How to Pray
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Luke 11:1-13
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
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God-Centered Prayer by Dr. Derek W.H. Thomas
It is easy to be critical of prayer, particularly the prayers of others. Robert Murray McCheyne’s words are often cited because they remain painfully true: “You wish to humble a man? Ask him about his prayer life.”Our prayers reveal much about us. Prayers with little or no worship and focusing on our needs (usually health) reveal a distorted, Adamic bent. What they reveal is self-centeredness, what Martin Luther labeled homo in se incurvatus: “man curved in on himself.” Listen to prayers at the church prayer meeting (if one still exists). You will discover that the majority of prayers are “organ recitals”—prayers for someone’s liver, kidney, or heart. Not that we shouldn’t pray for medical issues, but a preoccupation with health is itself a reflection of how little we understand why it is we desire good health. We desire it so that the person we are praying for lives for Jesus Christ.
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How To Pray — A Simple Prayer Structure by Jen Merckling
Jen Merckling My prayer life has gone through ebbs and flows over the years. Somewhere along the way, someone shared a simple outline for personal prayer with me called ACTS. And while there’s no one right way to pray—I’ve found this strategy really helpful. My hope is that if you want to learn how to pray, or if you’re seeking to grow in your prayer life, learning ACTS for personal prayer will bless you!
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21 Things to Pray For: Tips for a Better Prayer Life in 2021 by Ross McCall
Do you ever find yourself struggling to know what to pray for? You want to make prayer part of your daily routine, but you feel like you are repeating yourself. You want to freshen things up.You are not alone. For many Christians, prayer can sometimes feel dry or stale. Prayer is talking with someone who loves you deeply and knows you intimately, so it might be hard to admit or deal with when the conversation has seemed to dry up. Part of the problem can also be the temptation to see prayer as talking to God rather than talking with Him.
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Learning how to pray like Jesus, by Heidi Charalambous
Praying never came easy for me.At first, I worried I wasn’t doing it right. I’d get so concerned with how I was praying, I’d lose track of what I was saying.
Even after I realized prayer is a conversation not a performance, I still wrestled with what to do. I would bow my head and wait for the words to come. Eyes closed, I had good intentions of talking to God, but instead, I often ended up making grocery lists and writing emails in my mind.
To many of us, the idea of talking to God can feel too spiritual, too significant to be entrusted to a regular person. But the more I read the Bible and learned about prayer, the more I realized that’s exactly who prayer is for.
