Having A Hard Time Praying?

Having a hard time praying and staying focused?

Well, that was me this morning. I could not for the life of me stay still and focus on my prayer.

So, I asked the Lord to help me. I cried out loud, "Lord God, please help me to pray! I am having a hard time praying and staying focused!"

I believed that He heard me and that He was going to help me.

And He did.

I ended up finding myself reading a couple of Isaiah chapters out loud. (There is something about reading a chapter out loud over reading it silently.) It somehow helped me get my soul going into a prayer mode.

I read Isaiah 58 and 14. I am trying to memorize Isaiah 58 because it talked about the way to fast and how if you do the way the Lord wants us to fast there is healing that will come. I love the rewards that come with doing a right fast. And I have to say I have benefited very much in doing this. I have seen God's healing upon my soul and upon my life. When you fast for the sake of other people and carry such a burden for their souls, that is the right fast. When you fast just to gain something for yourself and to get even, well, you might as well save your time and energy because you're not going to go far. That is exactly what God was mad about on Isaiah 58. The children of Israel was doing the wrong fast.

Fasting the right fast of course, and having that burden for other people can only come from the Lord. So if you need help, just ask the Lord to give you that burden. I am in fact in need of that burden again. I need to fast for someone but these days, after working for over five years, it's not coming as easy as it used to be. It's not even in my mind all the time as it should be. But I know I have to do it. So, I am asking the Lord to give me the burden to fast for that person. And yes, I am motivated as well for the rewards that will come. I want the Lord to bless me. I want the Lord to bless my soul even more - of His grace and His healing touch. We can never have enough of it.

Anyway, I read my chapters out loud, including my Bible Reading for the day. In the midst of it, I just found myself singing worship songs...so I did. I didn't fight it. I sang and sang, probably five or maybe even eight songs...

Then I love the Lord. I just felt like thanking the Lord and loving Him. And you know what, since I was feeling this way I didn't force myself to finish my Bible reading. I figured I'd finish it after I'm done talking to the Lord. So I talked to the Lord some more. I loved Him. I praised Him. Made my request. Sang couple more songs. Made more petitions. Loved Him. Thanked Him for the wonderful things He has promised to do for me. Then I was done.

I finished my Bible reading out loud. Memorized couple of those verses in Isaiah 58 and closed the book.

I love the Lord because He's so good! He has helped me pray today.

I also find that having a prayer goal helps. Every day of the week I have a schedule of who to pray for. For Monday I pray for my family. Tuesday, my relatives. Wednesday, for my friends and co-workers. Thursday, home missions. Friday, America. Saturday, the world. Sunday, missionaries. This way I don't get overwhelmed when I am praying. Also, I can focus on the need that is at hand. If there are needs of other people that I am aware of I pray for them. I can also focus on loving the Lord and thanking Him for all He's done for me and what He's going to do in the future. It is important that your prayer is not just about praying for other people and problems but that you make time in focusing on the goodness of God. Often I find myself satisfied to just focus on God's goodness than praying for my problems or other people's problems. This delights God more than asking and asking. Because we all know He knows everything. He knows our problems more than we do. But by focusing on His goodness and what He has done for us first (and not just for us but what He's done in general, for other people and in the Bible) our problems will become less insurmountable. They become less serious. And we can believe God better and our prayer time will be less overwhelming.

I also have a pattern I follow in my mind when I am praying. I call it my "two-twos prayer". This was a prayer I came up with during my commute in the morning to work. It's so easy and quick and yet when I am done I feel like I have accomplished what I need to do in my prayer.

This is how it goes: 2 things to thank Him for. (Sometimes 2 Psalm chapters). 2 songs. 2 things I like about Him. 2 things I am thankful for that He's done for me in the past. 2 people I need to pray for. 2 things I want to pray for in my life. 2 things I believe He's going to do for me in the future.

First I thank Him for waking me up for the day and for His protection upon me and my husband during the night. I also thank Him for a wonderful day, especially when the sun is shining. Lol.

Then I sing a couple of songs, from the heart. I focus on what I am singing. And it usually is a song that is a one on one. A worship song. Not the happy go lucky, jolly sing along they do in some churches. But a worship song. A song of adoration and thanksgiving.

Then I focus on the Lord and His attributes and tell Him why He means so much to me. I find myself always thanking Him for His presence and how He is able to be here for me all the time. Hence, I thank Him for His faithfulness. So I look for two things about God that I am thankful about and thank Him for it. Of course when my heart feels more worship of Him then I do that. I don't just stick to two things. But this helps me to start off. Just think of two things and then that gets me rolling.

After the couple of things I like about the Lord, I then thank Him for two things He has done for me in the past. That usually is no problem. I end up thanking Him for more than two things of course. I thank Him for my mind that is better today. I thank Him for a better marriage. I thank Him for delivering me from my job and bringing me back home to spend more time with Him. On and on. And when I can't think of anymore then I move on to praying for people.

I think of a couple of people that come into my mind that need prayer. Usually I find more than two people. Some times the Lord shows faces in my mind who to pray for, so I pray for them.

After this I pray for a couple of my personal requests. I tell the Lord what I'm desiring in my life and asks Him to grant them to me according to His will.

Then I thank Him for a couple of things I know He's going to do for me in the future. Usually the things I've been praying for and things I have heard Him tell me He's going to do. I thank Him for those believing that He's going to fulfill them.

I love and praise Him and thank Him for all He's done for me and I finish my prayer.

I finish up on my Bible reading if need be. I always start my prayer with a Bible reading. It helps get my mind on the Lord. (This morning I needed help to stay focused and it came upon me to read the scriptures out loud and that helped a lot. By the time I was done I was ready to talk to the Lord, sing and praise Him.)

I then say the Benediction that Moses pronounced to the children of Israel to myself:

May the Lord God bless thee and keep thee
May the Lord God shine His face upon thee and be gracious unto thee
May the Lord God lift His countenance upon thee and grant thee peace

Then I sing my last song:

Isn't He wonderful
wonderful wonderful
Isn't Jesus my Lord, wonderful
Eyes have seen, ears have heard
What's recorded in God's word
Isn't Jesus my Lord wonderful

It is truly wonderful what the Lord has done
It is truly wonderful
(Repeat 2x)
It is truly wonderful what the Lord has done
Glory to His Name!