Prayer is an essential part of living a sold-out life to Jesus! It is more than just listing our needs and wants to God. He does care about those, but prayer is so much more. Our prayer life is crucial because it is how we communicate with God!
Simply put, prayer is having a conversation, which may have different purposes throughout our life. Still, it is needed to develop a healthy relationship with our Heavenly Father.
If you want to start a relationship with someone, what’s the first step?
Hang out and talk—It is how we learn more about them and ourselves.
The same principles apply to our prayer life with God. The best thing to do is to set aside time to hang out and talk with Him. The more conversations you have with God, the more you build your relationship with Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:17—Pray constantly.
Prayer is personal, a one-on-one connection with God, our Heavenly Father.
Here are four steps to help you activate your prayer life.
- Be intentional with your prayer time.
Schedule some time to be with God—and don’t miss it! After all, God is worthy of our attention and our focus. If you need to, put it into your calendar as a standing appointment or even a reminder on your phone.
- Pray according to Scripture.
If you are just starting out, Jesus gave us a great example of how to pray in the Bible. Luke 11:2-4—He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say, Father, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.”
We glorify God—“Father, your name be honored as holy.”
We request His Will in all things—Your Kingdom come.”
We rely on Him for our needs—“Give us each day our daily bread.”
We ask forgiveness of our sins—“And forgive us our sins.”
We ask for His direction—“And do not bring us into temptation.”
- Give God Time to Speak.
Remember, it’s a relationship. What good is it if you dominate the conversation and don’t leave room for God to speak? Make sure you are leaving time to be still, listen and wait on the Lord. Shut down all the noise of the world and focus entirely on God.
- Pray in All Situations.
We can’t just rely on prayer when life is challenging—It must be an intricate part of our daily lives. We should pray because we desire God sincerely. When the various situations of life come up, we know that we are safe in the Father’s hand because we have established a strong line of communication with Him. We must pray during the challenging times and the times of joy; God deserves the praise for everything—after all, the Bible says in James 1:17—Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Jesus himself prayed before he was crucified and while on the cross. He prayed in all circumstances, and so should we!
Remember, prayer isn’t a task on your to-do list but an intimate experience for you and God. There is no perfect way to pray, so don’t get caught up in the idea of a perfect prayer and that God needs your perfection—it is because of our imperfections that we need God.
Jeremiah 29:12—You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
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