One thing I find hard to do when I pray is not making the prayer all about me. For example “Lord I pray that you will…” “Lord I pray for…” it is a real challenge for me sometimes to change “Lord I pray” to “You Are”. One of my good friends Chad Swift works for International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Atlanta. He gave me a outline of one of the worship sets called “Worship with the Word”. The set he gave me was on Psalms 63. The thing that I noticed about the outline was how they pulled out each verse and spoke about who God is. Here are some examples

“O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.”

Psalms 63:1

You are my Greatest Desire

“I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.“

Psalms 63:2

You are powerful and majestic

“Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.“

Psalms 63:3

Your love compels me to praise you

“On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.“

Psalms 63:6

You consume my thoughts

“Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.
But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God’s name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.“

Psalms 63:7-11

You are my refuge

I know this helps me take my mind off of “what I need” and “what I want” and put the focus on who God is , why he is God and why he is my Loving Savior. So next time you pray try to put the focus on God with “You Are…”.