How to Pray: Tackling the Basics

Hey Shanea, can you lead us in prayer?

Me:

Me: Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There's vomit on her sweater already, mom's spaghetti. She's nervous, but on the surface, she looks calm and ready. To drop bombs, but she keeps on forgettin'. What she wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud. She opens her mouth, but the words won't come out. She's choking.

Ok, this may seem like an over exaggeration. Ok, it is and if the words sound familiar to you it's because those were the lyrics from 8 Mile lol But, hey, prayer can seem pretty scary when you're just starting out or in front of a lot of people, especially if you're not well practiced, aren't familiar with what to do, or nervous about others hearing you. We've all been there. To be real...quite a few of us have cheated over the years by nonchalantly reverberating the same quick prayer over our food, if we pray at all, or opting for our father or eldest relative to bless the food during Thanksgiving dinner, while we simulate Birdman's "Is you finished or Is you done?" memes. For years, the purpose, knowledge, and importance of prayer evaded me. I didn't value its importance so I disregarded it or prayed a few times every so often to ease my Christian conscience.

But what if I told you--Through faith and the power of salvation through Jesus Christ, we have been awarded the authority to change things.

How do we change things? through seeking God in prayer. Prayer is more than an impressive set of words spoken at the dinner table. Prayer is a direct line of communication with the Heavenly Father. How cool is that!? We have a direct line of communication with the creator of the universe. Prayer can be used to plead, cover, intercede, declare, decree, bind, loose, commune, petition, etc. No wonder the ushers would give us stern looks when our giggles escaped during prayer time lol

I know you remember those death glares, especially if you grew up in a traditional church! haha In all seriousness, many of us have really slept on the importance and power of prayer. It seems like almost every day, a new article is released reporting the dangers of living in America. For example, Pharmaceutical companies are legally releasing psychotropic drugs into our water supply, 48% of chicken sold in grocery stores are infected with fecal matter, there are toxic chemicals constantly released in our air, or the government uses emotionally charged airwaves to target specific communities, etc. To think, How many times have we nonchalantly prayed over our food when God literally could have blocked us from food poisoning because of it. Or How many times have we sped through a prayer for traveling grace and God responded by blocking a potential life-threatening car accident? Prayer is much more powerful than we ever could have imagined--And that's just the tip of the iceberg! The knowledge and understanding of prayer are really needed in this day and time. God is calling us to take up our post as believers and pray over our families, communities, nations, leaders, etc.

So now that we have gest of the importance of prayer...

Let's tackle the basics from our Lord and Savior, himself, as we pick up some helpful tips from Matthew 6.

In the beginning, Jesus opens up by reminding us that we must pray for God and not to be seen by people. Mathew 6:6 says, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Jesus really hated the example of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They did a lot of things with unpure hearts and the motive to be seen. God cares more for the prayers that are formed in secrecy, than, the wordy gaudy prayers that were done for sport and attention. He encourages us to pray in secret because the prayers that are formed in secret will be answered publicly. He also instructs us to be clear and concise with our words. God already knows what you need before you open your mouth. Matthew 6:7 says, "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." God does not answer prayers because of us or our works. He answers because of His mercy.

He then goes into The Lord's Prayer.

1. "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,..."

Approach: God humbly in Adoration and reverence. Acknowledge that He is God and capable of answering and completing whatever request is on your heart.

2. "...your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven..."

Accepting that The Lord's Will has precedence over everything esle, including your own will. Accepting and understanding that Gods will is ultimate and perfect. God's will is just as important and powerful on earth as it is in heaven.

3. "Give us today our daily bread."

Asking the Lord of his will for you today. As Jesus stated, while being tempted by the Devil in the desert, that man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Here He is comparing bread as His spiritual food. In this moment, you are asking for the Lord's spiritual food so that you will be equipt for the day and walk in purpose, as he desires for us every day.

4. "...Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

Attest Gods truth. His ways are perfect and you are urging to stay true to his word by reminding him to forgive you because you are actively following his words and decree to forgive others. God wants us to remind him of his word. If we choose not to use this prayer verbatim, now would be the time to introduce what is on your heart. Back it up by his word. God's answers to the righteous are "yes and amen." If your desire lines up with God's word, as they should, drop/quote scripture regarding it.

5. "...And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil."

Appeal to God. In appealing, you are acknowledging that you can only resist evil and the evil one through God's strength. You understand that you need God's leading and grace to live and live humbly, righteously, and more abundantly so you are appealing to him for it.

Jesus gave us some really inciteful gems that we can take and use the next time we seek the Lord in prayer. So the next time we are asked to pray in public or are praying alone, instead of panicking like our friend in 8 Mile, we will have a better game plan on how to properly converse with God. Which will leave us with a little more focus on how we can help ourselbes and those around us.

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