If you are a lukewarm Christian, then you don’t think that praying is difficult and it’s not necessary to do it multiple times throughout your day; this is the wrong way of thinking!!! When you pray you are literally talking to God! How cool is that! Why wouldn’t you want to do it multiple times during the day? Praying is not easy in the sense that you can ask God for whatever you want and He’ll give it to you. There is a certain pattern we can follow, and that is what I am here to tell you about!
“Do not make prayer a monologue…make it a conversation.”
- Author unknown
Prayer seems like a simple thing, but Jesus gives us a pattern to follow when He prays the Lord’s prayer. I am going to give you the NIV version of the Lord’s prayer, but there are different translations that may be more familiar.
“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11:2-4
In order to pray like Jesus, there are 5 steps for us to follow:
follow His pattern for prayer!
prayer starts with a relational connection → “Our Father”
surrender!
bless and praise His name → “hallowed be your name”
make your request!
ask God for what you NEED → “give us each day our daily bread” (manna from Heaven)
ask for forgiveness → “forgive us our sins”
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” Psalm 66:18
ask for direction → “lead us not into temptation”
be persistent in your prayer!
be loud and shameless before God
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.’” Luke 11:5-9
claim God’s promise!
let God’s plan unfold
“For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:10-13
trust that God will do the best thing - the Holy Spirit is God’s greatest gift! He is giving His presence to you!
When we pray, we should not be expecting God to give us many gifts and blessings. We should pray to God in order to have a conversation with Him and praise Him. If God decides to bless us, then we should accept that blessing with open arms, and thank Him for it! Prayer is vital to a healthy relationship with God, and we should partake in it multiple times each day! I pray that everyone begins to strengthen their prayer life with God and build their relationship with Him!
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
brb, praying now!
yay!!! this really spoke to me - prayer is something i tend to get overwhelmed by & struggle with in my faith walk. 😆💒🧘♀️ i have memorized the Lord’s Prayer, but i always need to remind myself that it truly means something: relationship in talking to God, not religion in just chanting it out loud. best friend, this ate!!! i loved reading this 1st thing in the morning, so i can try to practice it throughout my day. love you big time soul sister 😚😚