Learning how to pray is a lifelong journey. I’ve been a Christian for many years, and still I find that I am able to learn something new about prayer from Scripture, from sermons I hear, and from other Christian friends.
Learning to Pray
Recently, I had the pleasure of fellowship with a sweet friend, and our conversation was all learning to pray. As we shared our hearts and our personal experiences, we also shared our questions with each other, such as:
- Why do we pray?
- If God knows what He is going to do, if He has a plan for us, why bother praying?
- Why ask Him for something He already knows the answer to?
- Will He really change His mind if I ask long enough?
Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8)
These were all the types of questions we were asking and trying to understand. But when it comes to the subject of prayer, and our understanding of it, I think the fundamental questions we should ask ourselves come down to:
- What are we praying for?
- How are we praying?
Teach Me How To Pray
Teach Me How to Pray. I think it is so cool that the Bible records the disciples asking Jesus specifically, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). And Jesus answered them:
This then is how you should pray:
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.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
(Matthew 6:9-13)
Jesus’ model for prayer has three steps. First, praise Him. Second, admit we need forgiveness. Third, ask for what we want.
- Praise the Father first, “Hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come.”
- Admit our need for forgiveness, “Forgive us our debts.”
- Then after all those things had been done, He asked. Jesus asked to not be tempted, but to be delivered out of evil.
If I had to guess, I’d say that most people pray like I did at one time. I used to spend most of my prayer time asking God for things–all the things I wanted. So, let me ask you this: How would you feel if your child came to you every day only asking you for things? (I would imagine most of ours do that anyway!) But what if your child first praised you for being a good parent, then asked you to forgive him of the wrong things he had done, like the times he had disobeyed you or the times he had talked back?
How would that make you feel?
I wonder how it would make our Father in Heaven feel.
I am curious, if we all took a long, hard look at our prayer lives, what would we see?
- Do we thank the Father for who He is?
- Do we thank Him for what He has done?
- Do we ask Him for His forgiveness?
- Then, last on the list, do we “ask”?
For me, once I started getting my “prayer priorities” in order, it was a radical change in my relationship with my Father. It changed the way I approached and saw Him, which in turn, changed what I was asking Him for.
What have you learned about prayer lately? Does praising Him change your relationship with Him? How do you see Him after you spend time in praise and worship? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Kelly, focusing on Him changes my prayer life by reminding me that in all of the things I am concerned about He is already at work. If I come to the Father with my list, I miss this point. It seems when I spend time in worship of who He is, I realize that He already knows all the needs and I can trust that His plans are good. Worship makes trust possible – for me.
Jennifer – I agree. It really is all about perspective. If we truly believe, even in our actions and thought, that he is in control, there isn’t the urgency to get the requests in to him exactly the right way. He only wants that as an avenue for relationship with him.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the author for generously sharing such valuable and useful information.
Reading the book The Power of Praying Together really changed my prayer life. I posted on my blog about it and about a few steps in prayer that I got from it. It is amazing when you go before God with a “plan” on how you are going to pray-your prayer becomes more purposeful and not just thank you God for this day, bless my family and protect them-amen.
Thanks for this post-one of my goals is to return to a morning daily prayer-it’s hard being pregnant to actually get out of bed early. But I know it is worth it!
Here’s my post on prayer if you are interested:
http://healthynbalanced.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/tired-of-passionless-prayer-want-to-pray-consistently-and-with-purpose/
Tiffany, I will have to checkout that book. Always looking for more to read! For me it was more of, not putting my needs first, but just praising him and getting before his feet asking for forgiveness. What a game-changer that was for me!
That is so true!! Naturally we are so selfish. Therefore naturally a lot of times our prayers are us-focused and not God-focused. It really does change things when we pray in a way that goes against our selfish nature. Not only does it change our perspective and the way that we pray, but it is us putting into action what the Word says in Romans 12:1 and 2 Cor. 5:17, daily sacrificing our fleshly nature in order to pursue more of God. When we do that, we will never be the same.
After spending time with the Lord I feel at peace knowing everything that I share is now in his hands all I need to do is continue to trust him to work it out for my good and for his glory
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