How to Pray

Why Pray?

Prayer is meant to give you a personal, direct line of communication to the Creator of the universe. You can make requests of Almighty God and have Him direct some of His unlimited power to fulfill them, may they be for peace, prosperity, protection, wisdom, healing or a myriad of other blessings for you, your family, friends, enemies, nation, or the world.

The Bible has much to say about prayer. Jesus said these words to his disciples in Luke 18:1 “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;”

Jude 20 “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,” Prayer is designed to equip us with strength and might, to fortify our hearts with the ability to withstand turbulence.

As we learn to pray, we build brick upon brick and we become an structure that can not easily be pulled down or shaken by storms and trials. As we learn to pray, we gain standing, strength, and stamina. We are strengthened by the Spirit in our inner man. as we pray, we gain even more boldness. Man was designed to live by prayer.

It is necessary for us to pray. It is so important because it is how we get strengthened. We gain depth by the Word, and we gain reach and spread, through prayer. It is in prayer that you give room for God’s Word to sink in and really become alive in your heart. We will face down times and adversity, and it is in prayer that we build resistance.

Many people, however, find that their prayer experience fails to live up to that promise, certainly with any level of consistency. Many people wish that they received more answers to their prayers. Many people who believe in the power of prayer still want to be more effective at praying.

Are your prayers being answered? If not, why not?

What is Prayer?

Prayer is our part in a two conversation with God. God talks talks to us through His written Word, the Holy Bible, and we can talk to Him through prayer. This allows us to get to know God as He comes to know us.

When you study the Bible, God is talking to you. When you pray, you are talking to Him. You get to really KNOW God in this manner, just as you become better acquainted with people by conversation.

Real prayer is COMMUNICATION with Almighty God through our savior, Jesus Christ. it is talking to our heavenly father in an attitude of humility, contrition, awe, reverence, and deep respect.. It is backed by the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

A Framework for Prayer

During Jesus Christ’s ministry on Earth, the disciples witnessed the powerful results of Christ’s intimate contact with God the Father. He healed the sick, cast out demons, even quieted the storm! The disciples wanted to have the same closeness with God.

One day, Jesus was praying. When He finished, one of His disciples approached Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples (Luke 11:1)

Jesus proceeded to give a wonderful outline, or FRAMEWORK, of a prayer that will get results. “After this manner therefore pray ye…,” He said, (Matthew 6:9). Christ gave an outline around which we can build our prayers.

Please read Matthew 6:9–15 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Now Jesus did not call this the “Lord’s Prayer” as many people do today. He did not want His disciples to memorize this particular wording and repeat it over and over. In fact, he had just warned them not to use “vain repetitions” in Matthew 6:7 “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”

Jesus was outlining the correct approach to take and basic things we should pray for. It was meant to be a guide of topics, a framework for our daily prayers.

Clearly, Jesus did not want his disciples to pray only for themselves. the words “I”, “me,” or “my” do not appear even once in these verses. He was outlining the unselfish approach we need and the basic things that we should ask for.

I am reminded of what one of my mentors, Pastor Jim Utley, from Family Christian Center, would teach. He would say “Hello Father in Heaven, my name is Jimmy and I will take all that you will gimme”

The warning against using vain repetitions does not mean that repeating a certain prayer is wrong: Earnest, persistent supplication sometimes requires that we repeat prayers. But Christ gave His disciples this outline so they could add their own material to it.

This sample prayer outline is only meant to be a guide. You may use his outline but you should try to make it more of a personal outline as you go along. Every prayer should include thoughts and feelings from the heart.

If you use this outline correctly, you can have effective, fervent prayers that will move God! James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16)

OUR FATHER, HALLOWED BE THY NAME... Jesus began his prayer by addressing THE FATHER and we should do the same. We should feel a deep personal love for and closeness to our heavenly Father. This Father-Son relationship is personal and intimate. It should be much closer than the relationship that we have with our own physical father. “Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.’ is how Christ's model prayer begins. God the Father eternally exists in heaven and governs the whole universe by the power of His Spirit! When you address the Father, realize that you have a personal audience with the supreme, eternal Ruler of all things! Most people would treasure a private meeting with a king or prime minister or president. How much greater is the privilege of coming to the very throne room of the universe to talk with the Ruler over all! Jesus intended that we praise and venerate God’s many names and character qualities to bring us into proper reverence and fear of God. Hallowing God’s name sets the table for the rest of our prayer, placing us into a submissive and deeply grateful attitude before His infinite majesty. Praise God for His greatness - His supreme power and might. Praise Him for creating and designing the vast, awesome universe, and for giving man the incredible potential to rule it with Him. Praise Him for being such a loving and all-merciful Father. Praise and thank Him for His active participation in your life. Let Him know that you appreciate and love Him.

