Introduction

I’m so humbled you’ve chosen to join me on a ten-week odyssey of prayer. No greater priority exists for the believer than knowing Christ through the study of His Word and the intimacy of prayer. I am asking God to make you willing to commit to seventy days of consistent prayer. I estimate that most people will complete each day’s format in thirty to forty minutes. The time of day you choose to read your daily entry and write in your journal is up to you, but with all my heart I believe that this format will be most effective when used first thing in the morning.

These pages are offered to help you form a habit of prayer. If you miss a day or two, don’t feel defeated and quit! Just get back to it as quickly as you can. I’m hoping the moments you spend in this journal will open the line of communication with God all day long. Remember, “Amen” doesn’t mean “the end”; it means “So be it!”

In Whispers of Hope, you will find three features:

• Seventy Daily Devotionals—each complete with a brief Bible reading assignment, a Scripture for the day, and thoughts for the day.
• A Daily Prayer Guide: Following each devotional, you will find a prayer format for recording your petitions. Please thoroughly read instructions below entitled “Seventy Days of P.R.A.I.S.E.!” to understand the approach.
• Answer Log: Pages 217–218 are designated for answers to prayer. God is so faithful. Recording answers which seem to come quickly will help you be more patient as you wait on others. Recording answers will increase your awareness of God’s goodness and fill your heart with gratitude.

Beloved, PRAYERFUL LIVES ARE POWERFUL LIVES! May God “teach us how to pray” (Luke 11:1), and may we be willing to learn! How deeply I pray that these pages will help you discover a fresh supply of mercy every morning, but more than that, may you discover the Mercy Giver.

Seventy Days of P.R.A.I.S.E.!

Sometimes a format can help us organize our thoughts—especially in a morning prayer time when we’re just waking up! I am asking you to consider adopting the P.R.A.I.S.E. format for your prayer time during the next 10 weeks. The format will guide your journaling each day. I trust God to individualize how He desires to use this handbook in your personal life.

I’m certain of two things: prayerless lives are powerless lives, and prayerful lives are powerful lives. God will bestow riches beyond measure. Count on Him. Don’t get caught up in trying to fill space on your prayer sheets! God will honor what you write from your heart. Enjoy God! May He become your delight!

For simple memorization, the following format is based on an acronym of the word PRAISE:

Praise: Begin your morning prayer time with praise. Psalm 22:3 tells us God inhabits the praises of His people. Sincere praise from your heart will invite God to pull up His chair and become your audience. You might repeat to Him a few of the attributes the Word records for Him. Tell Him Who He is! God already knows, but He’s wanting to make sure we know. Praising God helps remind us He is fully able to do anything we could ask or think according to His will. Tell Him how great He is and why you think so! You might repeat to Him the words to a hymn or worship chorus. Don’t try to fit into a mold. Just praise Him with your heart.

Repentance: After you’ve spent several minutes in praise and worship, enter a time of confession and repentance. I teach this sequence because in Matthew 6:9, 12 Christ taught the disciples to “hallow” God’s name first, then ask for forgiveness for sin. However, I’ve experienced times when my heart was too full of sin and conviction to begin with praise. You probably have, too. Sometimes, based on Isaiah 59:1–2, you may need to begin your prayer time with repentance rather than praise. The Isaiah passage indicates that, when we have rebelled against God, all He wants to hear is repentance. David’s prayer in Psalm 51 is an example. His life had been so full of sin, his prayer of repentance simply started with the words, “Have mercy upon me!” As you become increasingly sensitive to the Holy Spirit, you will discern times when your prayer life needs to begin with repentance rather than praise. Your heart will feel burdened with sin and anxious for relief. NO MATTER WHAT, practice a time of confession and repentance DAILY!! We gain victory over sin by allowing God to treat our problems in their earliest stages. Resist letting anything build up. Confess sins of the thought life such as wrong motives, negativism, a critical spirit, or even right words with a wrong heart. Let God catch things in early stages so we can be Spirit-filled people on a DAILY basis. Remember, the only thing whiter than snow is a freshly cleansed child of God (Ps. 51:7).

