Prayer is something I struggle with. I grew up in a Catholic Church and learned to recite the same prayers over and over. One day I was reading the bible and it said "I hate repetitive prayers" That would be God speaking....I would talk to God like some statue because that is what I grew up with. One day I was driving down the highway talking to God in a Cold Formal Fashion and he spoke to me and said, would you please just talk to me! So from that day on I started praying by talking to him. I talked to him like my best friend.
Many people are so fearful of praying because they hear how others pray. They judge and criticize themselves because they don't sound as good or aren't as holy sounding. Please do yourself and God a favor and just talk to him like you would a best friend. He longs for you to have a close relationship with him. He doesn't want you to be what you aren't...he wants you to be real...just like he made you.
Show him honor and glory when you open up your prayer time. You can start easily by saying something like
Dear Heavenly Father
Hi God you awesome God it's me
Precious Father in heaven I need to talk to you
He knows your heart, just be YOU....talk how you talk (or perhaps not)....talking offensively is not what he wants :) Just show him respect like you would to someone older who deserves and has earned the respect.
Then ask him to forgive you for anything you may have done or said since you last prayed that was offensive or dishonored him in any way. Ask him to bring to mind what you may have done that you need to make right. Perhaps you yelled at someone close to you and you should go say you are sorry. When we do something wrong, it is very important to ask for forgiveness and make the situation right. If softens your heart and the person you may have hurt. It shows that you truly are trying to be the Christian, Christ wants you to be. God is love...we are called to show the same kind of love. Will we be perfect? No, far from it...but when you are aware of your thoughts, your words and your actions and you want to remain in good standing with God and yourself, seeking forgiveness is something that must be done on a daily basis...we ALL make mistakes, we just need to fix them when we can as soon as we can. (I have learned the hard way...so I speak from experience :)
Ephesians 4:26
When angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down.
The next step in Prayer is to show a heart of Gratitude and Thanksgiving. Tell him all the things you are grateful for. He has given you so much...just look around you. Everything you, have he gave you...he blessed your life with. The people in your life are blessings too. Perhaps they may not seem like it today, but they are. Focus on what is GOOD about the person! We as humans tend to focus on what someone isn't, what someone doesn't and what someone used to be. Think about it, it is so easy to focus on what someone isn't doing, what someone doesn't do or what someone used to do but isn't doing now. We want people to be what we want them to be. We are selfish beings. We came into this world as selfish beings and God wants us to be selfless not selfish. It's not all about Me! When you can learn to die to your own needs and think of someone else before yourself, you will be closer to the image God created. It is a struggle, it is a battle, it is a choice! Sometimes we just have to bite our tongue. So be grateful. Start looking at things differently and things will change. Look at what you have, not what you don't have.
Ask for your needs and the needs of your family and friends. Prayer is powerful and if it is God's will he will listen to your prayers. Patience is necessary though. God doesn't work like Mac Donalds. You can't just drive in, give a prayer request and have it handed to you in 3 minutes. You have to drive up to window 1 and pay the price first. Sometimes that price is time, sometimes it is with your own actions being changed. Perhaps the prayer will be answered but God wants you to do something first or change first. Life is a classroom and we are all learning something. Be open to changing and being molded..that is how we grow.
Thank him again for what you have asked and tell him you believe it will come to pass. What we ask for will be given if we believe we have already received it. As long as it is not something that is selfish or evil. God wants to bless you he wants to comfort you, he wants to be your strength. Submit yourself to his will and all will be given unto you. Rejoice in your sufferings, we are not guaranteed we won't have them, but we can always learn something from them, grow from them and become a better person because of them. I know I am! It may not feel like it at the time but when you look back you can always find the good in every situation good or bad..it all depends on how you look at things. It is your choice.
Then say, I pray and ask all of these things in Jesus name. The name of Jesus is very powerful. When you pray for things and ask for things in the name of Jesus you are using words that are of authority. How do I know..because I learned it by doing it. I have a lot to learn but that is what reaching your Full Potential is all about! I am grateful I can share with you what I have learned and I hope it will help you too!
and prayed: "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.
God is loving and forgives easily when you are truly sorry and repent.
Job 33:26
He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.
Psalm 4:1
[ For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David. ] Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
Daniel 9:4
I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands,
Matthew 5:44
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
God does not only want to hear your prayers in times of trouble!
Job 35:9
"When times get bad, people cry out for help. They cry for relief from being kicked around, But never give God a thought when things go well, when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts, When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom, using birds and beasts to teach wisdom. People are arrogantly indifferent to God— until, of course, they're in trouble, and then God is indifferent to them. There's nothing behind such prayers except panic; the Almighty pays them no mind. So why would he notice you just because you say you're tired of waiting to be heard, Or waiting for him to get good and angry and do something about the world's problems?
