Prayer guidelines

Each week you’ll find a psalm and a reflection by Eugene Peterson posted on this page followed by a couple of things to pray for. You are welcome to pray anyway you like, but we suggest that this should only take 5-7 minutes and that you send up an arrow prayer(see below) for each item. We have also suggested that you pray for 3 friends and you’ll find additional instructions for how to choose your 3 friends below. We hope you enjoy this endeavour of prayer, and as you Pray Where You Are our prayer is that Jesus will meet you where you are, wherever you find yourself during the working hours of the day.

Arrow Prayers

An ‘arrow’ prayer is simply a quick prayer to God, like an arrow shooting up to heaven! It is a good way of praying a simple thought, especially in the middle of a busy situation. God is just as willing to hear short bursts as great long eloquent prayers: He is always listening! An example might be, ‘Lord, please help me be patient with (name of person) right now!’ or ‘please let me know what I can say / do to help (name of person) in this current situation’.

Three Friends

Choose three ‘friends’. These should be people you know who do not know the Lord, or who are not walking with him at present. They could be members of your family, neighbours, colleagues, friends or contacts. Pray for each person specifically. Pray for their personal needs. Try to look at life from their standpoint. What are the worries and joys, pressures and decisions, dreams and fears that they face? Pray for those things. Pray about their spiritual life. What are the things that are keeping them away from God? Pray that God would soften their hearts and bring them to faith in Christ.

For your own copy of 'praying the psalms' see our Book Recommendations page.