A Praying Life is the most practical training on prayer possible, yet it is rooted in biblical theology. 
I highly recommend it.
- Rev. Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NY 

To pray or to plan?

The short answer is YES!

When it comes down to doing life in today's rushed world, I think we can all agree that the better you plan, the better off you are.

But what does that have to do with doing all of life through prayer?

Everything! Where do you think Jesus got his plans for the day? Since he was always looking to his Father, the plans for the day or the week had to come from his prayer times in the early morning.

I have found this to be particularly liberating. Pray and let the plan(s) flow from your time with your Father.

Here are some practical tips I have picked up through the years.

1. One of my favorite prayer cards is simply labeled: "Myself: my commitment to God". The Scripture I use is Proverbs 16:3, "Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established." (See how the Bible promises that the plan(s) will flow from the commitment?)

2. On the same card, I ask for wisdom. The Father loves it when we do this. It shows we see him for who he is and that pleases him. In fact, according to James 1, he loves to give wisdom when we ask for it.

3. After committing our way (our day, our year, or our project) to the Lord and asking for wisdom, watch how the plans will come together. Something may come to you right then while you are praying. Or, you may pick up wisdom for your plan in a conversation with a friend, in a Bible passage you are reading, or in a sermon. One can never predict how the Spirit is going to weave the tapestry of the story.

4. Once you have a plan down on paper, set about to faithfully execute it. Sometimes, faithful execution is the hardest part. But this is all part of the prayer story you are in. Note the areas where you need repentance and pray for help. Note things you learn and jot them down as you go through the plan. Note areas where it occurs to you that you need more obedience from your heart. Personally, I find it is in this part that I ask for more and more faith. Your prayer card(s) will help you here.

5. Be adaptable. It's okay to adjust the plan as long as you are praying about it and seeking the Spirit's lead. Remember, in being adaptable to changing circumstances, you are fully engaging the story of what the Spirit is doing IN you, not just through you.

6. Enjoy the fruit! Yes, don't forget to enjoy the whole story as much as possible. You have committed your work unto the Lord and he is blessing because he loves it! Love it with him.

7. Lastly, every so often, just look at the card and recall the story. You cannot help but thank God. That is genuine and often robust worship.

Don't forget our Father loves to put you in situations where you are in over your head. You have the plan, but you don't have the expertise or the money or the personnel or....well, you get the picture.

He is watching and listening to see if you will just sit there and worry or if you will excitedly ask big things of him. Ask away, thinking all the while, "I can't wait to see what the Father is going to do with this."

Happy praying!

Bob Allums
Director of seeJesus Seminars: A Praying Life

P.S. Have you ever thought about hosting a Praying Life seminar? There are still dates available this fall! Contact us for the details.

As we slow down after the celebration (and busyness) of Easter week, what do we do now?

The last sayings of Jesus that world-changing day give us a path to tread. Watch this progression:

• “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:32-38)
• “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
• “Woman, behold your son! . . . Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27)
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-50)
• “I thirst.” (John 19:28)
• “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
• “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)
  
  

The first thing he does on the cross? He prays for others. Even on the cross, praying for others leads to loving them, in this case with his dying gasps for air. Seeing to them by talking to them from the cross, he is loving them. From words of truth and comfort to the criminal, to loving his mother and seeing to her livelihood, Jesus is helping them while being the ultimate intercessor.

But then, note, Jesus' intercessory prayer gives birth to worship. Intercessory prayer loves people; that’s why we have prayer cards on it. With prayer cards to help us, we slow down and look at people in our mind's eye. We think about what their world is like, and what they are going through. The prayer card helps us capture that. So our prayers for them become truly meaningful, not trite.

In Jesus, this was the final path on the cross. The last six hours on the cross began with intercessory prayer for others, and his life ended with the ultimate prayer of surrender. That is worship. In Jesus’ pattern, intercessory prayer becomes the door to complete surrender.

Bob Allums
Director of seeJesus Seminars: A Praying Life

Twitter: @_APrayingLife

P.S. Visit us at seeJesus.net.

It's two weeks into the new year... How many of us have already dropped out in our resolutions? Take a look at this encouragement from Bob Allums, Director of A Praying Life, a ministry of seeJesus, on how to pray deliberately about this year.

April 28, 2014

Dear friends,

I couldn't wait for his observations. A lifelong friend and mentor came to an A Praying Life seminar for the first time and I had asked him for his input on how we can improve.

“Bob, it was so much more than I ever expected,” he shared passionately. “In fact, it really was about walking more deeply with God and not just praying right.”

