George A. Buttrick (1892-1980) was born in England, educated at Lancaster Independent College, and then came to the United States where he served as pastor of the Madison Ave. Presbyterian Church in NYC from 1927-1980. His book Prayer is considered on of the most thorough and comprehensive works on prayer ever written. In it he offers some detailed guidance on prayer. Here's a short summary....
"Prayer is friendship with God. Friendship is not formal, but it is not formless; it has its cultivation, its behavior, its obligations, even its disciplines; and the casual mind kills it. So we offer here, as a guide-map not as a chain, a simple regimen of private prayer."
1. Silent self-preparation and an act of faith.
2. Thanksgiving. "We need deliberately to call to mind the joys of our journey. Be specific..if we are "thankful for everything, we may be thankful for nothing." The thanksgiving should also probe deep...so to save gratitude from earthliness and circumstance and be rooted in Life beyond life. This prayer should end in glad and solemn resolve: "Lord, seal this gratitude upon my face, my words, my generous concern for my neighbors, my every outward thought and act."
3. Confession. A wise order, as "God has been exceedingly kind, and I have given him selfishness for love." Because of our sin against God, "we have neither inward peace nor inward power until we have offered prayers of penitence. Confession, like thanksgiving, should be specific. Assurance. "The wise prayer of confession always leads to an acceptance of God's pardon. It might be wise to rise from kneeling at this point in the prayer as a token of our acceptance of God's pardon, our sure faith in his absolution, and our new freedom in his grace. That standing erect might also symbolize both our resolve to make wise restoration insofar as we have power to mend our blunders, and our sincere renunciation of our sins. Confession is incomplete without that resolve. Our will, however feeble it may be, must descend squarely on the side of a new life."
4. Intercession. Needed to keep from sinking into selfishness. Private intercession should be specific and pondered. "Genuine love sees faces, not a mass...it requires us to bear on our heart the burden of those for whom we pray." Praying for our enemies might be first in order. "Bless ____ whom I foolishly regard as an enemy. Bless ______ whom I have wronged. Keep them in your favor. Banish my bitterness."
5. Petition. "We should fear the encroachment of a selfish mind. Petition is defended against that threat if we first give thanks, confess our sins, and pray for our neighbors....Petition should grow in grace so as to 'covet earnestly the best gifts'; and it should always acknowledge that our sight is dim and that our purposes are mixed in motive. It should always conclude with, 'Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.'"
"The intervals of these four prayers should be filled by meditation. Prayer is listening as well as speaking, receiving as well as asking; and its deepest mood is friendship held in reverence. So the daily prayer should end as it begins- in adoration. The best conclusion is, "In the name of Jesus Christ: Amen." For in the name or nature of Jesus is our best understanding of God, and the best corrective of our blundering prayers. The word "Amen" is not idle: it means 'So let it be.' It is our resolve to live faithfully in the direction of our prayers, and our act of fatih in God's power."
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