The First Step to a Better Prayer Life!
- Jay Lowder
- May 2
- 6 min read
The Missing Piece in Your Prayer Life, Part 1
We are blessed with an abundance of advice and sound biblical teaching about prayer. Yet, surveys show that most Christians are dissatisfied with their prayer life. What about you? Are you praying each day with joy? If not, ask yourself if you are missing pieces in your prayer life. You can enjoy the joy, peace, and success that God intended for your prayer life if you make your first step the right step.
You May Be Missing the BEFORE!
How do you begin to pray? We all know the importance of “a good start.” What if you began with who God is BEFORE you get to the stuff you need from him? Do you honor him BEFORE you ask him to hear you? Do you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6) BEFORE you cast all your anxieties and needs on him (v. 7)? That is the biblical model, but perhaps not the one you have learned from others!
The Biblical Models Show You the Way!
Jesus shows the right way to pray in this model prayer for the disciples, often called the Lord’s Prayer! Jesus instructed his disciples to pray this way, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9, emphasis added). Jesus begins with a request for the hallowing or honoring of God’s name. The exaltation of God should be our highest goal because we should seek to glorify him in everything we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). Why would we forget that sometimes? Because we let ourselves get overwhelmed with sinful worries about our needs being met! But should we not follow the clear pattern of Jesus by meditating on our great God and telling him about himself (praising him) before making our petitions? Praising God’s character is even more foundational than asking for food (v. 11) or forgiveness (v. 12)!
The apostles remembered Jesus' pattern and followed it, choosing to begin their prayer after being persecuted not with their needs (Acts 4:24) but by acknowledging God as the Creator: “… they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.” Then, at the very end of their prayer (five verses later), they " tacked” their request on the back of their praise.
J.I. Packer reminds us that we must begin with God because otherwise “any praying we did would both start and end with ourselves, for our natural self-centeredness knows no bounds. Indeed, much pagan praying of this kind goes on among supposedly Christian people. But Jesus’ pattern prayer, which is both crutch, road, and walking lesson for the spiritually lame like us, tells us to start with God.”1
An Attribute a Day Keeps the Dullness Away!
Several years ago, I organized my prayer life in a series of 12 daily rotating prayer lists. Some of those rotations are for family, for my church, etc., but I always begin with a 31-day list of God's attributes (characteristics), praying from each attribute on its corresponding day! I have benefited more than I can describe from meditating on a daily definition of one of God’s traits, reading aloud verses about it, and then thanking Almighty God for that truth about him. I do this before descending into the minutia of my requests.
It is not that our needs are unimportant, but compared to worshipping God, they are always secondary. To put our needs above God’s priorities would be to subtly make him our servant and us his master. May it never be! It is a humbling but helpful way to start praying - God and the things of God first! If I start off with worship, the rest of the prayer time (super)naturally stays worshipful.
From Whence Cometh the List?
I needed praiseworthy reflections about God for each day of the month. So, I began with Wayne Grudem’s 27 wonderful definitions of God’s attributes. While filled with biblical information, each attribute is defined in ways that automatically lend themselves to prayer. As Grudem explains, “In the study of the teachings of God’s Word, it should not surprise us if we often find our hearts spontaneously breaking forth in expressions of praise and delight like those of the psalmist”2
His definitions of the attributes covered 27 days of the month, so I added 4 titles for God that are precious to me, as praise prompts for the last 4 days. Below, I have listed the 31 attributes and titles of God that I use. In the next blog, I will take one of these attributes and show how, on the day of the month that I pray from it, I use its definition, supporting Scriptures, and some personal reflections to jump-start my prayer time. Until then, try out this approach, using the modified definitions to begin your prayers. You can start by saying, “Father, thank you that you are… [Attribute that Matches the Day of the Month]
31 Days of Attributes and Titles
These are taken from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, first edition. You should buy it, and I will make no profit if you do! I have modified some of the words to make my prayers better, like switching to second-person language (words to God) instead of third-person language (words about God). I have also capitalized divine pronouns and made other minor changes to facilitate prayer. In his book, Grudem gives and explains these attributes in chapters 11-13.
Self-existence - You do not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify You and bring You joy.
Unchangeableness—You are unchangeable in your being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet You act, feel emotions, and respond to different situations.
Eternal - You have no beginning, end, or succession of moments, and You see all time equally, yet You see events in time and act in time.
Omnipresence—You have no size or spatial dimensions and are present at every point of space with Your whole being, yet You act differently in different places.
Unity—You are not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of You emphasized at different times.
Spirituality - You are not made of any matter, have no parts or dimensions, cannot be perceived by our bodily senses, and have a more excellent kind of existence.
Invisibility - Your total spiritual essence will never be able to be seen by us, yet You still show Yourself to us through visible, created things
Omniscience - You know Yourself and all things actual and potential in one simple and eternal act.
Wisdom - You always choose the best goals and the best means to those goals.
Truthfulness - You are the one and only true God, and Your knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.
Goodness -You are the final standard for what is good, and all that You do is worthy of approval.
Love - You eternally give Yourself to others.
Mercy – You show Your goodness in self-giving toward those in misery and distress.
Grace - Your show Your goodness toward those who deserve only punishment.
Patience - You show Your goodness in withholding punishment toward those who sin over long periods of time.
Holiness: You are holy, separated from sin, in a category by yourself, and devoted to seeking Your own honor.
Peace - In Your being and in all Your actions, You are separate from all confusion and disorder, yet You are continually active in innumerable, well-ordered, fully controlled, and simultaneous actions.
Righteousness - You always act in accordance with what is right and are Yourself the final standard of what is right.
Jealousy - You continually seek to protect Your honor.
Wrath - You intensely hate all sin.
Will - You approve and determine to bring about every action for the existence and activity of Yourself and all creation.
Freedom - You do whatever pleases You!
Omnipotence -You are able to do all Your holy will.
Perfection - You possess all excellent qualities completely and lack no part of any desirable qualities.
Blessedness - You delight fully in Yourself and in all that reflects Your character.
Beauty - You are the sum of all desirable qualities.
Glory - You display the outward created brightness that surrounds Your revelation of Your own excellence.
I created the following 4 definitions for titles of God to fill in the last days of each month.
These titles launch me into prayer.
Title: Creator – You created all things according to Your wisdom and for Your glory.
Title: Sustainer - You keep all created things existing and maintaining the properties with which You created them.
Title: Judge – You will judge every being according to Your righteous standards yet joyfully offer to redeem people by the sacrifice of Your Son.
Title: Redeemer – You purchased us back at a price, both wanting and willing to bring us back, ensuring that redemption is accomplished and applied.
It was with great joy that I signed and sent a copy of my first book to Dr. Grudem as appreciation for this teaching.
