Help! Love, MOM

Happy New Year! I pray that you and your family are doing well as you start your 2025 journey.

Many religions hold prayer and praying as a dearly held tradition and necessity of connection, cleansing and consecration to the divine.

If you are a Christian, or, if you are familiar with Jesus’s teachings, at least 3 of His parables (a parable is another name for a short, simple story that powerfully illustrates a moral or spiritual truth), are told to illustrate the importance of prayer.

For Christians, prayer is our lifeline to God.

So why is it so hard sometimes to pray let alone be consistent in prayer?

“It’s hard to pray because humbling ourselves, getting over ourselves, and coming to the end of our stubborn and sinful selves is hard. When we pray, we die to self, and death hurts. That’s why our flesh fights so hard against prayer.

Buck Parsons, Ligonier Ministries

Enter the I. O. U. S. prayer method

I first heard about the IOUS method of beginning a prayer from renowned Bible theologian, John Piper.

He was being interviewed at the Cross Conference¹ and he happened to mention IOUS as a prayer method. As he began to unpack the acronym it resonated with me.

As a person who DESPERATELY needs to pray more:

~ more consistently,

~ with a greater degree of simple and sincere trust in the omnipotent God to Whom I pray,

I appreciate the IOUS method prayer.

I – is for INCLINE

Psalm 119:36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain.

A brilliant approach.

In other words the psalmist is suggesting that it’s easy to forget how great and gracious God is.

We leak — we forget — all the ways God has made and the wonderful things He has done both for us and around us. That leaves us vulnerable to doubt.

So, the writer asks God, that is, the writer prays to God to turn our hearts toward His word.

This scripture is a request to God for God to help us to remember the many amazing things which God has done for us.

O – is for OPEN

Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

I have worn glasses since I was about 5 years old. I am very much aware of my physical astigmatism.

Recently, in prayer, I was impressed with the fact that, spiritually, I do not see well either. The writer of the Psalm may have felt similarly.

This is a request for spiritual insight into the WONDROUS things in God’s word.

If we only live in touch and in tune with this world, we are likely to quickly become blind to the beauty, the divine transcendence and miraculous nature, that is, the WONDER of God and His holy Word.

U – is for UNITE

Psalm 86:11b Unite my heart to fear your name.

You probably have had a divided heart before. I know I have.

A divided heart can look mundane as you silently ponder, “Chicken or fish?” at your cousin’s wedding.

It can be as dangerous as reaching out to a fling to, you know, “just” to see how they’re doing.

A divided heart is one that is torn between possibilities, purposes, loyalties et cetera.

Not motivated by a chicken dinner or a fishy relationship, David, the writer of this psalm, asks God to grant him a “united” heart.

David desires a united heart so that he can love and serve God in a fully devoted and reverential manner. In our day, in secular settings, we might call this focus and complete loyalty.

My desire, and I believe yours as well, is to be fully devoted to God and His people.

S – is for SATISFY

Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

To be satisfied is to have one’s needs, expectations or desires met.

The psalmist, I believe, is praying that God will meet the needs, desires and expectations requested of Him, “early.”

Now, that could be early in life. No matter our age, older or young, God kindly and graciously answers our prayers.

He could also be referring to a literal morning. In that case, then, the psalmist is asking for God’s mercy and favor from the beginning of the day.

I’ll take both please.

Whatever else you do this year- pray to the God who is revealed in the Bible, in the name of Jesus.

Do you have a favorite way that you begin to pray? Please share.

Blessings!

xoxo Kimberly

1. starting at about 6:40; I promise I’ll learn how to make clips. For now you can skip to time marker 6:40 or enjoy the whole interview if you have time.
   This interview is fire! There’s another section closer to the end where Pastor John talks about the realities of preaching and having a struggle in your marriage. Great stuff! ↩︎