For non-Christians or new Christians, prayer can be a somewhat puzzling and confusing idea.  For new Christians, they learn that they need to pray, but they just do not know exactly what they are supposed to do.  Hopefully this article will ease your mind, because praying is not nearly as confusing or as hard as it sounds at first. 

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           Why do we need to pray?  Well, think of prayer as fuel for our souls.  Prayer is the basis of our relationship with God.  It is the way we communicate with Him.  Prayer is a deliberate and personal communication that allows our relationship with God to grow, and there are many reasons why we need prayer in our life more than we need anything else.  Prayer should be like breathing, it should become second nature to us and be done without us even thinking of the hows and the whys.   Prayer is a wonderful privilege and we should see it as such!  

           

           God truly wants us to talk to Him, so He made a way for that to be possible.  In fact, he tells us to pray.  Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) reads, "6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  Yes, praying to God will give us peace and quieten our worrying thoughts.  The key is to spend time with God.  All God wants is a relationship with us.  And how do relationships come about and grow?  By communicating.   Remember that communicating is a two-way street.  We need to talk to God, but we also need to listen to God.  

         

            God wants us to tell Him about our day, what things bother us, what things we are excited about.  He wants to know when we are hurting, and He wants to be our strength when we feel like we do not have the strength on our own to get through our problems.  We need to go to God with specific requests, and He will give us specific answers.  An un-prayed prayer will never be answered, so we should pray about everything, even if it seems too small.  James 4:2 (TLB) reads, "...the reason you do not have what you want is that you do not ask God for it."  Of course, God's answers to our prayers may not always be what we want to hear or what we are expecting.  His answer to some petitions may be a flat "no".  Sometimes we may think we are not getting an answer at all, but then when we look back later, we are shown that His answer was not exactly what we were expecting, but maybe it was even better than what we were expecting.  Sometimes we want an answer now, today, or even yesterday, but God may have other plans, but he does hear us.  1 John 5:14-15 tell us that we can be sure that if we ask for things that are in accordance with His will, He will hear us!

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            Prayer will help us defeat the enemy, give us strength to bear up under pressure and problems, and help keep us from sinning.  Prayer will save the sinner, restore a Christian who feels defeated, and help us accomplish things we felt were impossible.  God says we can pray for salvation, wisdom, healing, blessings, hope, courage, forgiveness, and thankfulness.  We can pray to glorify God, or have God reveal His will to us.  We can pray for our families, our neighbors, our churches, our community, our country, and our country's leaders.

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            Prayer is based on love: our love for God, but especially His love for us.  

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            If you are new to praying, and want to try it, below are some things you can do to help you grow in your relationship and time with God.

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            1.  Pick a time and place.  Of course, you can pray anywhere and anytime you want to; however, it is best to have a particular place, a quiet place, where you can be alone and away from distractions to meet with the Lord.  If you have children, it may be better to wait until after all of the evening chores, baths, homework, etc., are finished, and the children have gone to bed.  Turn your TV and phone off so you can focus on praying.  Remember you can still spontaneously pray at other times and places, but this place will be your special prayer spot and time.   Try not to let anything come before this special time spent with your Lord in prayer.  As long as you make time for Him, he will be there!

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            2.  Read a verse from the Bible.  It can be anything.  Just go to the New Testament, point to an area, and read a verse or passage.  Think on what you just read.  This will put you in a mind of reverence and worship.

 

            3.  Start talking to God.  Remember that prayer is just having a conversation with God.  Talk.  Listen.  Pray about anything and everything you have a desire to pray about.  Nothing is too big and nothing is too small to pray about to God, nothing at all!  Be completely honest with God about your feelings--He knows anyway!  If you feel uncomfortable praying, then pray about that!  If you doubt that prayer really makes a difference, pray anyway!  If you are tired, sick, overwhelmed, overworked, underpaid, and have burdens, then pray!  If you are happy and life seems perfect, pray anyway!  Do you have friends or family that have special needs? Then pray for them!  Pray for whatever and whomever you want.  The bottom line is PRAY!  And pray sincerely from your heart.

 

             4.  Then also remember to LISTEN.  Like we said earlier, prayer is communicating with God.  When we communicate with someone, we talk and we listen.  Talking with God is no different.  He wants a chance to talk to us, too. Listen so you do not miss what He has to say to you!

 

              Once you start having a special time of prayer with God, you will WANT to pray and glorify and worship Him.  You will see and feel the benefits of praying to a loving God.  You will want to thank God for his answers to prayers and His blessings to you.  Prayer is what brings us to the throne of God.  Prayer will give you power and strength to defeat Satan and his attacks.  Prayer is the lifeline that will save you from drowning.  Prayer is what allows God's presence and love to flow through us.  Yes, we will still have problems, sins, burdens, and crises--always!  We will never be perfect, but we can have a perfect peace that comes from having a relationship with a loving, sovereign, all-powerful God.

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