It's Wednesday night. I’m sitting in a circle with my church family, taking it all in. I feel the words forming in my heart but I stumble to bring them to life. I’ve never been good at it; I’ve always felt awkward and avoided it because I felt like I was doing it wrong. Prayer. If you're relating to me on any level, you probably don't know where to start. I’ve compiled a few resources below to help you feel more confident and strengthening your time in prayer.
Start by looking at Matthew 5:9-13; these verses direct us how to pray.
Our Father in heaven... “Our father” shows reverence. A father should be someone you respect, love, and obey.
Hallowed be your name....
He is holy. Prayer time is a holy time. Minimize distractions and focus on feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit and thanking God for who He is.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven...
We are called to pray for the continued ministry of God’s kingdom. We need to continually ask for the will of God to show itself in our hearts and in the lives of others.
Give us this day our daily bread....
Ask God to provide for your specific needs or concerns.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors...
When we ask for forgiveness as a believer, we are forgiven. This verse points us to not allow the guarantee of forgiveness to go to our head and allow us to neglect our heart health. Contrary to human nature, we need to pray to have a heart that continually forgives others, even if we haven’t received an apology. We are called to forgive as Christ forgave us, with no limit on the amount of times we forgive.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...
Pray for strength to avoid triggers of sin and for protection against evil.
The Bible tells us to “go into our room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matthew 5:6). The idea behind this verse is to not pray to be seen or to receive praise. Check your ego at the door, because praying with your church group is not what this verse is hinting at. I have found it beneficial to hear others pray and take some tactics from my church family into my own prayer time.
As a writer, I have always found it helpful to write things out. Whether it's my feelings or if I’m trying to make a decision, seeing words on paper has always helped me focus and process. For many, prayer journals are the same. The neat thing about a prayer journal is that once you pray for something, you can always open your journal at a later date, and whether a specific prayer was answered in the way you wanted or you were redirected, you can always look back and see the faithfulness of God. Now, go forward and pray in confidence!
Cover Photo By Eduardo Dutra
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