Isaiah 1:13
"Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
In Touch Daily Devotional
by Dr. Charles Stanley
September 21, 2007 -- Our Help in Prayer -- Romans 8:26-27
Does this sound familiar? Determined to spend more time in prayer, you come to the appointed hour, drop to your knees, open your mouth and--draw a blank. Sure, you manage a few words about what you need the Lord to do for you and your family, but you should be praying for more than that, shouldn't you?
Yes, you should. The Christian's needs are indeed God's concern; not even the smallest detail escapes His notice. However, He tells His people to imitate Jesus: they should "not merely look out for [their] own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4).
Selfless prayer, though, isn't natural to us. We too easily think of God as a genie--someone to do our bidding as we live life our own way. Thankfully, God has supplied a Helper. The Holy Spirit, our willing and able partner in praying effectively, intercedes for us when we can't "pray as we should" (Romans 8:26).
How should we cooperate with the Spirit's intercession for us? First, we must recognize God's authority, holiness, and glory. Then, we need to submit our lives to his leadership. When we do, God's will and desires become foremost in importance for us. Finally, we must submit our future to Him, trusting that He will bring great good out of negative as well as positive events in our lives.
In submission to the Lord, we will discover greater peace and joy. We'll also find new words for our prayers. Even more importantly, we will develop a deeper understanding of God's greatness.
Jesus' Prayer Life
All four gospels record that our Lord Jesus prayed often and earnestly in the midst of his busy life. He prayed when he was baptized by John (Lk 3:21). Very early in the morning he prayed in a solitary place (Mk 1:35). Before calling his disciples he went to a mountainside and spent a whole night praying to God (Lk 6:12). He prayed before Peter’s confession of Christ (Lk 9:18). He prayed at the mountain of the transfiguration (Lk 9:28-29). He prayed in Gethsemane for his disciples that their faith might not fail and for himself to obey God’s will. He prayed so earnestly that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Lk 22:39-44). Even on the cross, with huge nails on his hands and feet, our Lord Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 24:34).Jesus' Teaching on Prayer
When asked by his disciples about how to pray, Jesus taught them what we know today as the Lord's Prayer:"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.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one"
(Mt 6:9b-13)
The Lord's prayer consists of six prayer topics. The first three are for God's glory. The second three concern our needs. Surprisingly, the Lord's prayer does not resemble a shopping list that some people present to God in their prayer.
Why Pray in Jesus' Name?
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (Jn 14:12-14)"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (Jn 15:16)
Why Pray Two by Two?
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Mt 18:19-20)Why Pray for Others?
Abraham in Genesis pleaded with God for his nephew Lot who was living in the sinful city of Sodom (Ge 18:16-33). David said in Psalm 122:6-9: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.' For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within you.' For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity."St. Paul's intercessary prayer is recorded in Colossians 1:9-14: "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
More on Prayers
James 4:2b-3: "You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."The Prayer Jesus Taught Us
by Victor Hoagland, C.P.based on the New Catholic Catechism 2759-2865
see also: The Our Father for Children
"Teach us how to pray," the disciples said to Jesus. (Luke 11, 1) He answered by teaching them the prayer we call the Our Father or The Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's Prayer is a basic Christian prayer. As a model of prayer, every Christian learns it by heart. It appears everywhere in the church's life: in its liturgy and sacraments, in public and private prayer. It 's a prayer Christians treasure.
Though we memorize it as a set formula, the Lord's Prayer shouldn't be repeated mechanically or without thought. Its purpose is to awaken and stimulate our faith. Through this prayer Jesus invites us to approach God as Father. Indeed, the Lord's Prayer has been called a summary of the gospel.
hallowed be thy name.
When Moses approached God on Mount Sinai, he heard a voice saying, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." An infinite chasm separates us from the transcendent God.
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus invites us to draw near to God who is beyond human understanding, who dwells in mystery, who is all holy. We can call God "our Father".
Calling God "Father" does not mean that God is masculine. God is beyond the categories of gender, of masculine or feminine. None of our descriptions of God is adequate. God, who is "in heaven", whose name is holy, cannot be fully known by us.
By calling God "Father" we are more rightly describing ourselves and our relationship with God. Jesus teaches that we have a filial relationship with God; God sees us as if we were a daughter or a son. And we, on our part, can approach God in the familiar confident way a child approaches a loving parent. What is more, we approach God through God's only Son, Jesus Christ, who unites us to himself .
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
God's kingdom. Jesus often said that God's power would appear and renew all creation. God like a mighty king would rule over the earth according to a plan that unfolds from the beginning of the world. God's kingdom would be marked by peace and justice. Good would be rewarded and evil punished. The kingdom, according to Jesus, is not far off, but already present in our midst, though not yet revealed.
