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May.05.05: Lftd - "National Day of Prayer"
http://nationaldayofprayer.org/

-- Mark 1:35 
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.

-- 2 Chronicles 7:14 
If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

-- Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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PRAYER MADE EASY
http://lftd.org/lftd04/111004.htm

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O LORD, YOU KNOW HOW BUSY I MUST BE THIS DAY, 
IF I FORGET YOU, DO NOT FORGET ME.
(General Lord Astley (1600') before the battle of Edgehill)

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+ Praying in the Spirit
All true prayer is praying in the Spirit.
For you either pray just using your own efforts or else you pray in the Spirit, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

-- Jude 1:20 
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

-- Ephesians 6:18 
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

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"When we work, we work
When we Pray, God Works"

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The first rule of Right Prayer is to have our Heart and Mind framed as becomes those who are entering into Conversation with GOD.
-- John Calvin

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+ Pray the A.C.T.S. 
A.C.T.S. stand for the Acts of the Apostles, with each letter representing a different aspect of prayer:

A= Adoration (or worshipping God)
C= Confession of sins to God
T= Thanksgiving
S= Supplication, asking for things in prayer

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The "Jesus" Prayer:

LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, 
HAVE MERCY ON ME, A SINNER.

(For many centuries Eastern Orthodox Christians have used this prayer as a basis for their praying and daily living.)

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-- 1 Chronicles 4:10
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

-- Psalm 106:4-5
4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to Your people, come to my aid when You save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of Your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of Your nation and join Your inheritance in giving praise.

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+ When and How and What Should I Pray?

YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PRAY EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME, UNTIL YOU HAVE LEARNED TO PRAY SOMEWHERE, SOME OF THE TIME. 

+ Set Times for Prayer
There's no one rule about this. Many Christians like to pray first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

In addition, some people try to follow the practice of short periods of prayer at 6 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, 9 pm, and 12 midnight.

-- Psalm119:164 
"Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws."

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+ Should I kneel when I pray?
You can kneel, sit, stand, or raise your hands. It really doesn't matter. Prayer is meant to be a time when we express our dependence on God. Many Christians find that kneeling helps them to do this.

-- Psalm 95:6-7
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Today, if you hear His voice.

-- Romans 14:11
For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God."

-- Acts 21:5
But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.

-- 1 Timothy 2:1,8
1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.
8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

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THE FREQUENCY OF PRAYER

Jesus’ earthly ministry was remarkably brief, barely three years long. Yet in those three years, as must have been true in His earlier life, He spent a great amount of time in prayer. The Gospels report that Jesus habitually rose early in the morning, often before daybreak, to commune with His Father. In the evening He would frequently go to the Mount of Olives or some other quiet spot to pray, usually alone. Prayer was the spiritual air that Jesus breathed every day of His life. He practiced an unending communion between Himself and the Father.

He urged His disciples to do the same. He said, “Keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place” (Luke 21:36).

The early church learned that lesson and carried on Christ’s commitment to continual, unceasing prayer. Even before the Day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples gathered in the Upper Room “with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). That didn’t change even when 3,000 were added to their number on the Day of Pentecost (2:42). When the apostles were led to structure the church so that ministry could be accomplished effectively, they said, “We will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word” (6:4).

Throughout his life, the Apostle Paul exemplified this commitment to prayer. Read the benedictions to many of his epistles and you’ll discover that praying for his fellow believers was his daily practice. To the Roman believers he said, “God . . . is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request” (Rom. 1:9–10; cf. 1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 5:20; Phil. 1:4; Col. 1:3; 1 Thes. 1:2; 2 Thes. 1:3, 11; Phile. 4). His prayers for believers often occupied him both “night and day” (1 Thes. 3:10; 2 Tim. 1:3).

Because he prayed for them so continually, Paul was able to exhort his readers to pray that way as well. He urged the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17). He commanded the Philippians to stop being anxious and instead, “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (4:6). He encouraged the Colossians to “devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving” (4:2; cf. Rom. 12:12). 

And to help the Ephesians arm themselves to combat the spiritual darkness in the world around them, he said, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). Unceasing, incessant prayer is essential to the vitality of a believer’s relationship to the Lord and his ability to function in the world.

-- MacArthur

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-- Philippians 4:6
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."