Friends: Try this personal prayer routine that covers several bases helping to get us home to the Lord. Blessings, Bob

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Spirituality Column #1015

April 28, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Ten Petitions

By Bob Walters

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” – Philippians 4:6

Every Christian has, or should be encouraged to have, a personal prayer ministry intent upon consistent and growing relationship with God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We are mistaken if we think ministry is always outward, helping others find, build, and maintain their faith and understanding of God’s plan of forgiveness, salvation, eternal life, and – not to be ignored – divine relationship in the here and now. Remember that Jesus, in his prayer in John 17 on his way to Gethsemane, prays for himself first before praying for his disciples and the faithful who would come later.

It isn’t selfish. It’s like when they tell you on airplanes that in an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first, then help your kids and others. If you’re incapacitated, you can’t help others.  A prayed-up Christian is like that: able. It’s a skip-the-line pass.

Praying with (1) praise and (2) thanks are general rules one and two.  And while we might pray for rest or favor, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and our rest resides in constant loving relationship with Him. Favor is being in the Father’s will; that is enough.

A live, Godly, Christ-like, Spirit-filled prayer can take many shapes but is activated by what’s happening in one’s heart as well as one’s mind. Formula, rote, or creedal prayer is frowned on in Bible church circles, but not everything that is frowned upon is wrong in God’s eyes or man’s faithful heart. Sincerity is the ultimate catalyst.

That said, I have ten general petitions I pray God to fill me with. I don’t always know what they look like, but they help direct my conversation and focus on what to listen for in God’s reply. I remember them in related pairs, saying, “Fill me with …”

- Truth and Love: Jesus is truth (John 14:6), and God is love (1 John 4:8). These are the first two checks on our spiritual fluid levels. God exists; that is the truth. Jesus’s appearance and sacrifice prove God loves us. His resurrection proves it is all real. Fill me with that trust, Lord, and with the Spirit’s help let me never forget it. 

- Grace and Peace: Appearing in all of Paul’s letters, Jesus is our peace and Jesus’s person is God’s grace. It’s not just an idle or routine greeting in a letter; this is the apostle describing Jesus and citing characteristics that govern Christlikeness.

- Strength and Courage: Rather than just “heal my sickness” or “defeat my enemies,” give me strength to persevere in pain and courage in the face of fear.

- Discernment and Mercy: Help me identify God’s truth and, in a prophetic sense, recognize God’s word, will, and judgment: to not be tricked into sin by man or Satan. This isn’t begging for mercy, but for the discernment to know when God’s judgment requires mercy … or not. Mercy is a component of judgment, not its opposite.

- Wisdom and Compassion: The word “wisdom” appears 219 times in my NIV, 169 times in the Old Testament and 50 times in the New. James says God gives wisdom generously (1:5), and that God’s wisdom is “pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (3:17). That’s what I want. God sending Jesus is a function of God’s glory, and Christ on the cross is God’s compassion for our cursed predicament of sin. We can live this life in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says He will be with us always (Matthew 28:20), and Paul tells us to “Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Here’s how: Live life as a prayer in every situation.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) grew up a liturgical Episcopalian and upon arriving in a Bible-based church was initially shocked at spontaneous prayer. He’s over it now.

Spirituality Column #344
June 18, 2013
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville

By Bob Walters
 
Perspicacity means “discernment; clarity of vision or intellect which provides a deep understanding and insight.”

Relevant to the topic at hand, it refers to “praying smart.”  Perspicacity is a good thing to have when approaching the Lord in prayer or petition.

Too often we pray solely because we want stuff.  Or we pray because we want stuff for other people.  And it may be good, legitimate stuff: healing for the sick, food for the hungry, peace for the distraught, success for the discouraged, a job for the unemployed, or God’s wisdom and comfort in dealing with a no-easy-out challenge.    Or even better than any of these, perhaps in our prayer we are asking Jesus to shine His light into a life and help us or others to accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Strictly by the book, these requests are more petition than prayer.  And petition is a fine thing, ordained by Jesus himself in John 14:14: “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  Paul reassures us of this often, as in Philippians 4:6: “by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  I can’t think of a more important petition than to ask for Jesus to come into our lives.

Understand, if John 3:16 is right and you can be assured it is, Jesus is already with us whether or not we ask for it, recognize it, or even believe it.  Praying to accept the gift of God’s grace and salvation in and through Jesus Christ is something better done today than tomorrow, without worrying about definitions of prayers or petitions.  When the spiritual lights come on and faith begins to illuminate our life, definitions become less important than quickening the hope and love of Christ we already possess.

As believers it is worth the time to examine our prayer life and discern whether it is mostly about asking God for stuff, i.e. petition, or mostly about recognizing God’s glory, sovereignty and goodness: that’s prayer, that’s praise, and that’s worship.

In “The Believer’s Prayer” (Acts 4:23-31) the disciples and believers pray to “speak the Lord’s word with great boldness.”  They are praying to God to be enabled to tell others about the majesty, truth and glory of Jesus Christ.  That’s a discerning prayer.

With perspicacity, we learn that prayer should be less about telling God what I need (He already knows) or how great I am (we aren’t), but recognizing what Jesus has done, how great God is, and praying that we can effectively pass the Word.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) apologizes, but “perspicacity” was the most precise and alliterative “P” word he could think of that fit this train of thought.