In the Lord's prayer we pray that God's kingdom come, that God's will, which is for our good, be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We are God's children. What can be more childlike than this petition in which we pray for our daily bread, a word that describes all those physical, human and spiritual gifts we need to live. With the confidence of children we say: "Give us this day what we need."
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Life is not easy. It is a daily battle. Trials like sickness and failure can crush our spirits. False values and easy promises can entice us and even destroy our souls. And so we ask God to keep us from failing when we are tested, to help us to know the right thing to do, to deliver us from the evil which awaits us in life.
The Lord's Prayer sums up the teaching of Jesus. It is also a prayer that offers the grace of Jesus: his reverence for God, his childlike confidence in his Father, and his power to go bravely through life no matter what comes. When we pray his prayer, his spirit becomes our own.--------------------------------------------
Jesus Prayed
by Victor Hoagland, C.P.based on the New Catholic Catechism 2598-2616
We Christians learn to pray through Jesus Christ, who not only teaches us to pray, but prayed himself. The Gospels are filled with examples of his prayer.
Did Jesus himself have to learn to pray?
Yes, he did. True, he was the Son of God who knew all things. But as one like us, he had to learn to pray while growing up. In the village of Nazareth Mary and Joseph guided his first steps in prayer. At home, in the synagogue at Nazareth, in the temple of Jerusalem he learned the rhythms and words of Jewish prayer.
Yet even in his earliest years, Jesus prayed to God with a distinct intimacy. God was his Father and he was God's son. There was a childlike, filial quality to his prayer.
Jesus prayed regularly, his first disciples recalled. He prayed before decisive moments, beginning with his baptism and as he faced his passion and death. He prayed in times of human weakness and death, as he did at the grave of Lazarus. He frequently prayed to give thanks. His prayer was steady, thankful, and confident that God's will was for his good.
His prayer was heartfelt. Nowhere is that more evident than when he prayed on the cross.
"I thirst."
"Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother."
"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"
"It is finished"
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."
They were prayers that came from the heart. They reveal him tender towards those he loved and forgiving to those who wronged him; he is human in weakness and strong in faith. Never did a human heart reach out to God more eloquently than when Jesus prayed on the cross.
He ended his life with a loud cry. Even that last rending cry was a heartfelt prayer to God, issuing from the depths of his being and summing up what could not said.
And his prayer was heard. God raised him up. We Christians believe the prayer of Jesus teaches that prayer is always heard. In his prayer is our hope.
What can we learn from the prayer of Jesus?
First, that true prayer should come from the heart. He prayed from within, not with just words or gestures. His prayer was not based only on feelings or passing emotions. Prayer comes from within, beyond level of feelings, from ourselves. " Go into the inner room, " Jesus says, " and there pray to your Father, who hears you." Sometimes prayer from the heart, from the "inner room" takes the form of words, at other times it may be like his own wordless cry.
Secondly, prayer is fed by faith. Jesus prayed with an unwavering faith in his heavenly Father, a faith that lasted till his death. He taught us to pray also with childlike faith in God, believing that our prayers are heard by One who loves us.
Thirdly, prayer should be steady and persevering as his prayer was, even when no answer comes or when no relief is in sight. "Watch and Pray," he says, "Seek and knock," till the door that reveals God's holy will be opened.
His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He did, and he teaches us too. Yet Jesus is more than a teacher. As Christians we believe that Jesus prays for us; he is our intercessor before God. As Savior he gathers our prayers, our needs, the cries of our hearts to make them his own and offers them to God who hears our prayers in the prayer of his Son.
That is why we complete our prayers so often with the beautiful phrase: "Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." Jesus is our teacher and he is our Savior, who takes our prayers and makes them his own.
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He Is Attentive to Your Prayers
Today's Scripture
“For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their prayer…” (I Peter 3:12 AMP).
Today's Word from Joel and Victoria
Do you ever wonder if the Lord hears your prayers? There is Good News today—this verse promises that He is attentive to the prayers of the righteous! If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and have asked Him to cleanse you of your past sins, then you are righteous by the blood of Jesus. God longs to show Himself strong on your behalf. Your prayers open the door for Him to move in your life. You can be sure that He is attentive and listening for your prayers. Keep standing, keep believing, and keep praying knowing that God is on your side. He hears you. He’s working behind the scenes and orchestrating things in your favor. Thank Him today for listening. Thank Him for making you righteous. As you stand in faith, you will see God move in your life. Don’t shrink back—move forward in confidence knowing that the eyes of the Lord are upon you, and He is attentive to your prayers!
A Prayer for Today
Heavenly Father, thank You for making me righteous. Thank You for making me clean and new. Thank You for hearing my prayers today. I cast my cares and burdens on You knowing that You are working in my life today. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
