Prayer A to Z

Extended Prayer Times

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Let’s say you agree that you need more prayer; that it would be good to have some extended, special prayer time. How do you go about it? Here are six steps to follow:

1. Establish personal reasons and begin to form some ideas.

In a previous blog we have already discussed some very good reasons why extended prayer times are necessary. But each of us ought also to have personal reasons. And then, from those we can start thinking about what type of special prayer is needed.

So first of all, let us search our heart to find out where we are at and what we need. Or maybe we don’t know what we need; that is the problem and we require answers. At any rate, the first thing to do is to set some goals. If you can’t think of what you really need or what God desires of you, just set some very general goals like: to see God and His ways; or, for God to show me what He wants me to do.

But perhaps you do have some very specific goals. You may want to hear from God concerning your vocation or a college to attend. You may need guidance concerning a mate. Or maybe your goal is just to have more time to pray for your children or for some friends.

Now, in accordance with your personal reasons for prayer, you should be able to come up with some ideas about what this special prayer time should look like. Here are two things to consider: the amount of time you require in prayer, and the place of prayer. I would suggest a time of at least two or three hours. To be classified as special prayer you need at least that long (but that’s up to you). If you think you have a lot more to pray about, or if it will take longer to meet your goals, you may want to plan for a whole day; or maybe, if you can find the time, for a whole week. Wouldn’t that be great!

For the two or three hour plan I would suggest a walk in the park, or maybe spend the time in a boat (but that’s up to you). If you have your heart set on a week, I think a cabin in the woods would be ideal—or a cabin on a lake, with a boat! You may want to think also about having regular extended prayer times, and to start thinking about how often you would want to have them.

2. Set the time and place.

It is not enough to think about and set goals for prayer. You must actually start making your plans, set the time and place, and make the necessary arrangements. If you want to spend a week in prayer at a cabin, you will need to make the arrangements to make sure you can get the cabin. And you should also make sure you can get a week off from work. I really like the idea of planning regular times of special prayer, whether it’s once a month, every 6 months, or once a year. It will be something for you to look forward to. Write those dates on your calendar. Give special priority to those times.

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Special Prayer Times

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

We All Need Special Prayer Times

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer ought to be regular and daily. We need prayer every day like we need daily meals and daily sleep. But just as a car requires an oil change and a tune up once in a while, it is essential for every Christian to also have extended, special prayer times so that he can take a longer, deeper look at God and at himself—in order to tune up his life. Daily prayers are good and necessary to prepare us for each day and to guide us through the day. But sometimes we get in a rut. We do things just out of habit. We pray the same old way. We ask God for the same things. We take the same amount of time to pray, at the same time of the day, in the same place. Prayer sometimes gets to be a drag, and we wonder if we should do something different. We even wonder if we are praying in the Spirit, or if we are just praying the same words that we always pray out of habit.

An extended prayer time will help. It will help you to see God clearer and to better know His ways and His will. It will help you to get a better look at yourself, to see if you are going in His direction. It will be a time to look to God for refreshment and rest. It will also be a time to catch up on prayer. An extended time will give you the required time to pray for all the things that you had wanted to pray for but just couldn’t seem to find the time. Yes, it will be a time to really labor in prayer—and out of it will come refreshment.

I have found that the more I pray and really work at prayer, the more I am refreshed and at peace. That is because when we pray and trust God for everything (for every little thing) He assures us by His Spirit that He has heard our prayers and that He will take care of us. This peace (assurance) we feel in prayer is the Holy Spirit working in us, keeping us strong and protecting our hearts from doubts and fears. (Doubts and fears are normal for us in our unredeemed flesh, but they are also from the devil; many of the fiery darts talked about in Ephesians 6:16 I think are darts of anxiety and fear, which the devil and his demons are constantly throwing at us.)

These things can be overcome by much prayer. By prayer we build up our faith. By much prayer God comes to our aid and puts up around us a protecting shield of faith and peace. Philippians 4:6 and 7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving , let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Okay, let’s say you agree that you need more prayer; that it would be good to have some extended, special prayer time. How do you go about it? In the next few posts I will give you some ideas.

