How To Pray

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. In this devotional, I want to focus on the “pray continually” part. What does that look like in our lives? Why should we pray, and how? 

• Who should pray?

Everyone. I mean that. Prayer is for all of us, no matter our faith background or lack thereof. No matter where we are in our faith, God wants to meet us in that place through prayer.

• What is prayer? 

Prayer is our means of communication with God. Unlike most religions, we have 24/7 access to God, no matter where we are physically or spiritually. It’s important to remember that prayer is not one way, it is two ways. When we pray we are building a relationship with God, not using him like a vending machine. Don’t misunderstand me, God loves to hear our requests, but imagine if you had a friend who only talked to you when they wanted something. That wouldn’t be much of a relationship. Prayer isn’t just asking stuff of God, it’s getting to know him, telling him about your life, and listening too!

• When or where do we pray?

If you are trying to grow your relationship with God, start small. Don’t try to pray for a really long time at once; start with small chunks of time and be consistent. Also, remember that prayer doesn’t have to be on your knees in your bedroom. Imagine if you had a friend that you only talked to at one time in the day; your friendship wouldn’t get far. Some places you can pray include while walking/driving to school, in between classes, during a test, and right before a meal. Although, you can pray anywhere at any time, and God will still listen.

• Why do we pray?

The simple answer to this question is to build a relationship with God. I’m sure you’ve all heard people talk about spiritual callings, or at least use that language, and those things are great. But they're not our primary calling. Jesus summarizes the scriptures like this “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37, NIV). So what’s our primary calling? To love the Lord our God! And the best way to learn to love someone is to get to know them! 

Have you ever heard people say “you are the average of your 6 closest friends”? While this is not strictly true, it is true that we are influenced by the people we spend time with. If we are striving to become better Christians, we should spend more time with God. Why? Because the more time we spend with him, the more like him we will become.

• How do I pray?

Now, I don’t pretend to know everything about prayer, but I have picked up a lot of different strategies for praying, and I’m going to give you a brief overview of them below. None of these strategies are better than the others. How well they work depends on the person; just like different friend groups do different things when they hang out. 

• ATSP or ACTS

  • ATSP: Amazing God, Thank you, Sorry, Please

  • ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication

  • Pros: Reminds us of all the parts of prayer rather than just asking God for stuff, great if you don’t know where to start.

  • Cons: Can feel scripted, like you have to tick boxes; rather than a relationship.

• Prayer Journal

  • Writing your prayers down in a journal.

  • Pros: Tracks prayers, seeing prayers get answered is amazing.

  • Cons: Can feel like a chore.

• Praying From Scripture (You Who Do To Through)

  • Reading a passage of scripture and then following the prompts to pray through it.

    • You: address God.

    • Who: something God does/is in the passage.

    • Do: Something you want God to do based on the scripture.

    • To: What will be accomplished by the request.

    • Through: Jesus Christ our Lord.

  • Pros: Applies scripture to lives, reflecting on a passage.

  • Cons: Takes longer amounts of time.

• Prayer Cards

  • Make q-cards for each person/part of your life. Include a bible verse and prayer points about the person/situation

  • Pros: helps us to stick to praying for people, reminds us to check in with people

  • Cons: can take a while to make cards.

• Prayer Walks

  • Walking outside in nature.

  • Pros: get you outside into God’s creation.

  • Cons: Not always possible. Rain :(

• Silence

  • Sit in silence for a set amount of time, have one related word (e.g. peace) to bring you back if your mind wanders. 

  • Pros: Reminds us of God’s presence, avoids distractions.

  • Cons: takes a lot of practice.