were unfamiliar with the concept of sending speech or thoughts up to God in heaven. Their parents had surely taught them prayers in their homes when they were children. Each Sabbath they would light their candles and pray. Each Passover they would eat the lamb, hear again the story of God’s miraculous redemption of His people, and thank Him for His mighty acts on their behalf. They were regulars at synagogue worship and knew the temple rituals. But when they saw how much Jesus got out of His prayer time, when they saw how often and how intensely He spoke with His Father, they knew they were missing something important. They wanted their prayer life to do for them what it obviously did for Jesus. Why did He draw so much strength from that time? Why was He always so refreshed? How could they tap into that heavenly comfort and energy? Do you share their longing? Is your prayer life sometimes unfulfilling? forced? scant? confused? nonexistent? The Bible is full of stories and passages that can guide and inspire us to a better prayer life. These little devotions will bring you an encouraging word from the Word for each day of your month.“Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)!  "

I will be sharing the links to this one each day here, if it works so YouVersion will "Teach Me Us to Pray" through Time of Grace and their devotional
However, I will not be sharing the devotion here (since it's not mine), only the Bible reading reference and the link to YouVersion. It would be best for you to sign up with YouVersion and this plan to follow along with all of it. NO COMMENTS ALLOWED HERE  ONLY PRAYERS accepted on this site so they are CLOSED here

Sample #2 is HERE