The Internet Pulpit
The Internet Pulpit
“The Ten Fingers of Prayer”
by Robert E. Baxter
This method of prayer will help you to pray all the types of prayer anytime anywhere. It is good for people who like to be orderly in their prayer life. It is also flexible enough for people who are more spontaneous. It will help the latter type to avoid getting into a rut of praying the same way all the time or of failing to pray the many types of prayers that should be prayed daily.
It will help you to pray with your Bible when you can. For instance, I often pray Psalm 103:1-5, but you can also use this method even when you don’t have your Bible available.
Using the “10 FINGERS OF PRAYER” method, you will not be as likely to suffer wandering thoughts during prayer. At first, to help you remember where you are, you may wish to hold the finger representing the type of prayer you are offering. When you are praying privately no one will see you doing this but God, and when you are praying publicly no one will see you if he also is praying with his eyes closed. You can put your ten fingers together and pray this way in the dark, in bed, and it will help to keep you from falling asleep before you finish. When you get used to it, you can pray this way while you walk with the Lord, your eyes open, praying silently or softly as you walk down the street. After you learn it and use it awhile, you can use variety, praying in your own words to avoid vain repetition, but remembering to include all of the aspects of prayer when you have time for the full ten finger method.
Don't think that you must always pray all ten kinds of prayer whenever you pray! Sometimes you may want to pray just one, and take some time on it, praying in your own words. Knowing all ten can still be useful for a well-balanced prayer life.
THE RIGHT HAND
Start with the right hand. Many of you are familiar with the A.C.T.S. of Prayer, which helps us to remember the first four kinds of prayer. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. In the Bible, God’s right hand is associated with his POWER. That’s where Jesus reigns, on the right hand of God. Exodus 15:6a says, “Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power.” So, to help our memory, we start with the right hand. We start with prayers of a spiritual nature.
1. The THUMB is closest to you so this is where you start your prayers. A is for Adoration. Begin with Prayers of Praise. The Lord’s Prayer starts that way. Use Scriptural Ascriptions of Praise, such as Rev. 4:8, 4:11, and 5:12. Even when you don’t have a long time to pray, you can still offer God praise at the beginning and not just launch into a laundry list of what you WANT. A list of Scriptural praises is given at the end of this article, footnote 1.
2. The INDEX FINGER is next. Let it remind you of the next letter in the A.C.T.S. of prayer. C is for Confession. When experiencing the holiness of God in Adoration, we next recognize our own need of confession. Ask God what you need to confess. Confess the sins of the day. Ask for God’s forgiveness. Ask Him to make you HATE those sins. You may use Scriptural Confessions like Psalm 25:11, 38:18, and Luke 18:13, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” The index finger can be used to POINT to your heart (“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9) Your index finger can also point to God who alone can forgive your sins and cleanse your heart.
3. The BIG FINGER is third. Let it remind you of the important prayer of THANKSGIVING which should be a central attitude of your life, just as the big finger is the middle finger of your hand. It is the healthiest attitude. After confessing your sins, you should feel thanksgiving to God for your forgiveness. You can use Scriptural expressions of Thanksgiving like Rev 11:17 and Psalms 79:13 and 35:18, and give your own thanksgiving to God for your salvation, family, health, food, home, country, church, work, protection, and other blessings. Scripture specifically says, “In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” It is appropriate that thanksgiving accompany all the types of prayer and that it occupy the BIG part of our prayers, as the big finger comes in the middle of our other fingers. So let THANKSGIVING be a big, central part of our life.
4. The RING FINGER is fourth. Let the S in ACTS stand for SCRIPTURE, rather than merely Supplication. There are many kinds of supplication to offer. Supplication simply means ASKING. Using this method, you will be asking God for many things, but when you come to this fourth finger, it is the time to pray from your Bible. The ring finger is the weakest finger as any piano teacher can tell you. This type of prayer may be your weakest, but you should therefore practice it more, until you become more adept at it. As you recognize your own weakness in expressing your thoughts to the Lord, you will find that God’s Word is a wonderful aid to prayer. If you don’t have your Bible with you, you can always pray the Lord’s Prayer at this time, since you probably know it by memory. If you don’t, make it your goal to learn it. You can also pray other Scriptures you know by memory, like the 23rd Psalm. Read a verse or as many verses as necessary to get an idea to pray, and then express the prayer in your own words; for example, “Lord, You are My Shepherd. I thank You. I know I shall not lack anything I really need.” That might be your prayer following Psalm 23:1. Try it. Many have found this the most helpful TIP to enrich their prayer life.
