Is there a certain way to pray?

 

What a great question! I am going to start by asking another question: WHAT IS PRAYER?

The most basic answer from a Christian perspective is this: prayer is talking to God. But you cannot talk to someone that you don’t believe exists. You need to believe that God exists and that He sent His son Jesus to die and rise again for sinners.

Okay, so we believe God exists. How should we pray then?

Jesus once told his followers:

“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 today our daily bread.
 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’” Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

Pretty simple, right? Yes, but this tells us certain things to pray for. We certainly can pray this prayer. I would encourage everyone to read each line and think about what it all means. It is a very good list of things to pray for.

But the original question was “IS THERE A CERTAIN WAY TO PRAY?”  I like to look to the book of Psalms to answer this question. In our own lives, we often want to ask God for things, but we think He wouldn’t care or that we have no right to ask Him anything. But the Psalms have many, many examples of a person talking to God in all kinds of situations. Are you sad and feel neglected? Are you excited and want to worship God? Do you feel like enemies are about to ruin you? Are you feeling horrible because of the guilt of your sin? There are examples of people in these situations pouring their hearts out to God. And you know what? These example are for those of us who believe in God. We can talk to Him about ANYTHING. We can bring any request to Him. Read Psalms chapters 42 and 43 to see examples of a writer asking God why He has rejected him!

Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” If you are a believer, you can approach God with confidence. That means you can PRAY to Him at any time an in any place!

The simple answer to the question, “is there a certain way to pray” is this: if you are a believer in Jesus, come to God confidently and share the depths of your heart with him. He is our creator and loving Father. Sometimes He answers no, but He does listen to His children. Cry, laugh, yell, scream, whisper. He hears you and He knows your heart.

I’ve heard it said that prayer doesn’t change God. So why pray then? When we pray to God, it changes US. We often want things that are not good for us or things that are clearly against what God says is right. During prayer, I often realize that I need to change what I’m asking for, or sometimes I realize I am in sin. God will often use our prayer time to redirect our hearts and minds to the right things.

Read through the Psalms. Pay attention to how David and the other writers talk to God. This has been the greatest example I’ve seen to teach me how to pray.

Remember, God’s all sovereign…