Bulls eye prayer

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1: 9 – 11

Prayer is one of the quickest topics to get you on a guilt trip. I think everyone feels they should pray more but I don’t think it is matter of more prayer but better prayer.  I was just thinking of some countries that are doing well and some that are not and I wondered about both the amount of prayer and the quality of prayer for those nations. Sometimes I think there may be plenty of prayer but is it hitting the mark?

I believe God wants us to consider ‘bulls-eye prayer’; prayer that really hits the target.  I don’t know about you but I can very easily start rambling and losing concentration especially when praying by myself. So to keep myself on track I like to use the Bible as my prayer guide by which I mean that using the Word helps me focus on God’s will for that person or situation. 

The Bible has some great prayers like Paul’s one above which I like to pray over my family. There are other marvellous Paul prayers in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 1 and 3. The Lord’s Prayer is of course the best and if we use it as a guide rather than saying it by rote it can open so many wonderful avenues for prayer. It really is comprehensive.

The Psalms too, when personalised, make wonderful prayers. For instance, ‘The Lord is Bill’s shepherd; he shall not be in want. You make Bill lie down in green pastures, you lead him by still waters, you restore Bill's soul.’  As you pray this over family and friends and consider your prayer it can help you come to real faith that God will move powerfully in their life. Faith filled prayers are powerful prayers. I have a bit of psalms for all sorts of family members and friends.

Proverbs chapter 3 is a great prayer for youthful sons or grandsons and, believe me, this one is a life changer. This is because ‘The Word of God is living and active’ (Hebrews 4:12). It transforms lives.

It is really good to chat to God throughout the day but if you are struggling to pray, find some Scriptures to pray over those situations on your heart. It helps us to focus and I believe helps us hit the target with our prayers. Be encouraged because, ‘the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5: 16). Our prayers do make a difference.