What Is Prayer?
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It’s the act of asking God to do what he has already promised as modeled throughout Scripture. Prayer shouldn’t be viewed as just an action Christians do out of duty. It is a habit of grace we develop as followers of Jesus. Prayer is designed to help us grow in our intimate relationship with God. Prayer helps us to recalibrate our hearts in a Godward direction. When we pray we are having a conservation with God where we voice why we adore God, what we’re thankful for, and what we want to share about what’s going on in our lives– the good, the bad, the ugly, the difficult, and everything in between. In prayer, we express to our caring Father in Heaven what we wish for Him to accomplish in our lives, in the lives of others, and the world.
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Prayer ultimately glorifies God because it is us vertically communicating with God. The act in itself exalts and magnifies God. How? By recognizing there is a greater power and authority that sustains all of the scope of creation yet is deeply, personally involved with every single detail of our lives. So if we want answers and change to take place, whatever that may be, we must pray. Prayer results in transformation because God is powerful in bringing about change and answering His people’s requests in accordance to His will.
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A common misconception about prayer is that if God has absolute power and authority over everything in order to accomplish whatever He desires, why pray? After all, if He knows what’s going to happen in the future and will do whatever He wants to anyway, does prayer really matter? One thing to understand as Christians is that while God already knows what will happen in the future, He has revealed the means by which He will carry out and accomplish His will in the future. In other words, God’s determination to act as well as the prayers of His people brings about the result God intends according to His purposes.
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Yes, prayer changes things. The Lord is pleased to make use of us to carry out His good will and purposes. This should not be misunderstood that our prayers change God’s character or mind (Malachi 3:6). Yet it must be recognized that prayer changes us as we engage in conversation with God.
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Your heart will be more prone to temptation around you when you are in a habitual pattern of prayerlessness. Prayer is considered to be a part of the Christian’s spiritual armor to protect yourself against spiritual attacks (Eph 6:10-12). Our lack of prayerfulness ultimately reveals a lack of dependence on God. It reveals who and what we are trusting instead of God. Developing the habit of prayer in the Christian life weens us from our self-sufficiency and towards a greater dependence on God. Prayer is a pathway of grace for you to experience a joyous and robust faith in God no matter what circumstance you may find yourself in life.
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Prayer is an act of obedience. There are numerous times when prayer is commanded. That should encourage us because when we pray even when we don’t have an “on fire for God” feeling to do so, God is pleased by our obedience. Know that when you are persevering in prayer you are practically demonstrating your trust in God’s character. You are striving to place your faith in God and hope in Him instead of seeing life through the lens of circumstances or assumptions of what is considered the good life. We’re reminded again and again that we worship and confidently hope in a big God bigger than our situations but gladly seek our God through our life situations when we come before Him in prayer.
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Keeping in mind God’s absolute power and might at work through the Holy Spirit, we can be confident God is at work through our imperfect prayers (Romans 8:26). God can and will work through structured prayers, even when it doesn’t feel like our heart is totally into it. God can and will also work through extemporaneous, unplanned moments of prayer.
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A great place to start is to let the words of Scripture inform and shape your prayers. To this end, the Book of Psalms is a gold mine. You may start reading and speaking the words of a specific psalm as your prayer. As you meditate on the words of the psalm, you may notice the specific emotions the Psalmist is conveying when talking to God. You’ll see he has needs and desires just like all of us. There’s a specific background story or situation that prompts the psalmist to pray that way. As you give thought to the words being spoken, whatever comes to mind is something you can pray about.
An example can be applied to Psalm 107. Just in the first verse, you read:
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.”
A reflection that prompts prayer might be:
“Is there anything specific that comes to mind that I am thankful for today or this week? How has God been good to me recently?”
You’ll then be informed on what to pray about, an example being:
“Thank you, God, for giving me the strength to get through what was a pretty rough day at work or dealing with my kids. You’ve been good in helping me grow in patience with my coworkers this past week. I’ve also been able to practice forgiveness and reconciliation with someone I’ve had unsettled drama with last month.”
If nothing else comes to mind, you may continue reading and reflecting on other verses in the Psalms and continue to pray about things that come to mind. But if nothing comes to mind to pray as you read a given passage of Scripture, it is okay to move on as you go about reading and meditating on Scripture. If certain verses don’t prompt you to think about anything to pray about, don’t feel you need to be stuck to the point where you shouldn’t move on.
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Follow a simple acrostic as a guide to prayer: A.C.T.S. Each letter stands for an element of prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication. This acrostic is derived from the overall flow and priorities demonstrated through the Lord’s Prayer.
Adoration is essentially praising God for His character and attributes as well as how you have experienced that in your life.
Confession has to do with acknowledging and specifically calling out areas or moments we have known and recognized sin in our lives. It’s an opportunity to seek forgiveness, knowing God graciously forgives as demonstrated through redeeming us through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.
Thanksgiving is expressing and recognizing from a heart of gratitude the ways God has done good for us and has been faithful in our lives. We remember and acknowledge God’s grace and mercy shown toward us in our daily lives.
Supplication is petitioning to God whereby we bring our requests for the needs of others and ourselves to God.
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FREE VIDEO COURSES
Teach Us to Pray Series - R.C. Sproul
Teaching Children Prayer Through Song
Desiring God Resources on Prayer
Prayer and the Psalms Devotional
BOOKS
The Lord’s Prayer - Kevin DeYoung
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God - Timothy Keller
Prayer (9Marks) - John Onwuchekwa
The Prayer of the Lord - R.C. Sproul
Praying the Bible - Donald S. Whitney
Every Moment Holy (A Collection of Prayers/Liturgies for Every Moment in Life)
GUIDES & TOOLS
What is Prayer? - New City Catechism
30 Days Praying Life Companion Guide (Prayer Card System)
– Using Scripture to Pray on Various Topics
BLOG ARTICLES
Why Pray
Do You Want Something From God or Do You Want God?
Moving towards Dependency on God:
The Subtle Sin of Prayerlessness
Natural Ability or Needy Before God?
Learning How to Pray
Prayer Misconceptions