By : G. John Thimothy
Many people pray, some people even pray everyday. We may even say little prayers all during the day, but are we praying the right way? Are our prayers being answered? Are we even praying to the right person in the first place? There are many different ways to pray, and then there is the way Jesus Christ prayed. It worked for Him, He got results. So let’s take a look at His example on how to pray and hopefully we can improve the way we pray.
I’d like to cover two things we need before we learn how to pray.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Without faith it is impossible to please our Father. God will hear your prayers but He might not answer them. Now don’t get down on yourself if you feel your faith is not the greatest. We all don’t have the faith of Abraham but if you believe what this verse says, you have faith. How do we diligently seek Him? We do that by studying His word, the Bible. Think of the Bible as our instruction manual for our life. We have questions? His word has the answers.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
Step two in our quest for a better prayer life. You had better believe that Christ was the only begotten Son of God. Also you need to have faith in His works and believe that He is with our Father now in heaven. A good way to show God that you believe in Christ is to ask for things in His name. We’ll get to what we should be asking for a bit later.
Matthew 6:5-15
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
When you pray to God don’t be like the hypocrites, which are play actors. They like to be seen praying to God in the church or out in the open, it makes them feel very ‘religious’. Christianity is a reality not a religion. I’m not saying you should stop going to church. The prayer we are talking about here is a personal need that you are asking God for.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
When you pray to our Father, go somewhere private so you can be alone with God. Then He will bless you openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Don’t get into the habit of saying the same thing over and over. God made us all unique and wants our love. If He wanted robots just to repeat the same thing again and again, He would have made them. He is our Father and loves us very much. Talk to Him, tell Him you love Him and thank Him for the blessings you do have. You don’t have a lot of competition these days.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Our Father created us so He already knows what we need before we ask Him. So you don’t have to keep asking over and over. This leaves you more time to tell Him that you love Him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father Which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
This prayer is the example Christ gave us. This does not mean to repeat this prayer over and over. If we do, then we have become like the hypocrites. We would be acting like a robot just repeating what we think He wants to hear. He is our Father, just talk to Him. A few things to keep in mind though when you do. Hallowed means to make Holy. Yes He is our Father but He is also still God, don’t forget that. Notice also that the first three petitions are with respect to God, the next four are for us. We should always put God first in our prayers.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
As it is written in John 6:35 Jesus is the bread of life. This is not a prayer for food, it is for something more important than that. It is asking Jesus to come into your life. Try it, He can do wonders!
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
We must forgive those that have sinned against us if we want to be forgiven.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Ask our Father to help us not to be led astray by Satan’s temptations. God is the Father of all of us and loves us very much, but hates our sins. He also has the power to deliver us from Satan’s grip on our life’s, we just need to ask for His help.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We need to forgive those that have sinned against us before God will forgive us. Just because we forgive someone that has sinned against us, it does not mean they are forgiven and ‘off the hook’ with God. Our Father keeps very good records and everyone will get what they have earned. If you are a victim and our legal system has failed you, don’t avenge yourself, take your problem to God. When He says it’s time, He will take care of it.
Romans 12:19
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
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