Acknowledgment: Having praised Him and been purified by Him, you are ready to submit to God’s authority. Acknowledge His right to rule and reign in your life every day. Then willingly and DELIBERATELY submit yourself to His lordship—ONE DAY AT A TIME. Any day not surrendered to the authority of the Holy Spirit will automatically be lived in the flesh (see Gal. 5). Acknowledging God’s specific authority over your personal life is not the same thing as praise. We can praise God all day long with our lips yet never deliberately surrender to His lordship with our hearts. Often in this part of my prayer time, I acknowledge how trustworthy He’s been with His authority in my life. I recall how He has never misled me and that He calls upon me to submit to Him for MY SAKE . . . not for His. However you may word it, I urge you to make a specific point of acknowledging Him as Lord; voice your choice to bend your knee to Him. You might also ask Him for an immediate awareness when you are departing His authority. Acknowledge God’s goodness to you in the past and thank Him for His faithfulness during times you’ve allowed Him to be the uncontested Lord of your life. This is a very important step. Please don’t skip it!

Intercession: Pray for others! I’m overwhelmed by how many people need prayer. The list never ends! If you have a long prayer list, you might divide the list into days of the week. We probably pray more effectively over five or ten needs per day than fifty! Ask God to burden your heart with the specific people He wants you to intercede for each day. Intercessory prayer really works! Here’s a tip: we save time when we don’t tell God how to answer the prayer! God doesn’t need our list of solutions. When Mary, Christ’s mother, went to Christ with a petition in John 2:3, she simply stated the need. She knew He was God. Who could be more qualified to analyze the problem and apply the solution?

Supplication for self: Now enter into a time of prayer for yourself. I wholeheartedly disagree with both those who say we shouldn’t pray for ourselves and those who make us feel selfish when we do. God has called each of us to love Him, serve Him, and live holy lives. I need help to live that life! We can only know Him intimately when we bring Him our innermost thoughts, fears, hurts, gains, losses, and desires. This is a time when I just talk to Him. I ask Him to give me a heart to love Him more and to fill any empty or handicapped places in my heart with the safety of His love. I discuss with Him my tendencies and any weaknesses I’m experiencing. I share my needs and desires. I use this as a very personal time between the two of us. I hope you’ll do the same. Pour out your heart to Him for God is our refuge (Ps. 62:8).

Equipping: Supplication for self helps us KNOW God; this step assists us as we grow in our capacity to SERVE God. Conclude your prayer time by asking Him to equip you in every way for a victorious day. You’re cleansed and prepared for His full habitation, so ask Him to fill you with His Spirit, to make Himself “conspicuous” in you and to make you victorious over the evil one. Ask Him to give you eyes that “see” Him and ears sensitized to “hear” Him. Ask Him to give you a heart to respond when He opens a door of opportunity. Ask Him to empower you to witness as He leads! Invite Him to equip you with the power of the heavenlies—a double portion of the Holy Spirit. “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” ASK HIM FOR IT ALL! May God fold His everlasting arms around us one day in glory and say, “This child withheld nothing from me.”

What about Thanksgiving?

Philippians 4:6 says, “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Incorporate thanksgiving into every aspect of your prayer time. As you PRAISE, thank Him for choosing to reveal Himself to you. As you REPENT, thank Him for His faithfulness to forgive your sins. As you ACKNOWLEDGE His lordship, thank Him for being so trustworthy with His authority. As you INTERCEDE, thank Him for being your Great High Priest and adding power to your petitions. In SUPPLICATION for yourself, thank Him for knowing you intimately and desiring that you know Him. As you ask for EQUIPPING, thank Him for never calling on you to do anything He will not readily equip you to accomplish. In EVERYTHING, THANK HIM!