| Fuel for Prayer
John Piper preached a message he titled "Be Devoted to Prayer." He invented an acronym - "F.A.D.E.S." Each letter stood for a couplet of two complementary aspects of prayer that need to be balanced in order to keep our vulnerable prayer lives vital. "F" stood for Free and Formed; "A" stood for Alone and Assembled; "D" stood for Desperate and Delighted; "E" stood for Explosive and Extended; and "S" stood for Spontaneous and Scheduled.* While developing the "F" (free and formed) part of the acronym, he broke it into several sub-points relating to the formed aspect of prayer. While the free aspect of prayer is also important - our words should flow freely from our minds through unplanned and unstructured expressions - counter balancing freedom in prayer is the use of "form." Formed prayers are structured or modeled after patterns. Formed prayers follow outlines. Formed prayers do not rely on the mind's capacity for self-expression. My guess, based on my own experience, is that most evangelicals rely on and value freedom in prayer more than form. People like me embrace freedom, self-expression, and "genuine" experiences. This preference is even stronger in people who grew up in dry, liturgical, religious environments, where their disappointing experience with lifeless and formulaic prayer now makes formed prayer repulsive to them. Nevertheless, I think there is great value in embracing certain kinds of form in prayer. I'm not suggesting that praying in a formed way, without an engaged heart, is valuable. But in as much as my mind is weak, and my understanding of God is shallow, using forms to help me pray can deepen and strengthen my experience in prayer. For example, I have found that in my prayer life, if I try and start off with free prayers I easily get distracted and therefore stop praying. In the weakness of my distracted mind I can't seem to think of much to pray about. I get stuck in ruts and find my mind wandering. However, when I work up to prayer by using helpful forms such as devotional books, prayer guides, and prayer letters, my prayers go deeper, extend themselves and become more focused. I have found that using forms, at least at first, tends to deepen and strengthen my prayer life. This leads to free prayer, and the deepest kind of free prayer - joyful communion with God expressed in spiritual praise. Conversely, I have found that my prayer, when I start off freely, rarely leads to deep communion with God. As a result I have become deliberate as I use forms in prayer. Scripture itself is the best form for guiding prayer. Specifically, New Testament examples of prayer are extremely potent forms that elicit and enable depth and freedom in my prayer life. For example, Paul's prayer captured in Ephesians 3:16-19 is chock full of fuel for prayer: For this reason, I bow my knees… that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.As I meditate on the words in this passage and begin praying them for myself and for those who come to mind, a strong current of prayer builds. There is so much depth here, so much to ask for, so many promises held out, so much to strive after, so much to attain. There is just no way that I could ever form such prayer requests from the ground of my own free thoughts. My deepening experience of prayer, using biblical forms, led me to take down some notes. I jotted down all the New Testament scripture references I could find that contained examples of prayer. I added to my list verses that, although not prayers in themselves, taught about prayer or referred to prayer. I have been using this list as a helpful tool for strengthening, guiding, deepening and vitalizing my prayer life. Of course the entire Bible can be used this way. The Word of God is like an oil well sitting on top of an endless reservoir of fuel for prayer. I limited my list to verses that either are prayers, or speak of prayer because I have found that are the "driest kindling" for stoking the fires of prayer. Once the flame catches, just about any passage thrown in will fuel the fire. This document is a compilation of these verses. Rather than just listing them however, I have added some organization and structure to help use them. Some interpretation was necessary in structuring and categorizing, but I tried to do as little as possible. Most "directions" are simply restatements of the verses re-written in the form of a directive. For example in the Lord's Prayer "give us this day our daily bread," the direction is simply, "pray for practical daily needs." Most of these directions are self-explanatory but I have learned not to underestimate how dry, tired, and deadened my mind and spirit can become, especially early in the morning! Simple statements to guide my prayers can be helpful when my mind is prone to distraction or eager to go back to sleep. In addition to providing simple directions, I have done a bit of grouping. Many of the verses in this list contain common themes. By grouping verses together under similar themes they can become "prayer accelerators." I think the effect of reading a series of verses, all oriented around a common theme, work like the electro-magnets that are used to propel roller coasters. By orienting a series of magnets in the same direction, as the coaster passes by, it is accelerated to intense speeds. As I pray along a particular theme and then meditate on a series of similar verses, my prayers often get pushed along and accelerate in terms of focus and intensity. Two Primary Categories - How and What Conspicuously absent from my two main categories, "How" and "What," is the "Why" category. The purpose of this list is to provide practical help for Christians who want to pray. This list is fuel for the effort of prayer not an argument to persuade people that they ought to pray or a theological rationale for prayer, although those purposes are urgent if they are lacking. Both the "How to Pray" list and the "What to Pray" list have some verses in common. This is because many verses can be applied both ways. Nevertheless, it has been helpful to me to separate them out into the two broad themes. "How" often functions as my motivational list. It helps me orient my heart and recognize the urgency and effort necessary in prayer. It helps me get my heart, mind and spirit into position. It girds me up and exhorts me to pray. Meditating on these verses from the "How" perspective gets me moving. Once I find that my mind, heart and spirit are engaged, I use the "What" list. The "What" list provides practical, yet very spiritual subjects for prayer. One heart-warming example of how something practical can also be very spiritual is seen in how Paul often prayed for his times of reunion with the saints. He prayed that he would see and be restored to his beloved brethren, and not only that he would be restored, but that their reunion would result in joyful refreshment, encouragement, and the impartation of spiritual gifts. Wow! That kind of praying can really go to work on a heart, building up love for the saints, and enrich meaningful Christ-glorifying fellowship. Within the "How" and "What" lists there are my personal sub-categories. I'm certain that better, more useful categories could be developed. Regardless, I think simple categorization can be useful when we need to pray for certain things and in particular circumstances. The categories with the "How" and "What" lists are different from each other. The "How" list is broken into fifteen sub-categories. "How" are we to pray? We are to pray: alone, intimately, humbly, intensely, persistently, with belief, boldly, corporately, with praise, thankfully, alertly, happily, earnestly, desperately, and from a pure heart. The "What" list is broken into nine sub-categories. "What" are we to pray for? We are to pray for: love, God's will, our needs (supplication), preservation, mission, direction, edification, power, and communion. Form in prayer can provide help for God's people, such that the incense (that is, the prayers of the saints) which will one day be presented before the Lamb will be increased. How to Pray list... What to Pray list... Download Fuel for Prayer as a PDF (256k) Email me for a printed booklet. * You can access the full manuscript of Piper's sermon "Devoted to Prayer" on the Desiring God website, www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/02/122902.html. Back |
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