When you stop and think about it, there really are all kinds of prayer. Praying for guidance is quite different from praying for someone’s healing; prayer of confession is very different from praying for a loved one’s salvation.
But there are two essential forms of prayer we’d like to suggest ought to be part of your regular practice.
“Remain in me,” Jesus said, “and I will remain in you.” There is a decision to be made; apparently, we can wander away from Jesus. He urges us to take up a practice of “remaining” in him, because he goes on to say, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). And don’t we all know that to be true! Life just doesn’t work without the help of Jesus.
Now, God set about the restoration of our lives through the work of Jesus Christ—his cross, resurrection, and ascension. Taking our place in the work of Christ on a daily basis produces marvelous results and often takes care of issues we didn’t even know how to address.
The second essential is essential because we live in a world at war. What an eye-opener this is when you come to see it! Jesus warned, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10). You have an enemy, and many of the things you are praying over are taking place because he is in fact trying to steal, kill, and destroy as Jesus warned. Ignore this and there is no real chance of making it through to the life you want for yourself and those you love. But again, God has provided everything we need to cut off the enemy from our life—if we will take advantage of it.
These two essentials make up the heart of what we call the Daily Prayer—so named because we pray it daily. Give it a try—give this prayer ten days of earnest engagement, and you are going to be thrilled with the results!
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