"God is not the author of boredom," says my friend Daniel Henderson, NavPress author and former Pray! advisory board member. We know instinctively that he's right. So how come when we talk about prayer or prayer meetings so many people yawn?

Daniel is passionate about helping people learn to pray with passion, power, and engagement. He has learned some secrets to leading prayer that seem to attract the presence of God, and he's eager to share them. Some of his key ideas include:

• How to pray creatively with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit

• How to incorporate Scripture into prayer times

• How to let prayer become a powerful life-changing experience in your life and church

• How to use the Lord's prayer to pray creatively

You can read some of his ideas in his books, Fresh Encounters, and PRAYzing! Or, this fall, you could hear him share live at his multi-church tour in ten U.S. cities, starting September 1 and continuing through November 22. If you live anywhere near these cities, I encourage you to attend a free evening of inspiration and equipping: Bloomington, MN; Lynchburg, VA; Los Gatos, CA; Sacramento, CA; Auburn, CA; Colorado Springs, CO; Katy, TX; Gastonia, NC; Birmingham, AL; and Titusville, FL.

To learn more about his fall tour, visit http://www.strategicrenewal.com/CreativePrayerTour. To learn more about his books, go to Fresh Encounters or PRAYzing! Either way, Daniel can motivate you with practical ideas about the possibilities of creative prayer and give you tools for making it work in your own life.  

As I left the auditorium, I was handed a copy of the 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus. Last evening during my personal prayer time, I opened to the page for August 23: "Pray that Muslims will be able to meet sincere practicing believers and discern how they are different from cultural Christians." I instantly thought of Muslims I have known throughout my life--mostly university students. Their names and faces came to mind so I prayed for them to meet believers in Jesus who would love them and introduce them to a real faith in Christ. Hmm. I can do this, I thought. I'm still not sure if God is calling me to a lifetime commitment to pray for Muslims, but I can pray for 30 days, at least.

So I committed to pray for the salvation of Muslims from now until the end of Ramadan this year, September 20. We'll see what God has for me after that. Meanwhile, my experience made me think of the value of prayer initiatives. I know I should pray more for my city, pastor, president, persecuted Christians around the world, and, yes, Muslims. Yet even though I believe it's important, even though I want to, sometimes the challenge and commitment feel so huge that I don't even get started. But a prayer initiative with a defined ending date feels do-able.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the important things that call for our intercession? How do you handle these enormous challenges and opportunities without getting overwhelmed and discouraged? What prayer initiatives have helped you pray beyond your normal prayer list?

Yesterday I called a friend to solicit prayer for something that was troubling me. She prayed and, among other things, matter-of-factly addressed the spiritual battle that was part of my struggle. Hmmm. Until she mentioned it, I had been oblivious to enemy interference. But once she did, it became as clear as day. I agreed with her and continued praying along those lines. Before long, my heart was settled and God had given me a strategy to move forward.

Today I met with someone who had experienced numerous baffling setbacks on the project I was trying to help with. It’s a good project, a kingdom project, yet it seems to keep getting hung up. There could be rational reasons for the setbacks. But the more we talked, the more I wondered if there might be spiritual reasons behind all the snarls. I mentioned the possibility to him. It resonated. So we prayed together and addressed some of the places where the enemy might have been able to get a foothold into things. Like me the day before, he had been completely unaware of the possibility that there might be more going on than met the eye.

As I pondered these back-to-back experiences, I realized the importance of relationships when it comes to spiritual battle. What soldier goes into battle alone? We can’t always see the arrows that are headed our direction. But a spiritually tuned-in friend might see the enemy schemes we are blind to and cover our backs for us.

How about you? Whose back are you covering? And is someone covering yours? I’m thinking it’s really important that we serve one another in this critical manner since, whether we like it or not, we’re in a battle.

In recent years my prayer life has been nurtured and challenged by a small handful of friends who have mentored me in prayer, both formally and informally. I wish everyone had this privilege. But for decades I had no personal prayer mentors, as I suspect many of you also do not. In those days—and even still—the writings of various prayer giants, living and dead, served to mentor and inspire me. I have many of these “friends”—people like George Müller, Evelyn Christensen, Rees Howells, Andrew Murray, Richard Foster, and many more.

This month on the Pray! homepage (www.praymag.com) you can get a free introduction to another of my friends, Henri Nouwen. Written by Charles Ringma, in this electronic product you’ll find 12 meditations on several of Nouwen’s more profound prayer themes gleaned from a number of his different books. 

I hope you’ll check out this inspiring selection of writings and let them encourage your prayer life. I also hope you’ll share with us who some of your most helpful, memorable, challenging, or encouraging prayer mentors have been.
 

I don’t like to pray about other people’s weaknesses and sins. It’s not because I think corrupt government leaders or habit-addicted friends or divisive church members don’t need prayer. I know that it’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). No, the reason I hesitate is because I’m concerned about becoming judgmental or arrogant. I absolutely do not want to be like the Pharisee who thanked God that he wasn’t a sinner like the tax collector standing next to him and went away from his prayer time unheard (Luke 18:9-14).

Still, Scripture makes it clear that one of the best things I can do for people who are trapped in sin is to ask God to help them. So how do I pray in a way that keeps my own heart humble and doesn’t tempt me to rise in judgment over others?

A friend once suggested a practical solution to this dilemma: If she can’t pray a person’s need for herself, then she didn’t pray it at all. I have tried to adopt that approach for my own praying. Here’s what it looks like: If someone I know struggles with a negative, biting tongue, I pray for myself first, then for that person. Lord, there are so many times when my words hurt others. I don’t mean for them to, but they just slip out sometimes. Please forgive me. Please transform my heart so that the words that issue out of it are edifying and loving. And Lord, please help my friend in this area, too. Help her to build up her family and friends and not tear them down.

But what if the person’s sin is something I can’t identify with? In those cases, I ask God to help me understand the root issue behind that person’s sin. Often He’ll give me an insight into the fear or emptiness or shame the person is feeling that opens the door to temptation. Women I know who have had abortions, for instance, have often been driven by debilitating fear. I’ve never had an abortion, but I definitely have sometimes been fearful enough to make sinful choices. So that’s where I start my prayer.

Get the idea?  What do you think? How do you avoid becoming smug and superior when you’re called to intercede for people caught in enemy snares?