THY KINGDOM COME.......... After addressing the Father and hallowing His name we should pray for His Kingdom to come. Praying “Thy Kingdom come” is asking that God’s literal GOVERNMENT be set up on Earth through the return of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:16) This is a yearning for when the devil will be restrained from influencing humanity for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). It is praying and longing for when God's holy and righteous LAW, summed up in the Ten Commandments, will be enforced by God’s government as the standard for daily life everywhere. It is yearning for the time when real peace will be ushered in and all mankind will know God’s truth. (Isaiah 11:9) to better understand the need for God’s Kingdom to be established, God tells us to watch and then to pray in Luke 21:36. If we watch world events and see the suffering wrapped up in just about every headline, it will help us pray with much greater urgency. Our planet is plagued by appalling evils that in many cases originate in, or at least tolerated by, corrupt or impotent governments of men. Misguided religious zeal is also responsible for a great deal of human suffering. It would be appropriate, in this section of your prayer, to rehearse with God WHY the world desperately needs His Kingdom and Christ’s righteous rule. Pray fervently that the tremendous meaning of “Thy kingdom come” may soon be a reality. Having a focus on world events also allows us to witness firsthand the fulfillment of bible prophecy - PROOF of our Father’s hand in current events as His Kingdom approaches. Praying about prophetic events as His Kingdom approaches. Praying about prophetic events as they unfold really motivates our prayers.

THY WILL BE DONE.....…After praying for God’s Kingdom to come, Christ instructs us to begin the next section: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) When we pray.”Thy kingdom come,” we see the terrible suffering in this world and the urgent need for Christ’s return. This then motivates us to pray ”Thy will be done.” God’s will “in heaven” is expressed through His government: The Father reigns supreme, and Christ, under Him, is the Head of the Church (John 14:28; Colossians 1:38) This part of our prayer should focus on praying for the many varied activities and programs of God’s Church - especially activities that revolve around proclaiming the good news of the coming Kingdom of god. God’s Work needs many doors open to fulfill its commission. We should pray that God would open those doors for His Work is URGENT: It needs to be as effective as possible to hasten Christ’s return and end all the human misery and suffering we see on Earth today. By praying for God’s Work, we become more big-minded in our perspective and get our minds off our own day-to-day problems, which are generally of little importance by comparison.

OUR DAILY BREAD.....In the next portion of Jesus's prayer outline, He tells us to petition God for our needs: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Here, pray that God provides nourishment, both physical and spiritual. It is God who sustains us, supplying our food and water, even the air we breathe. Spiritual sustenance is even more important, and we must request this “daily bread” from Him. While this part of our prayers is to include our personal needs, it should also include a healthy amount of prayer for the needs of others. The request is to “give us” - not just “me”. While it is our tendency to automatically want to pray for ourselves first, it is important that we put others before ourselves. That is God’s way Acts 20:35 “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Pray daily for your family. Praying for your spouse and your children is part of your duty as a Christian. You need God to watch out for them, keep them safe physically and to protect them spiritually. you know them intimately, including their weaknesses and faults. EXPRESS YOUR CARE FOR THOSE YOU KNOW BEST AND LOVE MOST BY PRAYING FOR THEM, EVEN MORE FERVENTLY THAN YOU PRAY FOR YOURSELF! We have as much need of daily spiritual food as physical food. Matthew 4:4 “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” - and God promises us both physical and spiritual food. He will supply our daily spiritual needs if we come to Him through daily prayer and Bible study. Jesus is the spiritual “bread of life” John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” We eat this spiritual bread by studying His Word, the Bible.

