The Prayer Cycle is a simple tool for practicing prayer. You can use it by yourself and you can share it with any follower. In just 12 simple steps – 5 minutes each – this Prayer Cycle guides you through twelve ways the Bible teaches us to pray. At the end, you’ll have prayed for an hour.  (If you pray 2 minutes each, it is less than a half hour!)

WAIT: Spend time waiting on the Lord. Be silent and let Him pull together reflections for you.

CONFESS: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that might be displeasing
to Him. Ask Him to point out attitudes that are wrong, as well as specific acts for which you have not yet made a prayer of confession. Now confess that to the Lord so that you might be cleansed.

READ THE WORD: Spend time reading in the Psalms, in the prophets, and passages on prayer located in the New Testament.

ASK: Make requests on behalf of yourself.

INTERCESSION: Make requests on behalf of others.

PRAY THE WORD: Pray specific passages. Scriptural prayers as well as a number of psalms lend themselves well to this purpose.

THANK: Give thanks to the Lord for the things in your life, on behalf of your family, and on behalf of your church.

SING: Sing songs of praise or worship or another hymn or spiritual song.


MEDITATE: Ask the Lord to speak to you. Have a pen and paper ready to record impressions He gives you.

LISTEN: Spend time merging the things you have read, things you have prayed and things you have sung and see how the Lord brings them all together to speak to you.

PRAISE: Praise the Lord for the time you have had to spend with Him and the impressions He has given you. Praise Him for His glorious attributes.

ACTIVITY [60 min] – Spend the next 60 minutes in prayer by individually working through the exercises in the Prayer Cycle. Set a time for the group to return and reconnect. Be sure to allow a few extra minutes for everyone to find a quiet place to pray and to make their way back to the group.

 

Adapted from our zumeproject.com training