First of all what is prayer?
Many often see prayer as a very big deal, as if you needed to be Jesus Christ himself to say a prayer but let’s tackle this first.
What is Prayer?
Prayer is simply talking to God. It is the greatest privilege we have in our relationship with God. Think about it this way;
Imagine the person you confide in the most. For example, a parent, your sibling, your best friend or partner. Do you notice how random you are with your conversation starters and how comfortable and confident you are that they are hearing as well as listening to you?
Think of this new age of phones and technology. You simply pick up the phone to send a text to this person without thinking.
This is exactly how your relationship with prayer and God is like but on a holy level.
God loves you unconditionally regardless of who you are and whether or not you have talked to him before. In Jeremiah 1:5 He tells us that before we were born, he knew us and he had set us apart.
When Jesus died for our sins, he took away everything that stood between us and reaching God. We no longer had to reach him through sacrifices and works of the law, but through simply calling on his name. Through Jesus, we reach God.
Most people try everything they can in this world before resorting to prayer. God already knows everything about us. He knows what we are going to do before we do it and what we are going to say before we say it.
He is our Father and through Jesus, he is also our friend. So, we should really think about having a conversation with him first before trying anything ourselves.
With all this in mind, understand that Prayer is simply Talking to God.
Where Can I Pray?
No, you don’t need to be in a special position or place or frame of mind to talk to God.
There is no need to jot things down to remember to talk to God about later.
Exodus 3:4-5 “when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses”. And Moses said “Here I am”.
“Don’t come any closer”, God said. “Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground”.
This scripture alone let’s us know that we can pray anywhere because the moment we decide to talk to God, that place or ground we stand, becomes holy!
So, in your bedroom, in your car, while you are cooking in the kitchen, in the classroom or at work, even in your bathroom. The moment you call on God and begin to acknowledge his presence from your heart, that place becomes Holy.
Once you understand that you can pray any and everywhere, you will also understand the scriptures that encourage us to pray without ceasing. A few examples can be found in
1 Thessalonians 5:17, Colossians 4:2, Ephesians 6:18 and Romans 12:12.
What to say in Prayer?
You can get caught up in how lengthy or eloquent your prayer should be. This can sometimes if not all the time, make you lack in the confidence in approaching your talk with God. But I can tell you now that your prayer can be very short and meaningful and you can also pray throughout the day.
The initial step to approaching prayer is to have faith i.e. strongly believe unwaveringly that God is hearing you.
Secondly, Mark 10:13-16 tells us to come to God like children. So, forget reasoning. Come like a little child and just believe.
Your prayer could be as simply as “ God I know you are mighty and I love you”. it could be “ Dear God, I am afraid but I believe that you are with me so help me not to be afraid” or even “ God Almighty, I commit my day/ this meeting/ this test/ this interview into your hands, let your will be done.
Whatever you tell God, simply believe that he has heard you and has your best interest at heart.
You can also turn to the scriptures like Psalm 23 or Psalm 121 in the moments where your words fail to describe exactly what you want to talk to God about and meditate on it.
Jesus also taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 which we often referred to as “ The Lord’s Prayer”. It is a powerful prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be your name
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen.
In dissecting the Lord’s Prayer, we begin by praising Him and acknowledging he is God.
We ask him to fulfil our needs and forgive our sins while helping us to extend the same grace by forgiving those who offend us too.
We then ask him for his guidance to help us stay in the righteous path because that is what it means to love him.
Do you struggle with prayer? Did this post help you? Do you have any questions about prayer? Comment below or send me a message and I will be glad to respond to you. Stay blessed.
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