"Daily Prayers" (PDF) - Student Life

DAILY PRAYERS
Prayer Project
For Unceasing Prayer (I Thess. 5:17)
As serious or intentional Christians, we want to live each day with God, opening ourselves to him in
unceasing or continual prayer. Our desire is that unceasing prayer would become natural for us, like
breathing. But for anything to become natural, it must begin with practices that at first will need to be
intentional (and so may feel a little unnatural). Many have found that these five simple prayers are helpful
as a way forward. If one prays these day after day, the particular words become less important as they
become attitudes of the heart to which you fit your own words. And also, over time, it also feels less like
something we do, and more like something God does in us. These touch on profound topics in our lives--1)
worship 2) the Word 3) identity in Christ 4) the truth of ourselves (honesty), and 5) discerning His will for
us in all things—and so these prayers often become conversations with God about these things. An hour or
even a whole morning could be spent praying over these, but they can also be offered in 15 or 30 minutes.
If you’d like to hear some teaching on these before or as you pray, listen to the first 16 minutes of the
Friday Aug. 31st chapel, at the chapel website: http://studentlife.biola.edu/spiritual-development/chapel/
1. Prayer of Presenting Myself as a Living Sacrifice (Rom. 12:1-2)
“Lord, I am here, I present myself and my will to you as my act of worship. Here I am.”
Here, I present myself to God as a living sacrifice, what Paul calls our act of worship, which keeps us awake
to God in every moment of our day, remembering that He has an independent will to which we need to
stay open.
2. Prayer of Openness to the Word of God (Heb. 4:12)
“Lord, I am listening. What words from Scripture or what wisdom has your Spirit been
bringing to my attention lately, that I might respond to them”
This keeps me listening for how the Spirit may be speaking to me through the Word or through some bit of
wisdom that has begun to be brought to my attention.
3. Prayer of Identity (recollection) (Phil. 3:7-9)
“God, whatever I do today, I want to do this in you. I don’t want to do this alone, in my own
power or as a way to hide and cover. I don’t want to find my identity in anything but Christ.
I am in Christ, I am the beloved, and that is my true identity.” (Confess any idolatry of the
self, seeking my salvation in some role, identity, competency apart from the love of Christ.)
This reminds me of my true identity in Christ, that I have full forgiveness and acceptance.
It protects me from over-attaching to other identities, roles, or even my own goodness (moralism) as a way
to cover my guilt and shame, which can only be covered by the cross.

4. Prayer of Honesty (Ps. 15:1-2, Ps. 139:23-24)
“Lord, what is going on in my heart right now with You, with others, with my life, my
situations Search me, O God, and know my heart. Open my heart to you today in truth, lest
I deceive myself.”
With this prayer, we open to God and to ourselves what is truly going on in our hearts in order
for truth-telling to take place in our relationships and our life in general. It protects us from
self-deception, arrogance, and obliviousness. It also points to way to God’s loving work in the
realities of my life.
5. Prayer of Discernment (Eccles. 7:13-14, Phil. 2:12-13)
“Lord, what are you doing and what is it that you want me to become
and do if I am to do your will”
In this prayer, we learn to look for what the Spirit is doing in us so that we can cooperate with it. We
discern what work God is doing in us already through trials, longings, his Word, etc., and we ask, what
our parts are in opening to His loving work in our lives
© Prayers are Copyrighted, 2007 John H. Coe. All rights reserved.
Adapted by Todd Pickett, 2012