Praying on Special Days

Another practice I have found helpful in my prayer life is praying related to special days.  By this I mean there are certain events or seasons in life or the church that can guide our prayers.  For example, we can use birthdays or anniversaries to prompt special times of prayer for a particular person.  Or certain events in the life of our local church can guide our prayers.

Another great way to do this is related to the church calendar.  Even if you do not normally follow the church calendar, there are special times that it is very helpful to join in with Christian around the world to focus our prayers in a specific way.  For example, Lent (the 6 weeks leading up to Easter) traditionally is a time of repentance and remembering our mortality.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday when many Christians join together for prayer and worship, and to spend time in confession and repentance.  On Ash Wednesday I usually join in with other believers to spend time in fasting, examination, confession, and repentance.  

Of course, we can do these at any time.  But the church calendar has built-in times of repentance, times of remembrance, and times of feasting and joy.  Using these times as guides in our own prayer life makes sure that we include all of the different types of prayer God commands us to engage in, and it also helps to keep our prayer life from getting into a rut.

I hope you will take time this week to draw near the Lord in prayer!

In Christ,

Bret