After over 65 years of ministry, we have developed the top 27 questions people ask us so we would like to share these questions each week for our weekly blog and share the answers as a resource for you all to use in your ministry, churches, and family.
Top ? #13 How Do I Pray?
Answer: Prayers should be in your own words which express the deepest desires of your heart and should be directed to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, His son, through the of the power Holy Spirit.
Prayer is one of the greatest privileges given to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet many Christians fail to use this powerful spiritual tool. One reason for this is that many believers do not know how to pray.
Before an individual can pray effectively they need to understand that we have gained an intimacy with God the Father because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Romans 8:15 says that we can call God “Abba Father.” Abba was an Aramaic word that was the equivalent to the English “daddy.” It was a term of endearment and intimacy. The following verses speak of the accessibility we have to the Father through Jesus Christ.
For through him [Jesus Christ] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18)
In him [Jesus Christ] and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. (Ephesians 3:12)
With such openness, we should feel free to come to God with any needs we have. Such an open avenue of communication should not necessitate undue formality, rather we can speak to God the Father with our own words, in a way that is most comfortable to us.
We are encouraged in the Bible to bring everything to the Lord in prayer. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
We should not expect that God will answer every request the way we desire. He will only give those things which are in accordance with His will and which He knows are for our benefit. However, we must not be afraid to make prayer requests because we are worried that they may be contrary to God’s specific will. In Romans 8:26-27, we are told that God’s Spirit intercedes on our behalf according to God’s will.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Prayer should be a natural outpouring of our heart to God. We should not be concerned about saying the proper words or using a correct format. Rather we should feel free to use the avenue of prayer to develop a rich intimacy with God, knowing that He hears us and desires to respond according to our best interests.
An important aspect of prayer that is often forgotten is that of praise and thanksgiving to God. In the prayers of the Apostle Paul, he repeatedly stressed his thankfulness to God for his salvation, the blessings he had received, and for other believers.
Prayer should be as natural as breathing for the Christian. We should feel that at any time in any place we can go to the Lord freely with our request, trusting that He hears us and will respond.
Please read the following verses: 2 Corinthians 13:7; Ephesians 1:15-19; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
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