Suggestions for Private Prayer - From Living a Prayerful Life By Andrew Murray

 When you pray, go into your room, close the door

and pray to your father, who is unseen.

Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6

 

As you enter a time of private prayer, let your first focus be to give thanks to God for the unspeakable love that invites you to come to him and to converse freely with him.

You must prepare yourself for prayer by Bible study. Read a few verses from the Bible then take what you understand, apply it to yourself, and ask the Father to make His Word light and power in your heart.

When you have received the Word into your heart, turn into serious prayer. Take time to present yourself reverently and in quietness before God. Remember his greatness, holiness, and love. Think over what you want to ask of him. Do not be satisfied with going over the same things every day. Let your prayer be something definite, originating either from the word that you have read or from the real spiritual needs that you long to have satisfied.

What has been said is in reference to your own needs. But you know that you are encouraged to pray for the needs of others. Remember your family; Your church with its many interests and endeavors; your own neighborhood; your friends. Let your heart be enlarged, and take up the interests of missions and the church throughout the world. Become an intercessor, and you will experience for the first time the blessedness of being used of God to bless others through prayer.

Do not forget the close bond between the inner room and the outside world. The attitude of the inner prayer room must remain with us all day. The inner room is intended to bind us to God, to supply us with power from God, and to enable us to live for God alone.