Ok, so I mean for this to be a short post. There has been a lot going on for many of us, growth, spiritual warfare and change of all kinds. As religious as it sounds, I’ve made a prayer regimen in the peace of the morning while I drink my coffee. This is my “quiet time” with the Lord for the day. I pray throughout the day, but this is my “tent of meeting” time. The prayer regimen might sound stiff, but it is a guideline, like a budget or “harp and bowl,” things that add structure and give direction and acts as a platform to spontaneity so it can come out and be sustained. Plus, at 6:15am, the time the coffee’s finally made and I’m sitting down to pray, I need a template. So without further ado, here’s what I’ve been doing, hopefully this blesses some of you.
1.) I start with John Eldredge’s “daily prayer,” speaking it out loud. It includes a lot of things I would pray normally, but it lays it all out for me.
2.) Then I speak the truths on a bookmark I got from Jim Lang after talking to him about resisting the allure of temptation by finding satisfaction in God. I speak these out, or I will also journal them, sometimes even turning the wording back to focus on God as a way to not only speak the truth, but focus on, thank and interact with Him. E.g.: “I can find grace and mercy in time of need” Heb 4:16. So I will write: “God you are merciful and gracious toward me, thank you. I need you, help me to walk in that truth.”
3.) Then I sometimes pray through the apostolic prayers, changing Paul’s “that you would be filled” to “we,” praying for friends, family, and myself all together.
4.) I sometimes read through the Psalms of the day which is the date of the day as your first psalm, and then adding 30 till you can’t any more, and in a month, you will have read all 150 Psalms. E.g. today is the the 5th, so I would read Psalms 5, 35, 65, 95, and 125.
5.) I also do holy spirit journaling I learned from Alyn and AJ Jones, quieting myself and journaling back and forth with Our Father, listening to scripture confirming subtly, the same way I would prophesy to someone else. God always speaks love and encouragement. And If I’m not hearing love and encouragement, I put it on the shelf or toss it out. I use the same filter for myself that we use when we prophesy to others, out of 1 Cor 14:3:
“But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation.”
6.) I also bought myself for Christmas the kindle version of Finding Father, by AJ and Alyn Jones, it’s a brief but substantial devo that I’m really enjoying and growing in.
And that’s all! Any combination of three or four of these takes about an hour. This morning I read the Eldredge prayer and then I got distracted to write this, haha. But I’ll just do the bookmark, apostolic prayer and then Finding Father and see if anyone else comes downstairs for coffee on this snowy day, at which point I’ll be social. God bless you all! Hope this helps you squeeze in something ready to devour into your grab and go mornings! hugs!
-Galen
“Surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me all of my days, and I will dwell in Your house forever.” Ps 23
surely goodness and mercy 