Tools for a Life of Prayer: Using a Prayer List

On March 10, 2019February 19, 2022 By CaitlynIn Prayer and Worship2 Comments

One of the simplest things you can do to strengthen your prayer life is simply to make a list of things you want to pray about. Many of us have experienced coming into a prayer time with great intentions, and then running out of things to say in about a minute and a half. A simple list, however short or long, can be extremely helpful in focussing your prayer time.

As with all of these tools, think of the prayer list as a launchpad, but it never needs to become a “law”! On some days, you may pray through your list quickly, and on others, the Holy Spirit may really catch your attention on one point in particular and you may just camp out there in a while. Some days you may have something else completely on your heart and never even get to the list. That’s okay! The goal is to connect with God.

As we talked about with scheduling time for prayer, even getting through your prayer list 70% or 80% of the time is way better than not even trying and doing 0%. I promise, if you make a list you WILL pray for those things more than if they weren’t written down anywhere at all.

What should be on your list? Broadly speaking, you might think about three categories:

Personal

spiritual growth
needs
future
ministry

People and places

family and friends
leaders in your life
people you lead
cities
churches/ministries
missions

Justice

government
abortion
racial issues
human trafficking
current events

What should you pray for these topics? The best advice is to pray biblically. Pray some of the key prayers of the Bible over these people, groups, and situations. A great resource is this list of apostolic prayers found in Scripture. I have a tattered copy of this sheet from 2012 always in my Bible. You can also check out this longer list of apostolic prayers.

Here’s a taste of the key themes and phrases of these prayers:

For wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God (Eph. 1:17)
For strengthening with might in the inner being (Eph. 3:16, Col. 1:11)
For love to abound (Phil. 1:9, 1 Thes. 3:12)
For the knowledge of God’s will (Col. 1:9)
That the Word of the Lord would run swiftly [rapidly spread and powerfully take hold] (2 Thes. 3:1)
To glorify God in unity, with joy, peace, and hope (Rom. 15:5-6, 13)
To preach with boldness and power (Acts 4:29-30)

These prayers can easily be adapted to any context, but sometimes for justice issues, I like to dig into the Psalms and prophetic scriptures:

“The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed…” (Ps. 9:9)
“O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will… do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed…” (Ps. 10:17-18)
“The LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives…” (Is. 61:1)

You can use my lists as a starting point, but as praying Scripture becomes a habit you will quickly discover your own favorite verses! I promise, using the language of Scripture will make praying through your prayer list come so much more alive.

I need to say this one more time… DON’T LET THIS OVERWHELM YOU!

Again, your list is a launching pad, not law. You do not have to limit your prayers to the topics you write down, and more importantly, you do NOT have to pray for all of it every single day! It may help to break your list into mini daily lists, so that you’re praying for just a handful of things each day. Praying Bible verses is a great idea, but again, don’t become so tied to it that you’re crippled if you can’t think of just the right verse.

Finally, find a way to work your prayer list into your daily routine. Use it as a bookmark and pray through it for ten minutes before you read your Bible, or tape it to your steering wheel and pray on your way to work. The goal of this tool, and in fact of all of the tools in this series, is to find what works for YOU to help YOU pray more. Adapt these ideas as you see fit, and happy praying!

Do you use a prayer list? What’s on yours, or what would be if you started doing this? Tell me in the comments!

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The Beauty of Hiddenness

On September 11, 2015January 5, 2019 By CaitlynIn Ministry Life5 Comments

At The Prayer Room, anyone who can play a few chords and is willing pretty quickly becomes a worship leader. That’s the nature of a small house of prayer. Many of us are in that boat, including me. Others… WOW. One guy in particular is crazy talented. Like, dang. He’s basically TPR’s Matt Gilman. I would confidently throw him up on a Onething conference stage in front of 30,000 people and he would rock the house no problem.

And yet, day after day he’s playing and singing in an empty room in a rented church in Arlington, Texas.

One day while I was in his set (I was literally ushering an empty room) I was blown away by this picture of hiddenness. He wasn’t holding back or singing halfheartedly because his audience was lacking. He wasn’t singing for any audience but One. As God started showing me what He sees in this moment, I almost felt like I was intruding on something private and sacred.

The great heavenly chorus of “HOLY HOLY HOLY” pales in comparison to the way one human voice lifted in an empty room captivates Jesus’ heart.

There really is such a beauty in hiddenness. There’s a purity in undistracted worship–in secret faithfulness.

“And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
(Matthew 6:4, 6, 18)

It reminds me of David’s years of preparation, singing to the Lord alone while watching his father’s sheep. I think God cherished those songs even more than He did the songs that came out of David’s amply-staffed 24/7 tabernacle later on.