CONFESS YOUR SINS.... The next part of the prayer outline involves confessing our sins Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Matthew calls them “debts” because every time we sin, the law exerts a claim on our life: we earn eternal death (Romans 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In the same way that only a creditor can forgive a debt, only God can forgive sin. Our sins must be paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” God can forgive us because He has accepted Christ’s sacrifice in our stead if we repent and have faith in that sacrifice. To have our sins wiped away, however, we must ask for repentance in fervent prayer. God already knows about all our sins, but he promises to forgive us when we confess them. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God wipes away our sins upon repentance (Isaiah 1:18) “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 43:25) “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, And will not remember thy sins.” We are then no longer cut off from God because of our sins. He doesn’t hold it against us - He forgets all about it. It is vital that we admit to God where we have been selfish and self-centered, breaking His law of love. Be up front about your struggle against vanity, pride, and the lusts of the flesh. Be specific about your sins, beseech God for forgiveness, and ask for His help to change. God knows our hearts individually. He will reveal to us our innermost thoughts and help us to repent deeply of following the vanity of our carnal minds. We should also as God to reveal to us our hidden, secret sins, as David did in Psalm 19:12 “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.” Let’s also be very aware and very careful about what Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:14–15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Jesus gives us a stark warning here about forgiveness: if we refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive us! Why? Because when we don’t forgive others, we are denying our common ground of sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. It is easy to ask God for forgiveness, but difficult for us to grant forgiveness to others. Whenever we ask God to forgive us for sin, we should ask ourselves, “Have I forgiven the people who have wronged me?” So, it appears that our ability to obtain forgiveness from God is directly connected to our ability to forgive others. I don’t know about you, but I want to be one who forgives abundantly, because I know that I need to be forgiven for very much!

PRAY FOR DELIVERANCE...”And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...”Matthew 6:13 “Temptation” is a bad translation. This statement is more correctly rendered from the original Greek: “Bring us not into sore trial, but deliver us from the evil one...” - referring to Satan the devil. God tempts no man to sin. (James 1:13) “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:” , but He does permit us to fall into trials and troubles of our own or the devil’s devising if we are not keeping close to Him and seeking His guidance and help every day 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” Ask God to deliver you from Satan, society, and self, and if there is ever a time when Satan does tempt you, ask God for strength to resist. One way to escape “sore trials” is to daily respond to what God shows us we need to change and apply ourselves to overcoming sin - relying on God for the spiritual strength we need. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Pray for Him to correct you daily so that you might be kept from having to go through a “sore trial”. When God reveals our sins, it often involves correction. This is good, because He only corrects those He calls his children Hebrews 12:5–8 “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” When God corrects us, he is helping us become more like Him and build His holy righteous character. He shows us love. He will also be merciful in that correction if we ask Him to be: (Jeremiah 10:24) “O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; Not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.” When we don’t learn these lessons as we should, He must take more drastic action. However, we can ask God to help us learn the necessary lessons NOW, through daily correction, so He won’t need to lead us into those “sore trials:. Praying, “lead us not into sore trial, but deliver us from the evil one,” is asking God to perfect you and to bring you to the place where such trials are not needed.

CLOSE WITH PRAISE AND ADORATION…Just as Jesus’s inspired outline of prayer begins with praise and adoration of God, so does it close: Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” This reminds us again to whom we are praying, and of the CHARACTER and OFFICE of the true God who rules over the nations of men.“ Close your prayers with a sincere acknowledgement - in a spirit of worship - that all real and lasting GLORY and POWER belongs to the great God of the universe! Thank God for taking the time to listen to and answer your prayers. Thank God for His wonderful plan and for your part in it. Remember God’s throne room and its splendor, and praise Him for being the wonderful Creator, Ruler, Sustainer, and father that He is.Christ instructed us to end our prayers by asking the father “in Jesus’s name” when we know it is His will - that his authority stands behind our requests John 16:23 “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” Finally, we are to affirm that what we have prayed is so, and that we really meant it, by concluding with “Amen”, which simply means truly, or so be it. Christ used this word man times, including at the conclusion of His outline for prayer, giving us an example to use AMEN at the end of our prayers. According to Thayer’s Lexicon, the word “AMEN” here means , “So it is, and may it be fulfilled.” The Hebrew word comes from a root word that signifies “truth”. Saying AMEN confirms that what has just been uttered is true, trustworthy, and reliable. Jesus’s framework for prayer contains vital instructions to help your prayer life. Use it daily!