The Time Is Now - Developing A Lifestyle Of Prayer

best ways to motivate people is to show them how. Prayer etiquette provides the how-tos of coq)Orate prayer, and we've seen people skyrocket in their enthusiasm for and enjoyment of group prayer as a result.

The Next Step Continue to the next step in "1\venty Steps to Daily Prayer" (page 147).

Memory Passage "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped pray­ ing for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." -Colossians 1:9-12

Going further and Deeper

Here are several more practical pointers that apply to private and corporate prayer. These tend to be more applicable to specific situations or specific types of problems.

J. Don't pray private prayer needs in larger groups. Here I'm referring to set­ tings of twenty or more people, where some people don't know each other. Larger groups should focus on concerns that are common to the church or to that group. Your mother's arthritic knee is important to you, but don't raise this request with people who don't know her or you. In more intimate groups, such as families or cell groups, these personal concerns are part of the reason for the group's existence and should certainly be raised. These are people who are purposefully wanting to learn what is going on in each other's lives. K. Don't gossip or slander as you 1>ray. As a rule, I instruct my church to avoid individual names in large meetings, where someone might be present who isn't within a circle of confidentiality.