The Hour that Changes the World

Dick Eastman wrote a book in 1978 called The Hour That Changes The World.  It has been reprinted since that time. It’s focus is on prayer. In particular Eastman wants to convey the importance of Prayer and believes that Christians should devote more time to it.  In his book he makes a case for having a plan or an outline that would act as a guide for prayer. He gives several categories that could be used to split up an hour into twelve five-minute sections of prayer.

I have used this particular method with a great deal of success. I can say with all honestly that having a prayer guide like this helps one to have focus and will enable you to pray for at least an hour without repeating thing over and over. I am not saying that longer prayers equal better prayers, but if you do set aside and hour for prayer and make the effort to meet God in a sincere heart of worship, then this helps you to do so without rambling. And the great thing about it is that you are not locked into praying one set prayer; it’s just a guide. This is a great crossroads between spontaneous prayer and praying with a plan.

Today I adapted this method for use in the small group that I lead at my home.  It was a great time of worship.  This is not to say that it would not have been a worshipful time without the guide, but the guide was definitely helpful.

The following is Dick Eastman’s grouping.

1. Praise and Worship

2. Waiting on the Lord

3. Confession

4. Pray the Word

5. Watching

6. Intercession

7. Petitions

8. Thanksgiving

9. Song

10. Meditation

11. Listening

12. Praise

You can download a 10 page summary PDF of this technique by clicking here. You can also find it on my Resource Downloads page. This is a summary that I found somewhere on the internet about a year ago. If you would like tot read Eastman’s book, you can find it on Amazon by clicking here, or on Christianbook.com by clicking here. I have not been paid to endorse the book or been given anything to do so. I just thought people might like to see the information first hand.