How to Pray

How is your prayer life? My main struggle with prayer is consistency. I go through seasons of praying often and seasons of praying irregularly. Prayer is an area I can always grow in. Learning how to pray takes time and practice.

Prayer is super important for our relationship with God. I think where many of us get held up with prayer is often having the mentality that we have to “drop everything” in order to pray. Yes, pausing in a quiet and secluded place to pray is highly recommended, especially to have a stronger focus, but this isn’t a requirement. Prayer can be quick shouts of praise, cries for help, confessions, and so on throughout the day. There is no formula. We can have a conversation with God all day long while continuing in our routine.

Today, I’m not giving you a formula or rules for how to pray. I’m providing some suggestions for prayer focuses I believe are important for whenever and wherever you decide to pray. And I’ll be completely honest, this article is for me just as much as it is for you.

Thanksgiving, Praise & Adoration

Our first, and main, prayer focus is upward. A prayer, in the simplest sense, is a conversation with the Lord. Because of who God is and all He does, our conversation should start with thanksgiving, praise, and adoration to Him. This helps us have the right focus and perspective when we pray. God is worthy of our thanks, praise, and adoration.

Look at Philippians 4:4-7: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” How can we rejoice in the Lord always? Through thanksgiving, praise, and adoration to Him.

Humility & Faith

Our second prayer focus is inward. We are asking God to change and grow us. After thanking, praising, and adoring God for who He is and all He does, our hearts should be humbled. We should have the realization we can’t do anything without the Lord. We need Him. And He is more than able to help us.

This is when we acknowledge and admit how often we turn away from God and try to do things on our own. With humble hearts, we confess and repent of our sins to God. Maybe today you’ve been stressed or worried about the future because of the coronavirus. Surrender this to the Lord and ask for Him to strengthen your faith and trust in Him. Or maybe you’re finding it hard to forgive someone. Ask God to give you the grace to forgive like He forgives you. Whatever your struggle, temptation, or sin may be, surrender it to the Lord and ask for help. 

Intercession

The third prayer focus is outward. Here, we pray for others. When we’ve turned upward and inward, our hearts and minds should be in a better place to intercede for others. Pray for the lost, family and friends, our leaders (local, state, federal), co-workers, the sick, the Church (as a whole and our local church family), our neighbors, and whoever else the Lord places on your heart.

When we pray for others, we understand God is who they truly need. God may lead us to help others in different ways, but the first and most powerful way is through prayer. And, often, prayer is the only way we can help others, especially in times like today’s crisis situation.

Practice

Again, prayer requires practice. We’ll always be able to grow in prayer, but the most important part is just doing it. If you don’t know how to start or what to say, ask God to give you the words. You don’t have to use big and elegant words to pray. And your prayers don’t have to be super long. Remember, there are no rules or formulas for prayer. It is simply having a conversation with God. He longs to hear from you and waits to speak to you in a very personal way.

Take 5 to 10 minutes right now to pray. Use these prayer focuses as a guide, if you’d like. And just start practicing. Each day, I strive to pray first thing in the morning, throughout the day, and right before going to bed. My desire is to have a consistent, humble, and active prayer life. I want to speak to my Father regularly, depending on Him with an undivided heart.

How do you need to grow in your prayer life today?

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