My Ten Finger Method gives you an orderly way to be sure you include all the aspects of prayer. When you eat you need all of the vitamins and minerals, and healthy prayer also includes many elements. For instance, even the Lord's Prayer does not include THANKSGIVING, so that shows that the Lord doesn't intend for us ONLY to pray that model prayer. Think about how many Bible prayers you may already know. A good short one seeking forgiveness from the Lord is "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus commended the praying of that prayer. Certainly we would not want to stop with only that short prayer. So memorize such prayers to use when you don't have your Bible with you. Don't forget the need to pray specifically to ask God what you need personally and what others need when you pray for them.
5. The LITTLE FINGER is fifth. I use this finger to pray for the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. This also is Scripture, but it is not a prayer. It is a vital truth about something so important we ought to ask God for it regularly. Before I ask God about my physical and material needs, I want to ask him for that which my soul needs. The word “fruit” is singular. It means “crop.” The Holy Spirit produces the whole crop, not just one particular fruit. Ask Him to produce these characteristics in your own life. We need all nine every day, but I like to employ the Fruit Du Jour (fruit of the day) concept. Like “soup of the day” in restaurants, the fruit du jour gives us one particular fruit to emphasize each day. Please read my article on this at the end of this page, footnote 2.
THE LEFT HAND
1. The THUMB is closest to you, so pray next for those who are nearest and dearest to you—your own FAMILY and FRIENDS. They are the easiest to remember. C. S. Lewis once said that to pray for our loved ones is “a sweet duty.” Pray for your spouse, your parents if they are living, your children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, and your closest friends.
2. The INDEX finger is the pointing finger. This time, instead of pointing to your heart and to God in the prayer of confession, pray for those people who point others to the Lord. This includes preachers, missionaries, and teachers. Pray for the staff of your Church. Pray for the teachers and leaders to point people to Jesus. You may wish to include the officers of your Church in the next type of prayer.
3. The BIG finger is the tallest. Let it remind you of our leaders. Careful how you gesture when you teach this to others! Pray for the president and the governor, for leaders in government, for the justices of our courts, and for leaders in State and County government. Pray for the congress, the judiciary, and the military. Pray for Church leaders. Remember the Elders and Deacons of your Church. These people who shape our nation and Church and guide public opinion need God’s guidance. Pray for any leader the Lord brings to your mind. Especially pray for REVIVAL.
1 Tim. 2:1-2 says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
In the early history of our nation there is an interesting example of praying for national leaders. A South Carolinian, James Pettigrew, once walked out of Church when the pastor failed to pray for the President. The pastor of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church skipped over the prayer for the President of the United States. James Pettigrew got up out of his pew and walked out of the church. The story spread that Pettigrew left because the pastor skipped the prayer for the President. Further research reveals that he simply left church because he had to cough. That's what his son-in-law reported. The point, however, is that if the prayer for the President were omitted today, few would even notice! There are some political leaders of whom you may not have a high regard. But you must admit that they surely stand in NEED of prayer! If the Christians of the first century were commanded in Scripture to pray for their ungodly kings who persecuted them, how much more should we pray for our leaders in this democracy.
We are not likely to forget to do this duty when we employ the ten finger method of prayer, because your big finger on your left hand will remind you.
4. The RING finger is the weakest finger, and especially so on the LEFT hand. So let this weak finger remind you to pray for those who are weak, sick, shut-in, in trouble or in pain. Pray for God to strengthen them and heal them. If you have a wedding ring on that finger, you might also pray for any weakness in your marriage and family. And let the ring that encircles the finger, being round with no beginning or end, remind you of the Divine Physician, the Alpha and Omega, who is eternal, and ask for His grace to surround those for whom you pray who are in need.
I do not mean to associate weakness and sickness with marriage! Although I have told the humorous anecdote that there are three rings associated with marriage. The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and SUFFERING! Does not I Corinthians 7:28 indicate of those who marry that "such shall have trouble"? Of course, we know the joys of marriage outweigh the troubles, but let the weak finger and the wedding ring remind you to pray for those who are sick and troubled as well as for marriage.
