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Recently I was speaking to my chairman and he mentioned a book on prayer by Pete Greig, award winning author of Red Moon Rising, Dirty Glory, God on Mute and founder of the amazing 24/7 Prayer movement. The reason I was intrigued was the acronym P.R.A.Y. Pete uses to provide a simple but effective way to pray - but more of that later. 

 

I googled the title and up came all the usual books offers, what caught my eye was a short 15 minute video  interview with Premier Radio about the book. In the interview Greig elaborates on the acronym, integrated with the Lord’s Prayer. 

 

Pause:

 

Jesus said, ‘When you pray…’

 

To start, we must stop: ‘Be still and know that I am God’ - Ps. 46:10; he argues that before we do anything else, we need to stop and be still and listen to the voice of God. This reflects what one of our International Directors shared on a recent visit. Rather than telling God about needs, we should listen to his voice showing us on what needs He wants us to focus. It may mean going for a walk as part of your time of prayer. Sitting and relaxing, breathing deeply, meditating on a prayer word all can help to reduce our stress and focus our mind on God as we begin.   

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Rejoice:

 

‘Say, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’

 

God is good therefore we are OK. We should delight in this whatever our circumstances,  as Paul reminds. Of course, that is easier said than done as we are impacted by the trials and tribulations of life. However, Greig speaks out of a place of difficult life experiences, which adds weight to his words. God is on our side and he hears us. That should cause our hearts to rise in praise. We should celebrate  and find faith in what He has already done for us, providing a springboard for even greater faith. 

 

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Ask:

 

‘Your kingdom come, your will be done…and give us this day our daily bread.’

 

He notes that it is better to greet and show appreciation for relationship before asking for gifts, illustrating the point with the story of his son immediately asking for his present after his father had been away on a trip. Let’s not be rude in just asking, without first appreciating the Father who loves to give good gifts to his children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yield:

 

‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…Amen.’

 

Herein lies the rub. So often our prayers stop after the ask. Greig very winsomely encourages us to yield to God’s will. Fill me, use me, surrender to God and in doing so, experience his resurrection life. As we yield, this takes us full circle to have more desire to pause, to rejoice, and to ask out of a place of yielded surrender to His will, as a patient devoted child, rather than as a impatient demanding stranger.

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Written by a Frontiers Ireland staff member.

 

To view the interview, use the YouTube link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CfepjCXTR4

 

To follow up in more detail, check out the online video course which accompanies the book, check out the Prayer Course which https://prayercourse.org, which highlights 9 essential aspects of prayer: stillness, adoration, petition, intercession, perseverance, contemplation, listening, confession and spiritual authority.

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