HOW DO WE PRAY?

By Jada Edwards

Prayer is simply communicating and connecting with God, but how do we do it?

We pray with the help of the Holy Spirit, in faith and with confidence, even when we don’t know what to pray for (see Romans 8:26).

Jesus provides us with a blueprint for prayer in Matthew 6, in which he answered the very same question asked by the disciples.  

This is a personal relationship – God is our Father, and in calling Him “Our Father” we are acknowledging not only his protection, covering, authority and headship in our lives, but also confirms our belonging in the family of Christ.

We know where God resides.  He is a personal, active, living God, completely surrounding us, yet somewhere specific.  “In heaven” and not of this earth provides us with both perspective and wonder.  When we earnestly contemplate that Our Father is in heaven, we can appreciate the beauty of wonder that exists in our everyday lives.

Bless, magnify and acknowledge the goodness of God.

Stop and ask God “Your kingdom, Your will needs to be established – what is my role in that?” – this is a request – this is the time we ask God for alignment with His will. 

We know God’s will when we know God’s word – pray His will back to Him from His word when you don’t know what to pray. 

This is the time when we ask God for what we need. Our God is the provider of all we require – of even the day to day needs that we don’t think about much.  

We are forgiven in direct proportion to the forgiveness we give others.  A biblical understanding of grace says that you can’t ask God for more forgiveness than you are willing to give to others.  

Ask God to keep us from the things that will derail and distract us, because there are times that we can’t say no to ourselves.  While temptation is sometimes external driven, there are times when temptation originates from the enemy within, and asking God to “lead us not” keeps temptation from us when we might not say no.