5. The last finger, the pinkie of the left hand, is where we place ourselves in relation to God and others. Let your last finger remind you to pray for yourself. Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread. God knows we have needs. By the time you have prayed the other nine types of prayer, your own needs will be put into proper perspective, and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively. Don’t annoy the Lord by complaining, but let him know what you need and want, and give Him thanks for what He has already done for you. I find personally that when I have prayed the other nine types of prayer adequately, I feel quite content with what the Lord has already granted me. Isn't the richest person the one who has everything he needs?
Print this article and let it help you develop your prayer life. But don’t depend on the paper too long. You will never LEARN all ten types of prayer as long as you read them off the paper.
You may shy away from learning to pray this way because you will find that it takes you half an hour to pray, and you don’t always have that long. You can learn to be brief on each section of prayer, however. You don’t need to pray every Scripture you know when praying any of these types of prayers.
When I had pneumonia once, I thought about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I decided that more than anything else, I wanted to learn to pray effectively. I realized it was more important even than PREACHING, and preaching is a high priority for preachers. Developing strong immunity is one of the best things for our health. Similarly, learning to pray effectively is worth the effort it takes, for by prayer we can achieve the potential God has in mind for us.
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Footnote 1
A LIST OF SCRIPTURAL PRAISES
Memorize from whatever translation you prefer
"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens." (Psalm 8:1)
Rev 4:8 "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." - (Notice that God is HOLY, ALMIGHTY, and ETERNAL.)
Rev 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
Rev 5:9-10 "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
Rev. 5:12 "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."
Rev. 5:13 "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."
Psalm 119:65-68 "Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes."
Psalm 145:1-2 "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever."
"Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts:
The whole earth is full of his glory."
(Isaiah 6:3)
"Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory...."
(Revelation 19:6b-7a NKJV)
Note: you may wish to change the third person pronouns “Him” and “His” to second person “You” and “Your” when you are PRAYING these Scriptures to the Lord. You are not just reciting Scriptures you have memorized or are reading, but you are giving that praise TO the Lord.
Don't you suppose we will pray some of these prayers of praise in heaven? I want to know the words to these heavenly melodies and be ready to join in with the myriads of the redeemed in heaven who praise the Savior.
Footnote 2
Fruit Du Jour
You have heard of Soup Du Jour. That is French for “the Soup of the Day.” Now we learn about Fruit Du Jour, which is the Fruit of the Day.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV)
The word “fruit” in Galatians 5:22-23 is singular, like the word CROP. The Greek word “karpos" means "crop." It refers to the crop that the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. We don’t produce it; the Holy Spirit does. We are like the branches. The life of Jesus within us produces the fruit. There are nine results produced by the Spirit. We really should not call them FRUITS in the plural, but in English it is hard to talk about different fruits without using the plural. This Scripture specifies nine, but we need to remember it is a package deal. You can't have one without them all. They go together. However, we can concentrate on one particular fruit for each day, praying and watching to see every opportunity to enhance its growth.
Each day pray for that specific fruit of the day. Ask God to produce it in your life. Ask Him to make you conscious of it during the day. Look for opportunities to practice it.
Caution: Never think that you don’t need to practice all the other attitudes each day. Let the special attention to one per day increase your attention to all of them. Memorize them, or use this paper until you know them. Pray for all of them when you have time, but concentrate during the day on the Fruit of the Day. Examples: celebrating Christ’s Resurrection on Easter does not remove our awareness of His resurrection and presence the rest of the year. It is supposed to enhance it. Celebrating Thanksgiving on the national day for it should help us to be more thankful the rest of the year.
Concentrate on each fruit on the following days of each month.
Day of the month The Fruit of the Day
1st, 11th, 21st, 31st = LOVE
2nd, 12th, 22nd = JOY
3rd, 13th, 23rd = PEACE
4th, 14th, 24th = PATIENCE.
5th, 15th, 25th = KINDNESS.
6th, 16th, 26th = GENEROSITY
7th, 17th, 27th = FAITHFULNESS
8th, 18th, 28th = HUMILITY
9th, 19th, 29th = SELF-CONTROL
For the 10th, 20th, and 30th of each month ask for the attitude of Thanksgiving.
If you have comments, suggestions, questions, or care to share the benefits of what you have read here, please send the author an e-mail at: Bob.Baxter@gmail.com
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