While it’s great to have a structure to my prayer time there is also a downside.
Reference: v.6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. (TNIV Bible)
Explore: Each morning I set aside time to pray for different elements of my life. As I start the week I pray for my work placement, on Tuesday’s I pray for my friends who don’t have a relationship with God, Wednesday I pray for my church, Thursdays I pray for pastors I know working overseas and Friday I pray for my family and friends. While these themes are not set in stone it does help me to pray for a variety of things throughout the week. The down side to being so structured is that I often get to the end of the week and feel I have only put requests before God. I need to remember to praise Him every single day as well.
Application: The Psalms are certainly a great assistance to our faith walk in reminding us to praise the Lord. Even when things are going badly the Psalmists include prayer in their poetry and song. Now the challenge for me is to become more like the psalmist and add the element of praise in my daily prayer too.
Prayer: Lord, You have given us so many good things. We could spend all day praising You for all that You have done. May we not forget to add our thanksgiving to our prayers to You. Amen.
What are you thankful for today?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.