PRAYzing! Creative Prayer Experiences from A to Z
Daniel Henderson
NavPress, 2007
Too many times I've sat down to pray and found myself dozing off. I knew something was wrong when a potential encounter with the creator of the universe left me yawning. So I picked up Daniel Henderson’s PRAYzing! eager to discover the secret of lively, life-changing prayer meetings. I wasn’t disappointed.
In six short chapters (Part One), Henderson lays the foundation for the book, grounding his teaching in Scripture, using humor to illustrate his points. He examines God’s unlimited creativity as displayed in the wonders of creation, then encourages readers to respond with creative prayers, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide. The last chapter describes a pattern for prayer based on the 4/4 musical beat of a conductor: Upward (reverence), Downward (response), Inward (requests), Outward (readiness), and Upward (reverence) once again.
Part Two describes how worship and scripture reading led to 26 creative prayer experiences, from A (Awesome Wonder) to Z (Zimbabwe and Beyond). Using prompts based on Scripture, participants at prayer retreats, prayer summits and prayer meetings expressed their thoughts and feelings to God. For example, at a gathering of pastors and elders, one pastor read the story of the ten lepers who cried out to Jesus for healing (Luke 17:11-19). Henderson received an insight and instructed participants, “One at a time, as the Spirit of God prompts us, let us finish this sentence: ‘Jesus, I bring to you the leprosy of my (blank), and I cry out to You for healing.’” He added, “After each person prays, let’s all cry out in unison, as the lepers did, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’” This led to a “powerful time of profound authenticity and creative confession.”
Henderson’s examples are not meant to be duplicated but show how to begin with Scripture and wait on the Holy Spirit to craft creative prayers that move individuals’ hearts and cultivate an awareness of God’s presence. I frequently use Scripture to guide my individual prayers, but it was helpful to learn how to extend that practice to group prayers.
The book is intended for pastors and prayer leaders, but could also help small group leaders encourage more people to pray in their groups.
Are your prayers repetitive? Might they bore God? (See Cynthia Bezek's blog You're boring, Bryan!)
How have you used Scripture to guide your prayers?
How could you use these ideas to improve your personal or corporate prayer life?
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Thanks so much Jean for your kind review. I am grateful it was a blessing. It seems like every week, either in my personal time with the Lord or in leading a prayer experience somewhere, the reality and relevance of these principles create a fresh encounter with the word and the Spirit in producing compelling prayer times. The Lord is God and so worthy to be sought with an alert and expectant heart.
Praying for Daniel .....also celebrated another birthday in April .....enjoyed the article ....
May the Lord bless the ministry of Daniel Henderson at Liberty . May many young lives especially learn the value of prayer . May the Lord bless you in your effort to make prayer the main thing, give our best effort for prayer, make prayer the topic of our study, reading , preaching , and personal lives .
The best way to neglect our Lord , is to take for granted , assume, that we all pray . Let's continue to make prayer our emphasis !
Charles
where can I buy this book you are talking about?
Simply click on Prayzing! to navigate to the NavPress website where you can purchase this book. It is also available at Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.
sonia Hernandez-Rodriguez said: