Prayer is...
Prayer is simply, a conversation with God. You can pray individually or together with other people, and you can pray anywhere, anytime. Your prayers can be silent or out-loud; there are different types of prayers which include praise, confession, thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. In praying to God, we often ask of Him, but listening is the key for a deeper relationship with Him, an opportunity to experience more of His love and joy and peace, a means to become who we really are made to be in this world.
If you would like to learn more about any of these types of prayer,
contact us at prayer@lighthousechristian.church
Types of Prayer
- Intercession – saying a prayer on behalf of another
- Prayer of Blessing – asking another person to pray for God’s blessing of peace or healing or ______ on your behalf. This can involve anointing with oil
- God Sightings – testifying how God has blessed you, answered a prayer, or revealed something new
- Listening Prayer – prayer around a question or issue; then spending time listening for and expecting a response from the Holy Spirit, often with another Christian or a group. Recently practiced at Lighthouse in discernment around pastoral succession. If you’d like to listen around a question or issue, a prayer team member can help facilitate
- Lectio Divina – “divine reading”: listening for what God is saying to you based on a short passage of Scripture: a word or phrase that stands out, the feeling or response evoked, an invitation from God. Lectio Divina is currently being practice in Group Spiritual Direction groups that meet once a month. Sign-ups will be in September and January
- Prayer using Scripture – prayer using Scripture by inserting your name or another person’s name in a Scripture passage, thus making it more personal. This practice is being used by the Monday Women’s prayer group that meets twice a month
- Arts and Music – using/creating art or music to express what is on one’s soul or to enhance worship of God; some Lighthouse people can facilitate
- Examen– the spiritual practice of reflecting on God’s activity in one’s day, week, month, year; looking for patterns to get to know oneself and God better; currently incorporated in Group Spiritual Direction groups
- Attributes – focusing on attributes of God to bring Him worship and praise; currently used in Monday night prayer
- Warfare Prayer – we are in a spiritual battle with an enemy; prayer used to resist the enemy in order to stand firm in our faith. We have people available that can talk to you about this type of prayer
- Healing Prayer – prayer for healing around a particular memory or past wound; often done with one other Christian or a small team; a few prayer team members offer this at Lighthouse; also offered by Bellevue Presbyterian Church on an on-going basis for free by appointment