Keane
By starting a time of prayer with adoration and praise, we focus first on God, rather than on ourselves. We think of who God is, and what He has done. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for being our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer. Jesus teaches us to first of all to love God with all our heart, mind and soul.
Confession
Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God, which are displeasing to Him. All of us have sinned. St. John writes in his epistle, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:8,9)
Thanksgiving
From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift. Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings. In praying, we must also have an attitude of victory and faith, believing that God has already granted our requests.
Supplication
Finally, we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific.
Pray for others
For your family members, your neighbours and friends. Pray for your country and world issues, for peace in difficult situations, for leaders and those in influential positions, for global issues, such as care of God's environment, justice for the poor, relief of suffering in less developed communities and countries, and other issues that come to you.
Pray for your needs too
It's easy to neglect this, but Jesus encourages us to do so in the Lord's Prayer - the model for prayer that He gave us.
Joye Keane, co-pastor of Family Church on the Rock, Montego Bay, said that prayer is a lifestyle. "One should always adopt praying and lead a lifestyle of prayer," she said. "You can pray anywhere and should always be in constant communication with God."
Pastor Keane said prayer should not be a monologue, but a dialogue, so individuals should always be willing to listen and hear from God.