{"id":48213,"date":"2017-08-17T21:13:16","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T03:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?post_type=resource&p=48213"},"modified":"2024-05-17T16:14:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T22:14:14","slug":"how-to-pray-using-the-pray-method","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/resource\/how-to-pray-using-the-pray-method\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Pray Using the PRAY Method"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PRAY: Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These four aspects of prayer based on the Lord\u2019s Prayer<\/em><\/a> can provide a structure and flow for your prayer life. Approach them like dance steps rather than hard-and-fast rules to infuse freshness into your prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pause<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

 Jesus said . . . ,\u201cWhen you pray, . . .\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start we must stop. To move forward we must pause. This is the first step: Put down your wish list and wait. Sit quietly. \u201cBe still and know that I am God.\u201d Become fully present in place and time so that your scattered senses can recenter themselves on God\u2019s eternal presence. Stillness and silence prepare your mind and prime your heart to pray from a place of greater peace, faith, and adoration. In fact, these are themselves important forms of prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rejoice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord\u2019s Prayer begins with an invitation to adoration: \u201cOur Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name.\u201d Having paused to be still at the start of a prayer time, the most natural and appropriate response to God\u2019s presence is reverence. Try not to skip this bit. Hallowing the Father\u2019s name is the most important and enjoyable dimension of prayer. Linger here, rejoicing in God\u2019s blessings before asking for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your kingdom come, your will be done. . . . Give us today our daily bread.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer means many things to many people, but at its simplest and most immediate, it means asking God for help. It\u2019s a soldier begging for courage, a mother alone in a hospital chapel. The Lord\u2019s Prayer invites us to ask God for everything from \u201cdaily bread\u201d to the \u201ckingdom come,\u201d for ourselves (petition) and for others (intercession).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yield<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. . . . Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final step in the dance of prayer is surrender. It\u2019s a clenched fist slowly opening; an athlete lowering into an ice bath; a field of California poppies turning to the sun. We yield to God\u2019s presence \u201con earth as in heaven\u201d through contemplative prayer and by listening to His Word, which is \u201cour daily bread.\u201d We yield to God\u2019s holiness through confession and reconciliation, praying, \u201cForgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.\u201d And we yield to His power in spiritual warfare, asking our Father to \u201cdeliver us from evil.\u201d It\u2019s by surrendering to God that we overcome, by emptying ourselves that we are filled, and by yielding our lives in prayer that our lives themselves become a prayer\u2014the Lord\u2019s Prayer\u2014in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Share This Resource<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Download a print friendly PDF of the PRAY<\/em> resource to pass along. Navigator Discipleship Tools are designed for sharing with your Bible study, church group, and those you are discipling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GET RESOURCE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Content taken from How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People<\/em><\/a> by Pete Greig. Copyright \u00a9 2019.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Used by permission of NavPress<\/a>, represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. <\/h5>\n\r\n\t\t\t
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