How Do I Pray

When you think about prayer, what comes to mind? Is it something super serious or grandiose? But what if I told you that prayer doesn’t have to be complicated or grandiose at all? Prayer is simply a conversation with God--a way for us to invite him into the details and circumstances of our everyday lives! The problem is that we can get psyched out and hesitant to enter the conversation due to some pretty common misconceptions. Misconception #1: “You Can’t Talk to Him about That!” God is really awesome and important, but also, he wants to live in an intimate relationship with you. Misconception #2: “You need to have it all together before God can hear you!” Because of Jesus and his death on the cross for ALL of our sins, we no longer have to have it all together in order to have conversations with God. Through Jesus, we get to go right into God’s presence. Misconception #3: “You have to be careful what you say and how you say it, or God might get angry with you!” This is simply not true! Pretending to have the right attitude or approach is nullified when we consider that he already knows our every thought and feeling. Misconception #4: “There’s one right formula for how to pray!” In the same way that God created each of us uniquely and individually, he wants to connect with us uniquely and individually through prayer. The bottom line is this: prayer is an essential part of living in God’s kingdom. It is how we grow in the intimate relationship with Him that we were created for! Try it – set aside some time, create a quiet place, talk to God, and listen for his response. All He wants is you! Matthew 6:30-32 TPT - So if God has clothed the meadow with hay, which is here for such a short time and then dried up and burned, won’t he provide for you the clothes you need—even though you live with such little faith? “So then, forsake your worries! Why would you say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For that is what the unbelievers chase after. Doesn’t your heavenly Father already know the things your bodies require? Hebrews 4:16 TPT - So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness. John 15:9 TPT - I love each of you with the same love that the Father loves me. You must continually let my love nourish your hearts. Romans 8:26 TPT - And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for word. The Lord's Prayer: Matthew 6:5-14 ESV Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you