Our pastor suggests we should turn our prayers around by blessing God rather than pounding on the doors of heaven, asking blessings for ourselves.
I believe he is right that we believers are more likely to plead with God for ourselves rather than worshiping the Lord.
Daniel Henderson, author of Transforming Prayer, says that seeking God's face first can make all the difference in the world in our prayer lives. That doesn't mean that we should neglect our needs but that our requests should flow out of worshiping the Lord.
Henderson gives the example of Lori, a new believer at his church, who went on a three-day prayer retreat with women from the church - a retreat with no agenda. She knew nothing about the Bible and almost nothing about hymns and worship songs.
"She learned how to open the Bible and worship God as the majestic, sovereign and mighty One who is worthy of praise. She saw him take hurting people and give them peace, hope, and joy.
"After experiencing the deep, deep love of Christ that weekend, her life has never been the same."
Henderson's approach - flowing from the Bible - is to allow prayer retreats of this kind to flow naturally from people spontaneously sharing worship songs or hymns or passages of scripture. The focus is always first on God and who he is and what he has done.
People may respond to these scriptures or worship songs by praising the Lord and then confessing sin or making prayer requests. It all begins with worshiping God.
As Henderson describes it, this process is uplifting because the focus is first on God and his greatness, love and mercy.
King David begins Psalm 103 with these words:
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
As Henderson says, the aim of this worship-based prayer time is to open yourself to "the scriptures and your soul in Spirit-led communion with Christ and allowing him to set the agenda for every prayer time you enjoy".
Then, you will know what God wants in your life. And that is the road to powerful and effective prayer.
I believe he is right that we believers are more likely to plead with God for ourselves rather than worshiping the Lord.
Daniel Henderson, author of Transforming Prayer, says that seeking God's face first can make all the difference in the world in our prayer lives. That doesn't mean that we should neglect our needs but that our requests should flow out of worshiping the Lord.
Henderson gives the example of Lori, a new believer at his church, who went on a three-day prayer retreat with women from the church - a retreat with no agenda. She knew nothing about the Bible and almost nothing about hymns and worship songs.
"She learned how to open the Bible and worship God as the majestic, sovereign and mighty One who is worthy of praise. She saw him take hurting people and give them peace, hope, and joy.
"After experiencing the deep, deep love of Christ that weekend, her life has never been the same."
Henderson's approach - flowing from the Bible - is to allow prayer retreats of this kind to flow naturally from people spontaneously sharing worship songs or hymns or passages of scripture. The focus is always first on God and who he is and what he has done.
People may respond to these scriptures or worship songs by praising the Lord and then confessing sin or making prayer requests. It all begins with worshiping God.
As Henderson describes it, this process is uplifting because the focus is first on God and his greatness, love and mercy.
King David begins Psalm 103 with these words:
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
As Henderson says, the aim of this worship-based prayer time is to open yourself to "the scriptures and your soul in Spirit-led communion with Christ and allowing him to set the agenda for every prayer time you enjoy".
Then, you will know what God wants in your life. And that is the road to powerful and effective prayer.
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