How To Pray

What Is the Correct Way to Pray?

---

Prayer, simply put, is conversation with God.

We would never subject a friend to demands made out of fear or pride. How could that be a good way to talk to God? One parable Jesus shared with his disciples, speaks directly to my question. In Luke 18, the doctor-turned-disciple recorded a story Jesus told about two men who both prayed to God, and how they were each received by the Father. Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.

This parable is a good way to measure our hearts as we come to God in prayer. Ask yourself, am I the Pharisee or a tax collector? They were the holy men of that day. The tax collectors were hated by most. And he would, if it were not for what the taxman did inside the temple. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

The tax collector approaches his prayer in humility. With no self-righteous bone in his body, he asks God to show him mercy. The Lord hears the prayers of the justified and the humble. Lighting a fragrant candle can send a signal to our brains: Listening to music can help us focus on God. Many people enjoy doodling, drawing, or painting while they pray.

I help my ADHD-plagued brain focus on prayer by keeping a prayer journal. Making a list of requests keeps my mind alert; I stop to pray for each petition after jotting it down. Occasionally I write out longer prayers like a letter. My best prayer times happen out on the walking trail. Praying aloud also helps me keep my mind engaged, but I save that for prayer times at home. This verse baffles me: How about trying an experiment?

Start and end your day with prayer.

God Wants You to Ask Again

Lift up short prayers to God as often as you can throughout your day. Pray over your schedule. Ask God to help you with your to-do list. When you hear a troubling news report, lift the situation up to God. Say a prayer for your spouse or child as you give him or her a hug.

A friend of mine gives thanks whenever she stops at red lights while driving. Look for prayer moments that work for your life. Jesus invites us to expect God to work. How about getting started today?

How to Pray: 5 Practical Tips

We should absolutely pray spontaneously whenever and wherever prayers arise in our hearts — during a break at work, before a test, in line with our groceries. Pick a consistent time and place when you can be alone. It might be in the morning at home, or during a long commute, or over your lunch break, or at a convenient time in the evening.

The times and places can be different for different people — one of the stunning blessings Jesus bought — but it should still be consistent for you. And Jesus is clear that it should be consistently alone Matthew 6: For some people, setting aside time to be alone with God is intimidating.

In fact, for many today, any time alone at all — no friends, no television, no phones — is unnerving. We are speaking to almighty God here. He already knows everything we need and everything we are going to say. So what can we even say? One important thing to learn early on about prayer is that it truly is a conversation. Just as God really does speak to us in his word, he is also really listening when we pray.

It may just feel like journaling out loud at times, but there is always someone on the other side of prayer. A real Giver, a real Guide, a real Host.

Overcoming common myths

But God has told us how he speaks, the only truly trustworthy way we hear his voice. Read something from the Bible even just a verse before you pray.

The foundation: conversion

Oh, how precious is the Bible. It is the very word of God. In it God speaks in the twenty-first century. This is the very voice of God. By this voice, he speaks with absolute truth and personal force. By this voice, he reveals his all-surpassing beauty. By this voice, he reveals the deepest secrets of our hearts.

No voice anywhere anytime can reach as deep or lift as high or carry as far as the voice of God that we hear in the Bible.

How To Pray To God

When you sit down to pray, let God speak first. Let him have the first word. Put his living and active words into your ears, and let them shape and inspire what you say back to him. If you learn something new about him and his ways, tell him. If the verses raise questions, ask him.

How to Pray to God - 5 Tips for Powerful Prayers (With Examples)

With reverence and awe, be a son or a daughter, and listen well. Often when people ask how they can pray for me, I immediately try to assess if I have any unusual needs right now like, this minute. But if we take that mentality into prayer, we may only ever pray for physical or circumstantial needs.

Physical needs are important, but they pale in comparison to our spiritual-emotional and eternal needs. Does that mean we will never have to worry about or spend time on our physical needs — food, work, cancer?

It means life is mainly about unseen realities. At the end of each day, what matters most happens at the spiritual and emotional level, not the physical and circumstantial.

• Sacred Schisms: How Religions Divide
• The Change Manifesto: Join the Block by Block Movement to Remake America
• Das Regenmädchen (Ein Franza-Oberwieser-Krimi 1) (German Edition)
• Moliere Today 2 (Contemporary Theatre Review)
• Altered State?: Assessing How Marijuana Legalization in California Could Influence Marijuana Consump