Rosary Prayer Guidance Outline:
In Christ, we have the freedom to adopt various adiaphora practices that assist in our worship and prayers to God. The Roman, Lutheran, and Anglican churches all permit the use of prayer beads to assist in prayers. The practice goes back to the Middle Ages when monks kept track of their prayers. We believe prayer beads can be helpful in our devotional practices. However, we are Christians who prize extemporaneous, heartfelt, prayer, and prayer in the Spirit through tongues. And so, while we have drilled down to the catholic water table of our own Western tradition, we are still Charismatics. As such, we have provided suggestions for praying as Charismatic Evangelicals. Cross – “Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May your Name be hallowed in all the earth.” Invitatory – “Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.” Perhaps use a section of a Psalm here instead. Cruciforms - Pray in the Spirit through tongues. Perhaps sit in a silence and pray as a directed by the Spirit. First set of Weeks – Pray adulation to God enumerating His attributes (ie. Father God, you are the Alpha and Omega, You are sovereign over all things, You are a warrior, You are Goodness itself, etc.) Second set of Weeks – Focus is on your relationship to God. Pray gratitude and petitions, alternating each bead. Something you’re thankful for on the first bead. Something you request on the second, and so forth. Third set of Weeks – Focus is on others, family and friends, acquaintances, enemies. People you know personally. Each bead focuses on a different person. Fourth set of Weeks – Focus is on those who are rulers and in authority. This is both civil and ecclesiastical. Each bead is prayer for a different ruler. Invitatory - Upon finishing the circuit, the invitatory bead is more like a benediction bead, something of a dismissal from the focused time of prayer. Perhaps alter it from the invitatory. “Father, grant me the ability to walk by the Spirit, so that I won’t carry out the desires of the flesh.” Cross – Doxology of some kind. “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning. Is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.” Additional Set Prayers For Extra Beads: - “Praise you, Lord.” - “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) - “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1) - “Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2) - The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) - “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57) - “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth stand in awe of him.” (Psalm 96:9) - “I will thank the Lord for giving me counsel; my heart also chastens me in the night season. I have set the Lord always before me; he is at my right hand, therefore I shall not fall.” (Psalm 16:8-9)
