It was Corrie Ten Boom who asked, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Continuing with the car metaphor, prayer is not only meant to steer us, it is the fuel that empowers us to go beyond with God.

Through the Beyond Initiative, God is calling us to pray like never before. Still, prayer can be one of those things we know is important but hard to understand.

Frequently asked questions include: What is prayer? Why do we pray? How do we pray? If you wrestle with any of these, we hope this brief piece on prayer will help you to pray beyond.

What is Prayer?

Prayer is not as complex as some fear it to be. God made it easy. Simply put, prayer occurs whenever we communicate with God. It can take many forms, both individually and with others. It may be silent, spoken, written or even occur through other creative forms of communication such as singing, artwork, movement, music, etc. Whatever form it may take, we pray to God whenever, and however, we communicate with him.

Why Do We Pray?

God Desires It

Ultimately, we cannot become like Jesus and join him on mission without prayer. God wants us to communicate with him continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17) instructing us in Ephesians 6:18 to “…pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests….” God says in the book of James that prayer is powerful and effective to accomplish his work (5:16) and that we often do not receive from God because we do not ask (4:2).

Jesus Models It

As our example, Jesus regularly emphasized the important role of prayer in his own life and ministry (Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 5:16; John 17).

Our Souls Depend On It

Ultimately, our soul’s need for God drives us to pray. The psalmist observes the soul’s deep need in Psalm 42:1 when he writes “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

Prayer quenches the soul’s thirst for intimacy with God. As our bodies need water, so our souls need prayer.

How Do We Pray?

There isn’t a prayer formula. Some hold back from praying because they do not believe they are “good at praying” or know “the right things to say.” God isn’t looking for formulas and flowery language, only your heart. The bottom line is that if you can communicate, you already know how to pray.

Just think about it! In Luke 18:16-17 Jesus says that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who receive it like a child. Children are not great verbal communicators. They just communicate. This is the only requirement for prayer.

From here, we can grow in our communication as we grow in our relationship with God. Meet God where you are. Like any close relationship, communication grows over time…and we have an eternity!

Ways to Pray: Practical Strategies

While there is not a prayer formula, there are some prayer strategies that have proven helpful for people. These include (but are not limited to) journaling, praying scripture, listening prayer, and following the A.C.T.S. acronym.

Journaling Your Prayers

For many, journaling their prayer is like writing a letter to God, allowing them to focus and express themselves in a deeper way.

Praying Through Scripture

In addition, praying scripture allows God to speak to us through his Word and for us to respond. For example, someone could select a short passage (for example “Be still and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10), tell God what that verse means to them and ask what it means to him.

Listening Prayer

Because our observations of prayer are only someone talking to God, it can be easy to think of prayer as a one-way conversation. But God wants to speak to you to! In Jeremiah 33:3 God says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” For God to speak to us, we need to be in a posture of listening.

This can mean simply quieting your mind from distractions and saying “God, I am listening, please speak to me.” It is in these spaces we often hear God more clearly. As with journaling, it can often be helpful to write down what God says to remember for later.

The A.C.T.S. Method

Finally, many use the A.C.T.S. acronym as a guide for their prayer time. A.C.T.S. stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Each step could be defined as follows.

• Adoration: We adore and praise God for who he is.
• Confession: We admit we fall short of God’s holiness, confess our sin, and ask his forgiveness.
• Thanksgiving: We thank God for who he is and what he’s done
• Supplication: This is a fancy word for “asking” as we share our requests with God

These are just a few of the literally hundreds of ways to pray that have been practiced and written about. Above all, the most important ingredient to a healthy prayer life is to just pray. Don’t get hung up on quality or sophistication, just communicate with God and listen to what he wants to say to you. As a parent delights to stoop down and communicate with their child, your Heavenly Father delights to meet you wherever you are, relate with you, and take you beyond.

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  AUTHOR CREDITS

This blog was written by the Mission Hills Church Care Ministry.