A Challenge to Personal All-Night Prayer
(Adapted from My Journey With God, Bishop Wellington Boone)
Here is an outline for something bold — schedule yourself to pray all night, just as Jesus did. He
might not have used this format, but it is a suggestion for a profitable way to use this time with
God. The suggested time is 11:00 P.M to 6:00 A.M.
All night
in prayer
And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12 KJV
Personal All-Night Prayer Schedule
FIRST HOUR
11 P.M. to 12 A.M.
Everything you see about yourself that is sinful or not as intense as
God wants it to be should bring you to repentance.
CONFESSION AND
REPENTANCE
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have
not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”.252
Praise God. List what you have to give thanks for. Recite or read
poetry. Worship in song. Listen to music, with a headset, if
necessary. Sing along with music. Use a song book. If you play an
instrument, play and sing along. Create songs to your own tunes
from the Psalms.
SECOND HOUR
12 A.M. to 1 A.M.
PRAISE,
THANKSGIVING,
AND WORSHIP
THIRD HOUR
1 A.M. to 2 A.M.
READING AND
LISTENING TO
THE
BIBLE
FOURTH HOUR
2 A.M. to 3 A.M.
PRAYING
“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the
Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his
pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”253
Listen to the Bible on tape or CD and read along. 254 Record your
favorite Scriptures in your own words for one hour. Use different
versions of the Bible as you read.
“[Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as
His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,
and stood up to read.”255
Use the priorities of personal prayer to create a personal prayer list.
Pray about your own visions and goals.
Priorities of Personal prayer list model:
1. Right relationship with God
2. Family needs
3. 5 fold ministry (Pastors, Evangelists, Teachers, Apostles, Prophets)
4. Local, state, national and government leaders
5. Personal needs
“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and
watchful in your prayers.”256
252
1 John 1:9-10 KJV
Psalm 95:6-7 KJV
254
Audio Bible read by Alexander Scourby available online at http://www.audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html.
255
Luke 4:16 NKJV
256
1 Peter 4:7 NKJV
253
FIFTH HOUR
3 A.M. to 4 A.M.
Spend time evaluating your vision and the things that God has told
you to do in the past. Where are you in the process?
WRITING OUT
YOUR INSIGHTS
AND VISION
“And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and
make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For
the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall
speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will
surely come, it will not tarry.”257
SIXTH HOUR
4 A.M. to 5 A.M.
Decide what areas of your life need new habits of discipline —
body, soul, and spirit. If you have determined to play a certain
musical instrument, start an exercise program, read non-Christian
books for research, etc., it will not happen by mistake. Make a
decision to start doing something that you have been delaying.
Commit yourself to spending at least fifteen minutes per day for the
next 30 days on developing this new habit. Set up your plan here
and keep your expectations high.
PLANNING
FUTURE
DISCIPLINES
“Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.”258
SEVENTH HOUR
5 A.M. to 6 A.M.
PRAYING OVER
THE LOST
The lost are so important to God. Jesus died for them. Heaven
rejoices over their salvation. Decree that they will be saved. It does
not make sense not to pray for them in a consistent, disciplined
way. Claim them for Christ.
“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just
persons who need no repentance.” 259
257
Habakkuk 2:2-3 KJV
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
259
Luke 15:7 NKJV
258