Almost 35 years ago my friend Betsy contacted me. \u201cLet me tell you about this exciting way of praying I have found out about.\u201d As I learned more about praying, meditating on God\u2019s Word and learning to listen and pray together in a group, it changed my life forever. At first I wondered how God could speak to us all so directly as we gathered, but as time went on I began to see the way God worked in our group. Meditation was not something I had even thought of in my busy life as a pastor\u2019s wife and the mother of 4 children. No time for that, or so I thought!
Our group gradually learned how to listen as God spoke to us through the Word. We always worshiped first and that paved the way for the Holy Spirit to come and be a part of our meditation. As we gathered to worship, the Holy Spirit\u2019s presence was tangible. Then we focused on a few verses God had given us to meditate on and we wrote fast as the thoughts tumbled out. As we began to share what God had given us there was usually a pattern to our meditation and we learned to pray in agreement for each revelation and then go on to the next subject. It was not uncommon for several of us to receive a similar thought, but there was always something new added also. The meaning of Psalm 119:130 became so clear to me, \u201cThe entrance of your Words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.\u201d The truth of this verse has been proved over and over again to me, both in personal and corporate prayer.
For example. During a recent ASK meeting as we meditated on Psalm 126, the first country we prayed for was Israel. Look at this Psalm and see all the wonderful things we prayed. Then we prayed in a similar way for 2 other countries that God had shown us to pray for. The meeting was just before Thanksgiving. We prayed for families and prodigals asking that we would be lights to our families. Then we extended it to families across the nation, praying for Christians to be lights around the Thanksgiving table. God gave a vision of shafts of light beaming down on us from heaven and then widening and extending to our families and others across the Nation. This led to us praying for the Churches throughout the nation and then our local churches. Can you see how the thread goes? As we prayed we kept listening to the Lord and He continued to reveal to us how to pray from the Word. Another person in the group also had a vision about us being lights. God\u2019s Word was the focus and we kept going back to pray the Word. Note:- Other Scriptures are often brought to mind as we pray.
Throughout the years this way of praying has become very personal to me. As I read the Word each day God uses these verses to teach me, instruct, convict, encourage etc. (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17). I have daily prayer tools from His Word that I pray constantly for myself, family, others, the nation(s) etc. So much revelation.
There is much I could share but let me encourage you to start ASKing the Lord to reveal from His Word how you can pray for yourself, your family, community, the nation(s). You\u2019ll be hooked for life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n