Many people tell me that they really struggle to pray, not knowing exactly how to pray. May we help?
Feelings vs Facts
[1]Many people tell me that they really struggle to pray, not knowing exactly how to pray. I too have struggled praying to God, feeling like my prayers are not even getting past the ceiling. Is that what you’ve felt before? The first problem is I ranked my feelings over biblical facts. What I feel and what is true may not be the same thing, but all of God’s precious promises are true and not one has ever failed. It doesn’t matter what I feel. It does matter what God says, so pray even when you don’t feel like it (especially when you don’t feel like it). God hears and answers our prayers. The Apostle John wrote, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And we if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). Knowing He cleanses us from all sins (1 John 1:9), we can come with a clear conscience to the throne room of heaven, but only through our Mediator; our High Priest, Jesus Christ in whose name we pray (John 16:23-24).
Prioritizing Prayer
Jesus’ disciples took note of the way John the Baptist’s followers prayed and thought they wanted to learn to pray like them (Luke 11:1), but they didn’t realize that there was a better way to pray and Jesus was about to show them. What is called the Lord’s Prayer is a true prayer, but it’s not really meant to be repeated over and over again. It’s given as a model to the disciples so they know how to pray and what to pray for and where to begin with prayer. That’s very useful in learning how to pray. The most important thing is where Jesus begins in telling the disciples (and us) how to pray and where they should begin, and that’s with hallowing or revering the name of God the Father. Holy is He and He is to be regarded with a deep, abiding, holy, reverential respect (“hallowed”). This is why Jesus begins with “Father, hallowed be your na
[2]me” (Luke 11:2). We pray to the Father, through Jesus’ name, and in the Spirit (more on that later).
Prayer Template
Next, Jesus tells the disciples to pray to the Father to, “give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 2-3). I take that as physical bread, but more importantly, it is the Bread of Life, or the Word of God we need every single day. I have a Bible reading plan and is “No Bible, No Breakfast.” I read some every morning from the Old Testament and then the New Testament. I do it even when I don’t feel like it (and I admit there are times I don’t). I believe our prayer life is enhanced with the reading of Scripture. So pray to God, our hallowed Father in heaven, through Jesus’ name, “And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one” (Luke 2:4). We pray to the Father through Jesus’ name and ask for forgiveness after we have forgiven others and then pray God helps us resist or to avoid temptations to sin, and lastly, to keep us from Satan and his minions, or the “evil one”.
Pray Like This
- Pray to the Father (reverently)
- Pray through Jesus’ Name
- Forgive others, then ask for forgiveness (include any possible sins you might not even know of)
- Pray for protection from sinful opportunities, places or situations
- Pray for those on your prayer list/journal
- Pray for lost sinners you know; family, friends, co-workers, strangers
- Pray thanksgiving back to God for Jesus’ sacrifice and eternal life and all His marvelous blessings.
- Pray for God’s will to always be done, above what we even ask for
- Pray in Jesus’ name in closing for His name to be glorified
A Prayer Journal
I write down prayer requests. That way I won’t forget their needs and their names. I also date it in my prayer journal so I can look back to see how God has answered prayer in the past. That builds hope and strengthens my faith by the way, and my prayer journal keeps me focused on God and praying for others more easily, knowing who to pray for and how to pray for them. That way, I’m not drawing blanks trying to remember who to pray for and how to pray for their needs. It’s so easy to forget. Sometimes when I’m away from pen and paper and someone asks me to prayer for them (from a phone call, text, email, etc.), I do it immediately. That way I fulfill a promise to pray for them, because if we promise to pray for someone and don’t do it, it appears that would be sin (1 Sam 12:23).
Confessing Sin and Giving Praise
[3]Did you know you can pray God’s Word back to Him? That’s what you can do with the Psalms. Many of these are more than songs; they are prayers…prayers of desperation. Some of repentance (Psalm 51) and some of praise (Psalm 103). Pray these back to God. Martin Luther used to pray through the 10 Commandments, asking God forgive him for breaking all of them, but the Scriptures make marvelous prayers from God’s Spirit (the Author), sending them back to the Father.
Conclusion
I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
Here is some related reading for you: 7 Morning Prayers to Start Your Day [4]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.