Feb 6 – The following prayers are taken from DL Moody’s nine parts of successful praying.

1. Adoration: Father, I come before You with Adoration, Thanksgiving and Praise. As I approach You, I consider all you have revealed Yourself to be – gracious, merciful, loving, faithful, true, eternal, absolutely equitable, Almighty, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and, there are so many other character traits and realities of Your Divine prerogative, Holy.

I give Your praise most of all for the gift of Your own Beloved Son. 

Lord Jesus, I lift You up and adore You for saving me, keeping me, filling me with Your Spirit, and inviting me into Your life. Adopted, forgiven, restored to Father, included in the divine plan, gifted, enabled and called Your child.

Holy Spirit, I adore and praise You for bringing the very breath of spiritual life to me, awakening me to Jesus and His salvation, enabling me to believe, sealing me into life with Yourself, day by day drawing me after Jesus, and helping me glorify the Lord Jesus.

Lord, help me to become much better at offering adoration and praise – empower and fill me with Your Spirit. Amen

Feb 7 – 2. Confession: As I come before You – I acknowledge my sin.

Father, I confess that I have sinned in thought, word and in action/deed; at times I am careless, thoughtless and self-focussed, I get easily distracted and am not wholeheartedly devoted to Christ – forgive and cleanse me.

I ask Your Spirit to guide me through a time of confession of anything else that is sinful in me that He wants me to deal with at this time, or an attitude that is blocking spiritual vitality, or anything that is rooted in unbelief and not in faith.

Lord, sanctify and enable me to stand strong in Christ.

Father, I thank You that I am dressed in Your Son’s righteousness and my soul is secure in Him; but if there are things that are adversely affecting my spiritual health and vitality – grant me the grace and wisdom to deal aright with these through this confessional spiritual health check.

I also recognise that there is a positive element to confession wherein I can confess and declare the great name of Jesus as Lord, King and Son of God. Your word contains Your timeless truths – and I can stand on and apply these into any situation I face knowing it is to be a mighty spiritual weapon for the pulling down of anti-Christ mindsets and strategies.

We pray for Alpha today, for the establishing of Your Kingdom principles of salvation and redemption in it, and Your Spirit’s power into every guest who comes to it.

Both of these aspects to Christian confession, confession of sin and confession of Your promises, are powerful in the realm of breakthrough, salvation and release from bondage. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Feb 8 – 3. Restitution: Father, this is one of the hardest areas for modern believers. We have a view that as long as confession is made then there should not be any consequences for our sins or the areas we fall short of Your standard in.

Your word makes it clear that restitution is part of Your divine plan as part of genuine repentance and for fulfilling Your injunctions; both in the OT Law and in the NT, mention is made of it many times.

If there is an area wherein I need to make restitution – reveal it to me and grant me the grace and courage to carry it through make a fitting restitution.

Restitution included the paying of money, giving of property or time, purifying one’s soul by acts of contrition, and time spent humbly seeking to bring healing to the community harmed by the individual’s actions. Guide me in this.

Often the greatest act of restitution is to takes steps to change our thinking and apply biblical principles to how we live. Help us as a church with this. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen

Feb 9 – 4. Thanksgiving: Father, it is important to approach You with thankful hearts expressing our gratitude, ‘enter His gates with thanksgiving’ (Psalm 100:4). There are 3 great reasons in Ps 100:5 to thank You: 1. You are good; 2. You are abundant in mercy; 3. Your truth abides forever!

Father, being thankful is a major factor in the release of greater spiritual power in an individual’s life or a church’s life. Your Son gave thanks before feeding the 5,000, and this led to the miraculous provision.

Only one of the ten lepers returned to say thank You to Jesus, he was saved, the other unthankful nine missed out on salvation – even though they had got healed. It was as they went that they were healed, faith that stands still after a command from Jesus to do something does not attain the blessing promised!

We are commanded to be thankful in all things. Lord, help me to become a thankful person who inherits the promises as a result. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Feb 10 – 5. Forgiveness: Father, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Unforgiveness is a sin and a block to further spiritual growth.

As I open up my heart and mind before You – if there is an area of frost-hardened coldness because of an attitude of unforgiveness – may Your Spirit begin a thawing process in that area. I pray for the grace to respond making it a primary focus of my life to forgive – even when I don’t ‘feel’ I can.

6. Unity: Father, where there is unity among Your people – it is Your Spirit who creates this unity (Ephesians 4:2-3).

You have commanded that a great blessing should be released among those who maintain or keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If I am a cause of disunity, forgive me. I commit to changing any attitude within me which hinders unity.

Use me as someone who encourages others and is committed to the unity of the Spirit. This unity in the Spirit is a tremendous spiritual strength. Love is the basis of it; build our church up in love and unity. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Feb 11 – 7. Faith: Habakkuk 2:4 reads, “but the just shall live by his faith.”

Father, there are only two possible attitudes to life in this world: that of faith or unbelief. Either I live my life in terms of belief in Your Son, and the power and blessings that flow from such belief; or my outlook is based upon a rejection of Your truth and way of life with the corresponding denials of Jesus.

Praying in faith means much more than simply trying to think positively when we pray; it means basing the whole of our prayer-lives upon faith in Christ.

As I come in prayer to You – I choose to base my life on the fact that You are true and willing to answer my prayer. I need Your Spirit’s help so that my prayer-life is in line with Your will and purposes for me and those I pray for.

I pray that my example of faith and faithfulness will inspire others to a life of faith and faithfulness. In Jesus’ name. Amen    

Feb 12 – 8. Petition: Father, thank You that Your word reveals that both Your Son and Spirit are great Intercessors. I ask that Your Spirit will be my great partner in this wonderful adventure of prayer and petition.

Intercession is Heaven’s method of prayer for Kingdom advance. Teach me how to petition and intercede – stand in the gap and pray deeply for others, and for the Kingdom and its advance – and so that much honour and glory is brought to Christ.

9. Submission: Father, thank You for Your Son’s example in Gethsemane, ‘nevertheless not My will, but Yours be done.’

So many times I thought I knew what was best for me, and prayed accordingly, only for time to prove that my will is flawed and liable to lead me out of Your will.

I choose the pathway of biblical submission in my prayer-life knowing that Your will is perfect and best for me, and for those I pray for. I pray that our Church will be clear in how it teaches and models biblical submission which is based in love and respect – not fear and coercion nor control. In Jesus’ name. Amen