My Personal Prayer Guide – Ten Steps To Draw Close To God
Prayer Guide I Use In My Prayer Time
Prayer is an essential and intentional element of relationship with God because it is how we communicate with and talk to God. Prayer gives us power in and over the circumstances of our life. Today’s blog post is based on a bookmark that I give out when I speak at women’s events. A pdf of the bookmark is also included in my FREE Prayer Matters Bible Study e-book.
27 years ago, a precious Sunday school teacher gave me these steps as a prayer guide when I first got saved. Since that time, I have used this prayer guide on a regular basis in my prayers. I took those steps and put them in a format that could be easily followed and used to help others get focused in their prayer life. I hope you find the benefit of this prayer guide as much as I have over the years.
Ten Steps To Draw Close To God
STEP 1) Close your eyes and give thanks for three personal blessings.
Thanksgiving is important to God. Therefore, it matters in our personal, prayer lives. Thanksgiving moves us toward God and away from a sense of self- sufficiency.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.
Philippians 4:6
Enter His Gates with thanksgiving in your hearts and into His courts with praise.
Psalm 100:3
STEP 2) Ask God to help three people who you feel need God’s help today and to help your pastors.
This step moves us toward God and away from self-centeredness. We all know people who need our prayers; because in this world, all people have problems and needs. Some issues may be severe and some may not be, but we are all surrounded with people who need God’s help.
I also use this step to remember my pastor. Pastors have huge responsibilities in the body of Christ so we need to keep them in our prayers.
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks be made for all men.
1 Timothy 2:1
STEP 3) Ask God to forgive your sins and mistakes and to give you the strength to forgive others.
If we honestly evaluate ourselves, we would all say we sin and make mistakes in our lives. This is the step where we lay them out on the table before God and ask His forgiveness. That clears the air for use to move closer to God. Sin or even feeling like we failed God in some way has a way of keeping us from drawing close to God.
Forgiving others is equally as hard as confessing our sins and mistakes, but forgiving others is equally as important to God. That is why Jesus taught His disciples to pray, forgive us our sins as we forgive others.
For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:14
STEP 4) Ask God to help one person you find it hard to like.
I know! The prayer is getting harder! Praying for someone we don’t like can be super hard. All the more reason to pray for them and for yourself in how you relate to them. Ask God to give them insights into their personal problems and ask Him for the power to let God’s love flow through you to them.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 12:18
STEP 5) Ask God to help you be sensitive to the needs of one person today with whom you can share His love in word or deed.
We live in a world that is more often critical and demanding, so kindness shines like a brilliant light in the darkness in our day and age. Our small and large gestures of kindness can make all the difference to someone in need. Your smile, your words of encouragement, your gift, your time, may be the very thing that lifts someone else out of a cloud of darkness.
For though I am free from all men,
I have made myself a servant to all,
that I might win the more;
1 Corinthians 9: 19
STEP 6) Ask God to give you insights into your personal problems.
Often times, I hear Christians talk about how they feel they shouldn’t ask God for something. They believe they should be satisfied and to ask God to do something in their personal life means they are self-centered and that would not be pleasing to God. But, Jesus said,
“Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
STEP 7) Ask God to help you achieve your personal goals.
As we saw in step 6, Jesus tells us to ask our heavenly Father. God loves His children. If you are a parent, you know how much a parent loves their children and how much a loving parent will do for their children. God adores you. He wants the best for you. He wants to give you the needs and desires of your heart. Pray about what is personal to you, because if it matters to you, it matters to God.
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him,and He shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:5
STEP 8) Ask God to fill with the power of His Holy Spirit today.
When we open our eyes in the morning, we really have no idea what is in front of us. Some days we will recognize we need God’s power more than other days. I realize I need God’s power every day. However, on the days I am making a big decision, speaking or teaching Bible study, or stepping out of my comfort zone to do something I haven’t done before, I am so aware of how much I need Him. The reality is, every day, no matter what, we need and want the Holy Spirit to fill us so we can live out of God’s will and power rather than our own alone.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,how much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Luke 11:13
STEP 9) Ask God the most important thing you need to do today to “seek His kingdom first.”
In Step 1, we started our prayer shifting the focus off ourselves and turning our focus to God. We still addressed and asked for our own needs and desires. Now let’s turn our focus back to God and His kingdom.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
STEP 10) Conclude by sitting in silence and listening for at least three minutes to what God wants to speak to you.
Remember that prayer is communication with God. We talk. He listens. We listen. He talks. It is just like any other relationship. We have to set aside time to simply be still and be quiet to hear what He wants to speak to us.
BE STILL and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10
I hope you find this prayer guide is a helpful tool in growing your prayer life.
If you haven’t already gotten my FREE Prayer Matters Bible Study e-book, be sure to take advantage of this tool to help you in your prayer life as well. Another favorite tool I use in growing my prayer life is this powerful little book, Solid Foundation: The Power of Praying Scripture.
Much Love and Blessings!
Pat Domangue
