Be Devoted to Prayer

Tonight at our youth group I was on week 2 of our prayer series for April. We talked about 5 essentials for a devoted prayer life, which I adapted from a John Piper sermon. These have really opened up a new understanding and outlook on prayer in my own personal life so I thought I would share them with you. The acronym spells F.A.D.E.S. which Piper admits has no real meaning. But if you want to stretch it, without these your prayer life will fade…

F) Free & Formed
You must have both structured and unstructured prayer. If your prayers are only structured they will be unmeaningful and stuffy. If your prayers are only unstructured they will be shallow and trite.  Look at mealtime prayers. They have no meaning! They are unemotional and I promise God doesn’t listen to that junk. So pray freely and just pour out your needs and desires off the top of your head to God. But also pray structured using the Bible (Eph. 3:14-19), lists, books, and patterns in your prayer.

A) Alone & Assembled
Both places of prayer are absolutely necessary to the Christian. Piper said “I don’t think there is any Christianity in the person that doesn’t pray alone”. Personal, alone prayer is the heartbeat of every Christian. If you aren’t praying alone, you’re dead. Assembled prayer is the heartbeat of the body of Christ. A congregation that doesn’t pray is one that is going to die to the things of God very soon. By assembled prayer I don’t mean sitting in a pew while a deacon or pastor prays. It is important for us all to pray with others around us, out loud and quietly.

D) Desperate & Delighted
If you are devoted to prayer you will regularly come desperate to God for things. If all you ever do is come to God desperate and needy for Him to work in your life, you will be one depressed Christian. Go to God desperately but go to Him with delight and joy that He hears and will always answer!

E) Explosive & Extended
Short and long prayers are equally important and powerful. If you’re devoted to prayer you’ll pray without ceasing like Paul talked about and there will be dozens of times throughout the day that your mind explodes with 5 or 10 second prayers. We also need intentional times of praying for a long period of time.

S) Spontaneous & Scheduled
You need both, plain and simple. If you only have spontaneity, you won’t have it long. The fruit of spontaneity grows up in the garden of discipline. That’s why scheduled prayer is so important. When you are disciplined to schedule prayer it becomes easier and easier to pray spontaneously. You can’t leave it to chance or else Satan will make sure it won’t happen. If you don’t plan to pray, you won’t pray.

Bottom Line: Colossians 4:2 – Be devoted to prayer!