How do we Pray?

How do we Pray?


Jesus gave us simple instructions on prayer: 


(Matthew 7:7-8). “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Repent any of your iniquities; we must be watchful of our thoughts, our deeds and actions. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.


(James 5:16-18) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. 


The Lord’s Prayer (Lk. 11:1-8): Give honor, glory and praise to our Heavenly Father because He is omnipotent; He is holy; He is everlasting; He is merciful; He is Love. Thank him for all our blessings; opportunities; favors and positive changes in your life. Repent and ask for grace and mercy and direction; pray for protection against others and yourself. Obey God …and ask to be instilled with the light of the Holy Spirit to embrace and understand His word. Request our prayers and supplications; do not be superficial, passive or automated, but genuinely express from your heart what you want or what concerns you! Extend all glory, honor and praise to our Lord for He is worthy!!!! Give thanks again to God again for making him known to us. Closing our prayers, “In the Name of Jesus” the only reason God would grant your requests is that you come in Jesus name (the Sacrificial Lamb). 


The Difficulties to Pray 


We need to be consistently walking in the Spirit -- dependent and yielding. But sometimes, we impose difficulties upon ourselves when we pray and then it can be a challenge to approach God in prayer. We must not make excuses that we don't know what or how to pray. We have a Helper. We underestimate the enemy and consequently do not connect into God's mighty power as needed. "Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Pet. 5:8-9) 


We know prayer is important and that it should be a priority…Our prayers should not involve conditioning factors: 


The Justification Factor
• When life’s okay, we may tend to pray less; 
• When situations arise, we tend to panic; lose sense of direction or emotions dull our sense to pray. 
• Obligations - going to work/school; traditional family needs. 
• Excuses: too tired, too busy, world’s priorities…and our reasoning is...”God understands!” 

God understands more than we realize…Put God First!

The Emotion/Pain Factor 
• Struggles - Sometimes, it’s just too hard to express the words.  We’re not sure if we are praying for the right purpose or we’re consumed by the hurt, the worry, the pain that’s too unbearable. There are no words to express our wants, our needs; our helplessness.  
• Struggles - Physical, mental or emotion – although our heart is yearning, we may feel or  incapable;  

• Struggles - Guilt in our heart – We may be filled with shame; or that God will not want to be a part of our lives. Do not let this separate you from God, it is not his doing but yours…Ask for forgiveness, his mercy and strength… Ask God to renew your heart. As said before, God Loves You! He will not turn you away, come to him! 


We underestimate the role of the Spirit in helping us pray. (Rom. 8:26-27) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.


The Trust Factor
• Lack of diligence - We underestimate the work involved in praying; make a commitment. 
• Overestimate our own ability to deal with life. We feel that we can fix it ourselves. 
• Lack of faith - What is our expectation in prayer? Do you believe that He will answer your prayer? How strong is our faith?
• Do we wait for God’s answer or do we ask God to give us strength to endure or empower us to take this request into fruition? 

Negative factors (lack of faith, time and priority) are not of the Lord, they are aimed at deterring you from God’s grace, mercy and blessings. We need to take control of our lives by putting on the armor of God (Eph 6:10-17). Be strong—not in yourselves but in the boundless strength of the Lord. Our fight is not against the physical enemy, but in the spiritual realm. Our resource is to abide in God. In life there will be hardship; but there will also be rewards in our Heavenly Father! God will not leave you nor forsake you. There are many testimonies of God’s unyielding love. 

(Prov. 3:5-6) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Trust God! We need to be abiding in Him, letting Him have control -- humble and trusting. 

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through out all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" —Ephesians 3:14-21.