What is Prayer?
Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I pray?”? It might be worth just thinking about what prayer is and what it isn’t. Prayer is simply talking to or listening to God. It’s not coming to God with a list of things that you want. God isn’t a genie whose purpose it is to grant you wishes. It’s a desire to spend time with Him. Prayer can be at a set time, where you sit in quiet, but it can a simple, silent “thank you” as you appreciate something. It can be a “please help” when things are hard. You can pray as you are walking along, you can pray sitting alone at home. You can pray with friends. There is no one correct way, but here are some things that you might find useful:
How Do I Pray? Using The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s prayer is probably the most famous prayer in The Bible. It occurs in Luke 11 and Matthew 6. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gives the prayer to one of His disciples after they ask Him, “How do we pray?”. Seeing as that is a question I have asked God many times, it seems that this prayer is an answer to prayer!
Here’s Matthew 6: 7-13:
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
The first thing to notice, looking at verses 7-8, is that when we pray, we don’t need to use long, complicated words, or go on and on. This won’t impress God! He knows what we are thinking and what is on our hearts. Just be real, be yourself. Isn’t that good to know?!
Jesus then says, ‘pray like this’. It’s not a set prayer that He intended us to just repeat, but a pattern that we could follow. Let’s go through each section briefly.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Hallowed just means ‘made holy’ or ‘to be greatly revered and honoured’. So Jesus suggests we start by coming to God with an attitude of praise and thanksgiving. As Christians, we have been forgiven, so we can come boldly to God. Thank Him and praise Him for who He is and what He has done. This is the first part of our prayer because it encourages us to put Him first. It takes our focus off us, to Him.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven
God’s Kingdom is where God’s authority reigns. It’s where what God wants, happens. Here, Jesus is asking us to pray that God’s plan will happen on earth.
Start with yourself. Is there any area of your life where God isn’t in charge? Has God spoken to you about anything? Maybe a Bible passage has jumped off the page, for example. Maybe you have a decision to make, and you want it to be in-line with God’s plan. Pray for yourself first. Then pray for:
- Your family and friends
- Your town
- Your country
Pray that all areas will be in-line with God’s will. Ask that you will see things as God sees them.
Give us this day our daily bread
Only then ask for what you need. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” It’s OK to ask for material things, but remember, this is ‘daily bread’ not luxuries!
and forgive us our debts,
Sometimes this is worded sins, debts, trespasses. It all means the same thing. Thank God that He has already forgiven your sins. As Christians we are new creations, but we are also being transformed. Ask God if there is an area of your life that needs to change, and thank him that he has given you the Holy Spirit to help. Confess anything you need to.
as we also have forgiven our debtors
God has been very generous in the way He has forgiven us. We have to extend that generosity to others. This is not always easy, especially if the hurt runs deep. Be honest with God. You may need to ask Him to help you forgive. You will experience healing in letting go of bitterness. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tell us to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
This is about praying for God’s protection. The Bible does speak of a spiritual battle, but God will help us. Try reading Ephesians 6: 10-20. It speaks of this battle, but also of the armour that God gives us.
How do I Pray? Using the Psalms to help.
The Book of Psalms is a collection of poems or songs. Many of these are heart-felt and are really prayers. Maybe you could try using some of these to help you pray.
Psalm 23, A Psalm about God being a shepherd, caring for his sheep.
Psalm 23– Read or listen to Psalm 23. Thank God that He is your shepherd. He knows where the green pastures are. Ask God if you are following Him, or have you gone astray? Read John 10. Who is the Good Shepherd? Thank Jesus that Has has lay down His life for His sheep.
Psalm 139, A psalm about a God who knows you and created you.
Psalm 139– Read or listen to Psalm 139. Thank God that he has formed you and that he knows all about you. Thank Him that there is nowhere you can go from His presence. Read verses 23-24. Use this as a personal prayer. Spend a moment in silence listening.
Psalm 51, A psalm about being overwhelmed by sin and a desire to repent.
Psalm 51– This was written by King David after he had committed adultery and murder. His sin was pointed out to him by Nathan the prophet. Read or listen to the psalm. Read verses 16-17 again. Thank God that he accepts all who come to Him who have humbled themselves. Jesus said: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:3
Psalm 145, A psalm of praise about God’s Goodness
Psalm 145– Read or listen to Psalm 145. Thank God that He is good all of the time. Declare what He has done. Read verse 18 and 19. Who is God close to? God is good, but He is also righteous and holy.
This is just 4 of the Psalms. There are 150 in total. Usually I would give the advice that it’s a good idea to read a whole book of the Bible, rather than just dip in, but the book of Psalms is one of the exceptions. Try exploring some of them for yourself.
Next Steps
I have only touched on what is a huge subject.
I would recommend The Prayer Course. It’s an 8 week course, based on the Lord’s Prayer. It’s all free, and comes with many useful accompanying resources. It’s designed to be run in a group, so you can talk through what you have learnt, but you could watch the on-line videos by yourself.
Visit their website: www.prayercourse.org for more details, and to access all of the videos and materials.
Praying with a friend
Do you have a Christian friend that you could pray with? It’s a huge privileged to be able to pray with someone else. Matthew 18: 19-20 says, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Wow! Not only is there power in that prayer, but you can be accountable with each other and and pray for each other.
Where Next?
Where to turn to when…
Sometimes things aren’t easy, but God is always faithful.
Here’s some passages to turn to in times of need.
Perhaps you would like to look at some of those next?
Have you been here?
There’s a page where the Christian message is explained. There’s a short video. If you haven’t watched it, please do.
What Christians Believe
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