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Pray with Sincerity, Part 3

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

7 Ways to Pray With Sincerity – Part 3

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Prayer with Sincerity, part 2

Posted on August 18, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Stephen Nielsen

Sincere prayer is without hypocrisy, or without putting on a show for others and without pretending to be something we are not (Matt. 6:5). Sincere prayer is honest, open, authentic, and transparent. This kind of prayer is so important if we want to grow in our relationship with God. I have put together seven ways we can practice being sincere in prayer. Here is the second installment, which is the third and fourth point.

3. Bring desires into full bloom. When God gives you desire in prayer, don’t squelch it by filling your mind with other things. Keep at the work of prayer; keep thinking about what God is showing you; keep at the conversation. Don’t look away or change the subject. Stay in tune with Him; stay alert with Him. When He loves you, love Him back. If we don’t, love is lost and sincerity in prayer is lost. True, sincere prayer always demands reciprocation. And if there is none, then prayer becomes nothing more than unheeded speech or a one-way conversation.

If our heart is not totally for God and if we do not return the desires He has for us—that is, if our desire is divided, desiring Him a little and something else a little—then it is impossible to be sincere with God in prayer, because in fact we are not honest with Him. Our desire for other things makes us disloyal to God and a hypocrite in prayer. And when we pray in this state, our sight and understanding of God is foggy and we can’t have real passion for Him.

If you want to have true, sincere prayer; if you want to really get to know God and have a clear vision of Him, you must keep the fire of desire burning and the beauty of desire growing. Just as a rose starts as a small bud and blooms into a beautiful flower, we must allow desire to grow into its full bloom. Only then will we be able to experience the fullness of God in prayer (Eph. 3:19).

4. Submit to God and resist the devil. The answer to wrong desires and divided desires is humility. If we find pride in ourselves and that we have given ourselves more to the world and to our pleasures then we must turn ourselves around and submit to God. If we don’t, we will never find Him or experience sincere prayer—for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Ja. 4:6).

At the same time we must also resist the devil and the lure sin. We can’t submit to what is good unless we resist what is evil.

So how do we do this? What are the actions of humility and resisting? Pray? Yes! But more than pray. Our prayers must be accompanied by some actions of humility that will purify our hearts. I suggest long periods of prayer with fasting and reflection. During this time, read and study the Bible much, and set your heart and mind to obey the Spirit in everything. He will no doubt lead you to confess your sins to Him and to others you have wronged. And when you make your confessions, make sure your heart is right. True confession and humility must be without a trace of frivolity or hypocrisy. James says, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Ja. 4:8-10).

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How to Pray with Sincerity

Posted on August 14, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

7 Ways to Pray With Sincerity – Part 1

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Prayer Principles from the Lord’s Prayer

Posted on August 8, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Four Prayer Principles from the Lord’s Prayer

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How to Inspire Great Faith

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Three Prayer Directives That Will Inspire Great Faith

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Managing Your Personal Prayer Time

Posted on August 4, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

How to Manage Your Personal Prayer Time

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Stephen Nielsen

When you begin your prayer time, pray around the passage you have just read. Prayer should always be prepared and inspired by the Word. Then after you have finished praying around the scriptures, you can start making a list of requests others have given you and also of your own needs.

If you are really struggling, you will tend to be more sympathetic toward yourself and want to list more items for yourself. But don’t do that. Do the opposite. Pray more for others. Paul tells us that we are to esteem others better than ourselves; to regard their interest’s more than our own (Phil 2:3-4). And if you do this, especially if you are feeling down, God will bless you and lift you up. That has been my experience. When I have felt down, after I have prayed for others for a while, God has lifted me up.

When you list the requests of others, be careful not to read into them or analyze them. It should be your intent to pray for them exactly as they have made their request. Then, as you begin praying for them, the Holy Spirit may move you to pray for other things, deeper things. He will show you exactly what they need and how to pray for them (Rom. 8:26).

As for your own requests, I think the most important things to pray about is over what God has just spoken to you about in His Word. Pray over that first. Then list and pray over any other concerns you have. Pray over everything you may be anxious about (Phil. 4:6). Pray for anything you think you need or that you desire. You can feel free to pray about anything. Nothing is off limits.

As you are praying, however, God will show you what things you really need and what things would actually not be beneficial for you to have (1 Cor. 6:12). I have experienced that the more I meditate on God’s Word, and the more I pray, the more He will reveal to me those things He wants me to have and pray about. Here then is a good principle of prayer: the more we pray the more we will know how to pray.