And of course, it reminds me even more of Jesus–who was in the very form of God yet emptied Himself to take the form of a servant. (Philippians 2:5-11) He hid his own glory so thoroughly for 33 years–and especially for the first 30 before His ministry began. Even today, He hides Himself. He who will one day split the sky and appear in the clouds like lightning flashing from the east to the west (Isaiah 64:1, Matthew 24:27-30) goes unnoticed and unconsidered by billions of people every single day.

Many of us feel hidden right now. Many of us feel like we have something to offer, and we’re stuck in a back corner somewhere, because it’s not our season yet.

Guess what. If you love Jesus well in the corner, He’ll treasure it forever. He may have been the one who put you there. Maybe He wants your undistracted gaze just a little while longer. It’s a beautiful thing to be alone in an empty room singing to Jesus. All the best leaders in history did their time in obscurity… and many of the most faithful ones, whose names we’ll never know until heaven, spent their whole lives in hiddenness. What kind of glory are they swimming in now?

Holy hiddenness is a beautiful thing, because you can lock your heart fully on Jesus and know He’s the one who hears your song. He’s the one who counts your secret faithfulness as a personal offering of love. It doesn’t matter whether anyone else ever sees you. He sees, and He loves every moment.

*“It’s the joy of being lovesick…”* Lauren worship leading the 7-9pm set on a Thursday night.

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Farewell Camp, Hello Summer!

On June 16, 2013January 5, 2019 By CaitlynIn Personal Updates1 Comment

Hellllloooooo, Rancho Cucamonga! I got home from camp just over a week ago on Friday, June 7. Since then, I have:

Watched almost a full season of Heroes on Netflix.
Deep cleaned my room and given away bag after bag of clothes and fabric. (I LOVE simplifying my life!! Occasionally I would go on rants about materialism, and then start throwing things out of my closet. It was magnificently freeing.)
Crafted more handmade vintage-y greeting cards which will very soon be selling on my new etsy store! (Official announcement pending)
Babysat twice and have set up dates for more.
Officially made Refuge House of Prayer my home church!

I did not get the “ideal” summer job I had been hoping for. I was a little bummed, but I have concluded that God was protecting me from an overcrowded schedule. My first priority this summer needs to be my online IHOPU classes. As it is, I have arrangements for babysitting over the summer for a number of families. I will be very busy the next two months, that’s for sure.

As excited as I am to be home for a few months, it’s also rather difficult to leave my camp. Summer camp 2010 was my first full-time job. I’ve spent large portions of the past three years there, totaling about 16 months. I’ve learned and grown so much. From general leadership skills like initiative to flexibility to guest service skills like saying “yes” (whenever feasible) to outdoor science school skills. I am now the master of dozens of different ways to get and keep attention, teach about the environment, survive (theoretically) in the wilderness, keep kids busy kids with a game, etc. Throw me on the trail with 20-30 5th graders, and I will be completely in my element.

And even beyond all those handy professional skills, I grew a lot relationally. Since I never lived on campus during college, camp was my first real communal living experience. I’m a solid introvert with a tendency toward isolationism, so being “forced” to “do life” with so many people was just what I needed. The teamwork, fun, and fellowship has been simply wonderful. I love these people so much and will always treasure the memories I’ve built with them.

I’ve also learned how to intentionally carve out time for God. I had to do it at APU, but it got harder at camp. That’s why the camp prayer chapel and a couple of other lookout locations have become so precious to me. I’ve met with God there, because I’ve determined to set aside time and treat them like appointments that must be kept. The key is intentionality and priority. It’s planning ahead and putting my Bible in my backpack (even if it means I end up hiking the mountain with it for half a day). It’s taking advantage of small – or large – blocks of time. If I want to spend time with God, then I’ve got to fight to make sure that happens when no one else will do it for me.

The mountains have bewitched me, body and soul. I see God in them every time I look around. I see him when I marvel at the rugged, delicate, colourful, brilliant beauty of this world. Golden, flaming sunsets. Leaves rustling in the breeze. The rich petrichor smell of the forest in the rain. Colours, shadows, textures, shades of life. So much depth and creativity… they all reveal the heart of the Artist.

Those three years were one of the best gifts my Father has ever given me.

Now, Rancho. Family. Home. And classes… SEEP starts tomorrow. I’m going to be throwing myself into studying the Bible at a level I never have before. I’ve sat through classes at OTI, but there was no homework. I’ve done Bible classes at APU, but that was APU, not IHOPU.

This is going to be a summer to remember.