Be of Service
Prayer
How to Pray
Now that we understand we need to be walking with God and in His Word in order to be heard, let’s look at how we should be praying. The goal is to be praying in the Holy Spirit. At first, you may not be filled with the Holy Spirit and have not yet overcome your worldly desires. This is the time to pray for God’s help in cleansing you of your sin. See the next section on what to pray for to get more info on that.
Pray in the Spirit
Ephesians 6:18
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Paul explains we need to be in praying in the Spirit. This gives us the connection to the Father.
Pray in the Word
John 15:7
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John tells us that it is through His Word that this works. God will fill you with the Spirit and hear your prayers if you remain in the Word. That means we not only read it, but desire to know and understand it and know God opens it up to us spiritually by our being in it regularly. The more you read it, the more you’ll love it.
Pray in Faith
Mark 11:24
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
1 John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
God wants you to pray with the faith that what you are praying for will be done as though it already was done. As far as God’s concerned, it is. God is outside of time and whatever you’re going to pray for, to God it is already answered, as long as it fits the above criteria. We should think that way too. This is the Faith Jesus talk about in the parable of the mustard seed.
Philippians 4:6
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Paul explains that we should live our lives without worry, knowing God has our backs. We are to live it in prayer with thanksgiving, knowing God will answer them. Giving thanks for God answering a prayer He hasn’t yet answered is faith, knowing that He will.
Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Paul emphasizes that faith is required. If you are not believing God will answer you, then He won’t. God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. The Word is again the key to that.
James 1:6-7
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Matthew 21:22
22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matthew 7:7
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
These are just a few more scriptures to help emphasize the importance of faith to God.
Pray Persistently
Another key to success in prayer is persistence. God wants to see that we mean it and are not going to give up.
Daniel 6:10
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Daniel got down on his knees three times a day. He was persistent. In fact, in Daniel 10:12 we see he was in mourning and prayer for 21 days before the angel was able to get to him to bring an answer to his prayer. He had to be persistent to get the answer and he was!
Luke 18:1
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
17 pray continually,
Colossians 4:2
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
1 Chronicles 16:11
11 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
All of these emphasize that Good wants us to mean what we pray for and not take it lightly. The more important it is to us, the more effort we will put into the prayer and the more likely God will respond.
Pray Intimately
Matthew 6:5
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Do not pray so that other see you doing so and will be impressed. Pray not for the sake of others but to be in intimate communion with God. Go off in private most oof the time. Pray together with other believers at home, or in a church setting, or when out evangelizing.
Luke 6:12
12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Jesus prayed all night. He is God in the flesh. He needed and wanted to have the connection to God the Father and prayer was His way of doing that.
The point is God wants to see us understanding the spiritual connection to Him and using that for the benefit if His kingdom, meaning for others, not for selfish gains. It’s okay to pray for things you desire for yourself if they bring glory to God. If not, don’t bother.
God wants to see that you believe in Him, that He will act to answer your prayers and that those prayers are for the benefit of others. If so, He will indeed answer them in His way and His timing. Don’t expect it to be in the way you want or the timeframe you desire. When He answers it will be for the better outcome in the long run.
