The Many Types of Prayer

My Word of the Year is prayer, and I have been reading some books on the subject as I take this journey to learn more about God and conversing with Him. The first book I read was by Richard Foster.  Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home is a book about the different types of prayers.  I had no idea that prayer could be divided into so many categories!  Here are some from the book...

Prayer of Relinquishment
Covenant Prayer
Prayer of Adoration
Prayer of Rest
Meditative Prayer
Praying the Ordinary
Petitionary Prayer
Intercessory Prayer

The whole book really got me thinking about how we pray and what we pray for. We all are familiar with "peitionary prayer"...asking God for things we want, but......  Sometimes prayer can be as simple as meditative on the awesomeness of God or on His Word.  Sometimes prayer is a form of soul-searching...figuring out what we need to change in our lives. Sometimes our daily work is like prayer.  Sometimes prayer is a letting go of those things or people that we desperately wanted in life. And prayer is a releasing of emotions to God.

One of the points that Foster makes is that God takes our prayers as is.  We don't have to change our thoughts, attitudes and desires that are less than noteworthy before taking them to God in prayer.  Prayer will change those thoughts for the better if we continue in the practice.  I guess the most profound concept I received from this book is that prayer changes us...for the better.

I am praying that this year I will be able to maintain an attitude of prayer and keep a prayer journal.  I want to see how God changes me in the process!