January 8th, 2026
by Cynthia Gandhi Dobbs
by Cynthia Gandhi Dobbs
Day 5 | Prayer Plan
Prayer requires discipline. I have heard people say that during their prayer time they often run out of things to pray. If we really understood the power of prayer, we would be on our knees in intercession 24/7. There is virtually no chance of running out of things to pray about!
So many blessings go unclaimed, so many doors remain unopened, because believers do not seek out God’s will and pray according to His purpose, exercising their God-given authority over creation. But, it takes a plan to achieve discipline in prayer.
Prayer also needs to be a natural form of communication. Achieving the balance between planning, which requires discipline, and maintaining the extraordinariness of prayer, so that it does not become mundane, is the challenge.
When I initially made prayer a priority, heeding the advice of a mentor, I wrote down a prayer plan to follow while I prayed. I would write down a list of the things and people I needed to pray for. I also wrote down the things I needed to thank God for. This helped me in keeping up with my hour-long closet time without ever running out of things to pray.
We often relegate all our prayer time to one facet of prayer. For example, we may just be asking God for things or petitioning Him for needs. Prayer is a complex communication with God. It consists of Praise, Worship, Petition, Thanksgiving, and Intercession, to name a few. Are you stuck in petition mode, or are you communicating with God in these other ways as well?
Prayer Challenge:
Break down your personal prayer time and be specific on what you will do during those minutes. Follow your plan today and modify it for further use. See if writing down a prayer plan equips you to pray. (The plan below begins at 8AM and is an example. Please make your own and only use this as a guideline.)
{8:00-8:02} Praise/worship: listen to a worship song or read a Psalm
{8:02-8:04} Petition for personal needs and needs of friends
{8:04-8:06} Intercede for one unsaved friend
{8:06-8:07} Thank God for all the blessings in your life
So many blessings go unclaimed, so many doors remain unopened, because believers do not seek out God’s will and pray according to His purpose, exercising their God-given authority over creation. But, it takes a plan to achieve discipline in prayer.
Prayer also needs to be a natural form of communication. Achieving the balance between planning, which requires discipline, and maintaining the extraordinariness of prayer, so that it does not become mundane, is the challenge.
When I initially made prayer a priority, heeding the advice of a mentor, I wrote down a prayer plan to follow while I prayed. I would write down a list of the things and people I needed to pray for. I also wrote down the things I needed to thank God for. This helped me in keeping up with my hour-long closet time without ever running out of things to pray.
We often relegate all our prayer time to one facet of prayer. For example, we may just be asking God for things or petitioning Him for needs. Prayer is a complex communication with God. It consists of Praise, Worship, Petition, Thanksgiving, and Intercession, to name a few. Are you stuck in petition mode, or are you communicating with God in these other ways as well?
Prayer Challenge:
Break down your personal prayer time and be specific on what you will do during those minutes. Follow your plan today and modify it for further use. See if writing down a prayer plan equips you to pray. (The plan below begins at 8AM and is an example. Please make your own and only use this as a guideline.)
{8:00-8:02} Praise/worship: listen to a worship song or read a Psalm
{8:02-8:04} Petition for personal needs and needs of friends
{8:04-8:06} Intercede for one unsaved friend
{8:06-8:07} Thank God for all the blessings in your life
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer of Fasting
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