Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you
We are in the age of instant communication. Most of us don’t go a full 10 minutes without communicating with someone. Whether it is face-to-face, e-mail, phone call, text message, or social media we are constantly talking to people. God wants you to do the same with him; to treat him as a friend, and as a part of your life. Prayer can seem very intimidating, but it's not. Prayer is all about building a relationship with the Lord. If you don’t talk to him, you will never get to know Him. The Bible tells us to pray all the time- pray without ceasing. What is that all about? When you spend time with your friends, you may not always be talking, sometimes you are listening, and sometimes you are just quietly enjoying their company. Sometimes we need to speak, sometimes listen, and sometimes we just need to be still in God’s presence and enjoy his company. In his book, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says,
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
1 John 3:22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you
We are in the age of instant communication. Most of us don’t go a full 10 minutes without communicating with someone. Whether it is face-to-face, e-mail, phone call, text message, or social media we are constantly talking to people. God wants you to do the same with him; to treat him as a friend, and as a part of your life. Prayer can seem very intimidating, but it's not. Prayer is all about building a relationship with the Lord. If you don’t talk to him, you will never get to know Him. The Bible tells us to pray all the time- pray without ceasing. What is that all about? When you spend time with your friends, you may not always be talking, sometimes you are listening, and sometimes you are just quietly enjoying their company. Sometimes we need to speak, sometimes listen, and sometimes we just need to be still in God’s presence and enjoy his company. In his book, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says,
"Prayer is a two-way fellowship and communication with God. You speak to God, and He speaks to you. Prayer is not a one-way conversation in which you merely list everything you want God to do. Your personal prayer life may primarily be one-way communication --you talking to God-- but prayer is more than that. Prayer includes listening. In fact, what God says in prayer is far more important than what you say. God already knows what you are going to say. You, however, do not know what God is thinking. Prayer is a relationship, not just a religious activity. It's purpose is to adjust you to God, not to align God with your thinking. God doesn't need your prayers, but he wants you to pray because of what God wants to do in and through your life as you pray. God speaks to His people by the Holy Spirit through prayer."
When you pray, do you expect God to actually answer you? Sometimes we treat God like He is Santa Clause. We make our wish lists and present them to Him, then go about our day. We may stop when we hit a rough patch and ask for His help, or say a prayer over our food at meal times. But then we go about trying to solve our problems and fix things. How often do you pray, then stop and listen and look for God's answer? We wonder why we never hear from God and we never seem to get any answers to our prayers. First, you have to develop a relationship and learn to know God's character, and His voice. He speaks to us through His Word, circumstances, and our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we develop our relationship with the Lord and we love Him with all our hearts and minds, then we begin to move our lives into His will. Our prayers change from "God what can you do for me" to "God, what do I need to be doing to join you."
James 4:2-3 Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
There is no formula, no specific words that need to be said or a special position. It is the state of your heart that matters to God. Are you talking to Him out of a selfish desire to get your own way, or are you talking to Him because you love Him and want His will to be done in your life?
My prayers often take the form of singing our journaling. When I come to a Bible passage that stands out I write it down, when I have needs, hurts, or worries I write them down. I write song lyrics and the things that are on my heart. During the day I try to always have my conversation with God going on in the back of my mind. The line is always open, I want to be ready to hear from Him at all times. It doesn't matter how you pray, just start. For some great inspiration, check out the book of Psalms. It is an entire book of songs and prayers covering practically every topic.
James 4:2-3 Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
There is no formula, no specific words that need to be said or a special position. It is the state of your heart that matters to God. Are you talking to Him out of a selfish desire to get your own way, or are you talking to Him because you love Him and want His will to be done in your life?
My prayers often take the form of singing our journaling. When I come to a Bible passage that stands out I write it down, when I have needs, hurts, or worries I write them down. I write song lyrics and the things that are on my heart. During the day I try to always have my conversation with God going on in the back of my mind. The line is always open, I want to be ready to hear from Him at all times. It doesn't matter how you pray, just start. For some great inspiration, check out the book of Psalms. It is an entire book of songs and prayers covering practically every topic.