Praying Your ABC’s

Written by Stacy Wiebe

I love the sign that hangs in the guest bedroom at our friends’ home. It says, “Don’t Count Sheep, Talk to the Shepherd.”

Doesn’t it make sense, rather than lying awake worrying about tomorrow, to instead center our hearts on God and to remember other people and their needs?

A simple way to do this is to “pray your ABC’s.” Starting with the letter “A,” pray for one person you know whose name begins with that letter. Pray for any specific needs you know about. Pray that they would know God more intimately and glorify Him in their life. Then, proceed through the alphabet, praying for at least one person per letter. (Sometimes you have to be creative with the less common letters, or skip them. The idea is not to get hung up on the formula, but to just use it to spark your thoughts.)

Another alphabet exercise that I’ve used is to praise God for one aspect of His character

, starting with A and progressing with each letter of the alphabet: “Father, I praise You for Your All-powerfulness, for Your Beauty, for Your Compassion, for Your Desire that none should perish…” etc.

You can also use the alphabet as a guide to interceding for countries or states from Arizona to Zaire, praying for leaders, for righteousness, for the growth of the church, for the gospel to be proclaimed boldly, and for any specific needs you are aware of.

These “ABC” prayers are not meant to be restrictively formulaic, but to help focus your mind. And if you nod off  before you get to “Z,” you need not feel guilty.

While you should definitely set aside time to spend talking and listening to God when you are more alert, praying for others and praising His Name can bring peacefulness and purpose to your nighttime wakefulness.

The NIV Study Bible says, “Anxiety and prayer are two great opposing forces in Christian experience. Thanksgiving (along with prayer and petition) is the antidote to worry.”

God’s Word gives us the best advice of all: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).