He nailed it. For many well-intentioned Christians, prayer is just one more thing that has to be “done right.” A category of the mind or a discipline which frustrates more than it helps. Deep down, we not only struggle with it, but we feel ashamed at how much so. Prayer becomes like... well, flossing -- or getting your oil changed on time -- or filing your taxes. When it becomes like that, it just dies inside of us.

Our Father never intended for it to become a chore.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from a dear friend in Los Angeles. We had a wonderful, exhilarating conversation with lots of honest heart sharing, asking for wisdom from each other and loud laughter. Like good prayer itself, it was like “nibbling on a feast” at the table of our Father.

Remember that your Father really does delight in you and thoroughly enjoys hearing from you. Of course you are flawed and often times out of sorts or disorganized when you come to Him. Come anyway. Come honest. Ask for help. Enjoy being part of His family and savor that He knows and delights in you by name. This is how we walk more deeply with God. “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” -Jesus in John 17, as he prayed for us just before his death.

Four seminars are coming up in Spain; Orlando, FL; Winter Haven, FL; and Williamsburg, VA. Would you mind praying for each Seminar Trainer and each one attending? Please pray for those who will, at the last minute, think of not coming for various reasons. Pray they will come anyway and have the time of their lives! Thank you!

Warmly,
Bob

Bob Allums
Director
A Praying Life Ministries

www.seejesus.net

I hope this letter finds your new year going well. I am recovering from Achilles tendon surgery which, of course, comes at the very worst time of year for this busy ministry. I am sure you can identify with that!

Yet, I am finding whole new ways to pray and trust our Father as I am more “dependent” than usual. Which brings me to my word of encouragement for you, from Andrew Murray.

He was a pastor in South Africa in the 19th century. Full of excitement about his work and love for the rural farmers and their families in his church, he was driven by a need to get “practical” in the way he loved and ministered to them.

He ended up being one of the most prolific writers about prayer that the world has ever known. This edition of our encouragement letter comes from his pen. I hope it puts fresh wind in your sails, as the saying goes, the way it does mine.

“And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you.” (Matthew 6:5, ESV)

"Jesus assures us that secret prayer cannot be fruitless. Its blessing will be evident in our lives. All we have to do is entrust our lives on earth to God when we are in secret and alone with Him. He will reward us openly and see that the answers to our prayers are made manifest in His blessing upon us. Our Lord teaches us that because God meets us in secret with infinite Fatherliness and faithfulness, we should meet Him with childlike simplicity of faith and be confident that our prayers will receive a blessing. ‘He that cometh to God must believe…that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him’ (Heb. 11:6). The blessing of the closet does not depend on the strong or fervent feeling with which I pray, but on the love and power of the Father to whom I entrust my needs. Remember your Father sees and hears in secret. Go there and stay there; then leave in confidence…"

- Andrew Murray, Alone with God, pg. 327

Prayer Request: Please pray for us at A Praying Life. We are busy trying to cover all of the seminars that were booked before I knew I needed this surgery. And, would you mind praying for us as we labor through all of the tasks, challenges and setbacks to get our first ever on-line course up and running on APrayingLife.com? We are most grateful!

Warmly,

Bob

Bob Allums
Director
A Praying Life Ministries

More Than a Quiet Time

November 23, 2013

A lot of people think that A Praying Life Ministries is an organization that teaches people “how to have a quiet time.”  That really is unfortunate. 

This thinking says that prayer has nothing to do with reality, but instead just makes one feel better about life in an evil world.

The truth is—in prayer you really can engage your culture, your government, and world affairs.  The opposite of engaging through prayer is often just sitting in cynicism.

If you're like me, it's easy to feel frustrated over current government affairs and the decisions being made. Does your stomach tighten up when you hear "quantitative easing," "tapering," and talk about the new government healthcare website? I wonder if anyone has a handle on what is going on.

Now is a perfect time to pull out a prayer card for your country. As God's people, we were never intended to sit by in our cynicism and just watch things happen.

Political parties and opinions aside, I find great encouragement to engage our culture through prayer from 1 Timothy 2:1-4: I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

Try this:  Write out a prayer card. At the top, name it My Country. (Feel free to be more specific! This email goes out internationally, and we can all do this.) Think about what is bugging you and jot down a phrase or two.  Or, think about what you would like to see happen if you were in a position to do something about it.  Begin to ask specifically and then watch what happens.  It can actually help return sanity to our crazy world.  Plus, it makes reading and watching news more interesting.  You will be engaging your world through prayer.

Thank you for making this such a successful year for our little work!  We are on track to take the seminar to at least seven nations, training 3,000 people in person! It is so exciting that I am revising my goals for the new year to train, equip and launch three new A Praying Life Seminar Leaders, bringing our total to ten. 

In grace,

Bob

Bob Allums
Director
A Praying Life Ministries