Prayer Teaching Sessions 2: The Practice of Prayer

Following on from the sessions on the theology of prayer, here are the teaching sessions on the practice of prayer from a few weeks ago.

Session 3: Lord, Teach Us To Pray
Session 4: Praying the Bible
Handout PDF: Practice of Prayer Notes

There's a quick overview of the parable of the friend at midnight in Session 3, but if you want to hear more about that, here's a sermon on Luke 11:5-8.

If you've been at the sessions, the book I keep recommending is Enjoy Your Prayer Life by Michael Reeves.

To go with Session 4, there's a great new book on praying the Bible which has just been published by Crossway. It's called (handily enough!) Praying the Bible and the author is Donald S. Whitney.

(Each of the session notes PDFs also has some book recommendations at the end.)

Finally, here are the written-down prayers we mentioned (that were up on the PowerPoint) as they aren't in the notes:

Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy. (The Kyrie Eleison)

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner. (The Jesus Prayer)

I have need of Thee, Saviour,
I have need of Thee;
Out of my heart there arises this cry,
I have need of Thee.
 (An old Apostolic chorus by Ps Hugh Mitchell)

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy name: through Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Collect for Purity, Book of Common Prayer)

O Lord, grant unto me Love that I may enjoy sorrows and be thankful for trials, and rejoice in tribulation, and magnify Thy Name in the midst of the storms of life, and that I may say that every day of my life is full of Thy goodness and mercy towards me, O God, whatever may come to meet me, and that also the things that seem contrary to me, are in Thy hand, O God, the means of transforming me to the likeness of Thy Son, and that I may embrace Thee, O my Father, when I am chastened of Thee, and that I may have a full realisation of Thy presence in every charge of Thine, that I may be perfected. Amen. (An Apostolic Prayer written by D.P. Williams and printed at the back of our early hymnbooks and magazines for use in the Apostolic Church.)