Hans teaching outside Philippi

Have you ever struggled with a morning prayer pattern? Does your mind tend to wander?

Here is the prayer pattern that I’ve used for years. It was passed to me from my spiritual father.

The Biblical Foundation for my morning prayer pattern is the temple-service Numbers 28: 1- 4 and Daniel (Dan 6:10) 

These passages show us that God’s people could pray “linked” to the temple-service even if the temple at that time was in ruins!

We can also see that the early Church seemed to have this focus:

We see this with Peter and John in Acts 3:1 on their way to pray at the evening/afternoon prayer.

We also see this with Peter himself in Yafo (Jaffa) praying in Acts 10:9. Just like Daniel, Peter seems to be praying three times per day. Peter and John probably learned this pattern from Jesus himself!

Yet, this didn’t end with the Apostolic Age!

The tradition of praying at fixed times during the day (morning-prayer included) was passed on through the centuries. A good example of this is the monasteries who have prayed this way for almost 2000 years.

I was inspired to pray this way by my spiritual father. He follows a fixed order (just like the monasteries).

I’ve altered it somewhat so it fits me all the better. I believe that this is spiritually sound- We inherit an order but we’re free in Christ to change a fixed order so that it fits us personally “like a hand in a glove”.

So here´s my order – You should also feel free to change this order so that it fits you as well. 

1. Greeting of the Lord (standing):

“Lord, let us see your grace and give us your salvation! Honor be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was from the beginning, now is and shall be forever and ever, Amen!”

2. Confession and Absolution (kneeling)

“I confess to you holy and righteous God that I have sinned with thoughts, Words and deeds. Think on me with mercy and forgive me for the sake of Jesus Christ the sins that I have committed.”

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Here I add my own Little addition: “In Jesus name! In the blood of the Lamb!!!” I often proclaim this with a loud voice. This is especially appropriate when I’m under spiritual oppression.

3. Psalms (from now and also during the Gospel standing or sitting)

Here I read 3 psalms. I just flip open the pages and take the first three psalms I see in the book of Psalms. It´s probably even better to have a fixed order (that’s the way my spiritual father prays), even though I’ve been amazed through the years at how many times God has spoken to me prophetically through my “random” reading of three psalms. If it´s a long Psalm (like 119) than it’s of course ok not to read the whole Psalm.

4. Gospel

Here I read one passages/section from any of the four Gospels. I do it the same way as I do with the psalms and also here a fixed order of reading might be preferred.

5. Benedicamus- The blessing (from now and on standing)

Here I read (as my spiritual father does) the prayer of Zechariah in Luke 1: 68- 79. It truly has become a treasure for me but this is the section of the morning- prayer that I would suggest for you to omit if you want to shorten your morning- prayer.

6. Our Father (The Lord’s Prayer)

A suggestion is to try to pray it not to quick but to take a minute to reflect on at least one of the passages in Jesus prayer.

7. Free Prayer 

This section is, of course, totally flexible and that´s a great strength. If you´re in a hurry perhaps you will only pray for 30 seconds. If you have time, it´s an awesome privilege to take some time and now let the anointing of the Holy Spirit just lead you where He wants to go.

You can also include some soaking-time perhaps combined with some specific things he leads you to pray for.

Even though I try to “go with the flow” there is a pattern that I most often follow:

• I start with thanking the Lord for all the good things He has blessed me with. This often creates joy, thankfulness and faith!
• I pray for others in the following order:
  • Family
  • Ministry
  • People I think I’m going to meet that day
  • People I don’t yet know that I´m going to meet.
• Then I pray for myself.  I try to pray with boldness, knowing that I am secure in the grace, love and promises of God. 

8 . Blessing

I finish the prayer with proclaiming a blessing over my family and myself. I will often use the priestly blessing in Numbers 6: 23- 24.

This prayer time can take less than 5 minutes to pray if there´s no “free” prayer.

I think it’s important to point out that it doesn’t take a longer time to pray just because you pray following a specific order. The only difference in my opinion is that this order gives you focus!

This is, not the least, due to this order being founded in the Word of God! 

Because of the power in prayer I have seen in those who have used this biblical pattern,  people who follow this pattern might finding themselves praying longer than they expected.  They may not be able to resist to take time to rest in the anointing during the “free” prayer.

This prayer time has been transformational for me. I pray that if you choose to follow this scriptural prayer pattern that it will be a blessing to you as well.

In Christ,

Rev. Hans Weichbrodt

Spiritual Teacher, Break Forth Journeys

Please note: We’ve seen miracles during our prayer ministry times throughout our Break Forth Journeys trips. Hans, Arlen and Elsa choose to lead trips of spiritual impact. If you want to learn more about our upcoming trips, please email us at journeys@breakforthministries.com.

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