Boa - Face to face: praying the scriptures for intimate worship

As a result, their time in prayer and the Word can become unsatisfying, routine and even boring. It is no surprise, then, that most people spend a minimal amount of time in either of these disciplines and fail to develop intimacy with the One for whom they were created. The problem with prayer is heightened by the fact that people often succumb either to the extreme of all form and no freedom, or the opposite extreme of all freedom and no form. The first extreme leads to a rote or impersonal approach to prayer, while the second produces an unbalanced and undisciplined prayer life that can degenerate into a litany of one gimme after another. Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship was designed to make prayer a more enriching and satisfying experience by providing both form and freedom in the practice of prayer. The Structure of This Book Think of this book as a tool that combines the word of the Lord with prayer and guides you through the process of praying Scripture back to God.

It will enable you to think Gods thoughts after Him and to personalize them in your own thinking and practice. It will also provide you with a balanced prayer experience by guiding you each day through eight kinds of prayer. Because it is based on Scripture, you can be assured that these prayers will be pleasing to God. This book will encourage you in your walk with God by enriching and enhancing the quality of your experience of prayer. Years ago, Max Anders and I were profoundly influenced by the Private Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes, a seventeenth-century Anglican bishop and prominent translator of the King James Bible. Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship utilizes a section entitled Morning Affirmations as well as a three-month Daily Prayer Guide. Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship utilizes a section entitled Morning Affirmations as well as a three-month Daily Prayer Guide.

To create this collection of Biblical prayers, I consulted several translations as well as the original language of every passage. The result is essentially my own translation, though it shares much in common with existing translations. My intention in doing this was to remain as close to the Biblical text as possible while still retaining clarity and readability. I then adapted the passages into a personalized format so that they could be used readily in the context of individual and group prayer. This book of Scriptural prayers is structured around eight forms of prayer which are based on the model of The Lords Prayer. Our Lord told His disciples to pray in this way: Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come; Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. (Matthew 6:9 13) The eight forms of adoration, confession, renewal, petition, intercession, affirmation, thanksgiving and closing prayer are all illustrated in this model prayer: Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name The prayer principles of adoration (praise for who God is) and thanksgiving (praise for what He has done). Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven The principle of affirmation, that is, agreeing with Gods will and submitting to it.

Give us our daily bread The principle of supplication, in which we make requests both for ourselves (petition) and for others (intercession). And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors The principle of confession in view of our need for forgiveness of sins. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one The necessity of renewal as we face the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever A closing prayer that honors the Lord and completes our thoughts. The prayers of petition are formatted around a seven-day cycle: growth in Christ, growth in wisdom, spiritual insight, relationships with others, faithfulness as a steward, family and ministry, and personal concerns. How To Use This BookFace to Face: Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship consists of three parts: Morning Affirmations, a Daily Prayer Guide and Personal Prayer Pages. Part One: Morning Affirmations This set of affirmations is a tool designed to help you renew your mind at the beginning of each day. Part One: Morning Affirmations This set of affirmations is a tool designed to help you renew your mind at the beginning of each day.

It can be used by itself or in conjunction with the Daily Prayer Guide as time allows. Morning Affirmations guides you through a Biblical perspective on the fundamental issues of life: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? In this way, you review Gods perspective on your faith, your identity, your purpose and your hope. You neednt feel compelled to go through all the passages in Morning Affirmations every time. As the content becomes more familiar, avoid the trap of reducing these affirmations to a set of words you repeat by rote. Use them as a preliminary to prayer and Bible reading, not as a substitute. Part Two: Daily Prayer Guide This is the heart of this book.

Because these prayers are on a three-month cycle, you will encounter each passage only four times a year. Thus, this guide can be used indefinitely without excessive repetition. Be sure to use the prayer prompts so that you do not merely read the prayers. It is essential that you personalize them so that they can be incorporated in your own thoughts and experience. You can adapt the prayers in each day to differing time formats. They can be used with profit in a short period of time, or you can move through them more slowly, as you see fit.

Although you can tie these daily prayers to the day of the month, there is no need to do so, particularly if you find yourself falling behind. You may decide to mark your place and continue wherever you left off. Part Three: Personal Prayer Pages I encourage you to use these pages to add your own thoughts and prayers as they come to mind when using this book. You can also use this section to record your petitionary and intercessory prayers as well as specific answers to prayer.