by Stan Rodda: When it comes to prayer, everyone starts somewhere. You might be reading this and have been following Jesus for many years. Your prayer life might be strong and transformative. If so, that’s awesome. I’m excited for you. But new believers don’t start near the finish line. They start where everyone starts…at the beginning.
Let’s imagine you’re new to disciple making and have just started walking with a new believer. You want to model for them your own prayer life and quiet time with Jesus. You want them to see it in action so that they can grow. But starting where you are might be a challenge. Five minutes of prayer might be a real stretch for them, while you’re used to an hour or more of quiet time daily.
Here’s a simple tool that you can share with them and help them grow spiritually. It’s a great tool to add in to the prayer parts of PLUMPO (a framework for your quiet time). And to make it simple to remember, the acronym spells the word pray. So let’s walk through P.R.A.Y.
Praise
There may not be a better place to start a prayer than by praising God for who He is. Train a young disciple to focus their earliest thoughts on God’s goodness. Avoid going straight into prayer asking God for things and to show up like a magic genie. Maybe read a Psalm about God’s greatness as part of your prayer of praise. As you develop new skills in prayer, you’ll be more fluid with this. But no matter what, start prayer by focusing on God and giving Him the praise and glory due His Name!
Repent
Repentance isn’t a one-time thing that we do when we are saved. It’s an ongoing discipline in the life of the disciple. Train your young disciples to spend time in repentance. Maybe they recently read something in Scripture that they are realizing they need to work on. Maybe they have believed God didn’t care about them for a long time. Repentance is laying that before God, bringing that lie into the light and then asking God to replace that lie with truth. Then in repentance we begin to live in a new truth that God does care.
Train and walk with them as they discover things in themselves that need repentance.
Ask
This is your opportunity to bring things to the feet of God. Maybe it’s a sick family member and you are asking for healing. Maybe you have a broken relationship and you are asking God to restore it. Or maybe you are asking God to reveal Himself to you and lead you in wisdom and discernment. Whatever it might be, this is our opportunity in prayer to bring our requests with confidence to the throne room of God.
Yield
I like the word surrender here also. PRAS just doesn’t have the same ring to it however as PRAY. So I use “yield.” Regardless, it means the same. Now that I am aware of who God is, have given Him praise, have repented and laid things at His feet, now I’m moving forward in surrender and obedience. It is usually my will to do my will, but in prayer and in surrender to Jesus, I am yielding my will to the will of God. His desires and paths for me are far more important. I will surrender whatever it takes to walk in unity with Him.
PRAY is a simple tool to help you get started in your own daily quiet time. If you are new to faith and you are reading this, I highly encourage you to give this tool a try as a framework for your prayers. Leave me a comment and let me know how it goes. If you’re someone who has followed Jesus for a long time, I encourage you to take this tool and share with a new believer or a disciple you are leading.
Let’s take Kingdom territory!
