Week 1 - How Prayer Works
Prayer is collaboration between God and you – alignment of your will and desires with what God knows and is doing in the world.
Week 2 - Why We Pray
We pray to express concern, worry, fears, anxieties, terrors, tensions, problems; to join God in doing what is best for us and the world
Week 3 - What To Pray For
What are you willing to help answer? What will be a win-win-win for everyone involved? What have you learned about what Jesus values? What’s my motive for this prayer?
This Week - What To Say To God
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With your mouth. With your mind. With your tears.
With your attitude. With your actions. With your choices.
If we think of praying as only asking God for stuff, then we'll limit what we can say to God. But if we consider prayer as a form of communication, we open ourselves up to a wide range of opportunities. Think of all the ways you can communicate with the people around you.
Same with God. You can communicate with God through your mouth, of course - but also with your mind, he knows your thoughts. God sees your tears, which is a form of communication, and if you want, a kind of prayer. And so it is with your attitude, your actions, and your choices.
How's that saying go? Actions speak louder than words? Consider what that means for your praying.
So when you go to pray, what can you say to God? You can say anything you want to God.
Psalm 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.
Here the Psalm-writer is desiring God to listen - whatever is said, he wants it heard. And so we can have confidence that God always hears everything we utter. We don't have to worry about how we start our prayers, end them, or how we express our thoughts or wants to him - God is less interested in the form and pays much more attention to our character and the content of our communication.
If you want God to hear what you say, consider your position before God – does he see you as righteous or wicked?
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Who you are matters much more to God than what you say or do, or even what you are going through. You were created in the image of God. Humanity is the crown of creation. And more than anything, God wants righteousness to prevail on earth through you. This is what Jesus is getting at when he teaches us to pray: "Your kingdom come, your will be done."
So if you are thinking wicked thoughts, planning wicked deeds, guilty of wicked behavior - unrepentant, or apathetic, or defiant, or whatever, then don't think that God wants to hear what you have to say. If you care nothing for what God wants, there is no "right" way to say your prayer.
But, if you seek to do the right thing in God's eyes and your neighbors eyes, if you work for justice and mercy, if you care for the poor, if you forgive those who sin against you - all the things that Jesus qualifies as righteous, then you can say what you want to God with confidence.
Say “Thanks God…” and then say, “Help, God…”
Daniel 6:11 Three times a day [Daniel] got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men…found Daniel praying and asking God for help.
There are two basic kinds of prayers when it comes to saying something to God. By noticing what God has done in us, for us, through us, around us - it should prompt words and actions, attitudes and choices that reflect thankfulness. Praising God for his accomplishments is an appropriate response of gratitude.
Of course God wants us to come to him for help. He's the most capable Being in the Universe! There is no wrong or right way to ask for help. Again, it's the attitude and posture behind the help - the motive. Keep it simple when it comes to what you say to God - especially when it comes to asking for help.
The length of the prayer, the urgency of the prayer, the posture while you pray does nothing to increase the likelihood of getting the prayer answered, though. Who you are effects the answer to your prayer much more then what you say. Even more, what God wants in the world to happen is way more important a factor then you using the correct words when you pray.
So, relax when you pray - don't worry about getting the words right! Don't fret about what to say to God! Just say it.
Say, “God, I don’t know what to pray for…”
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Sometimes you don't know what to say to God. The attitude of gratitude is so rich in your heart, words are inadequate to express what is within. That's okay - a smile goes a long way with God! And sometimes the pain and suffering in life leaves you speechless. Your rage, your disappointment, your confusion make it almost impossible to formulate a request. Or maybe, in light of how complicated life can get, you just don't know what to ask for.
What a relief it is to know that God's Spirit, which dwells within those that trust Him, knows what we need, knows what we ought to pray for - and offers up the prayers to the Father and Son in Heaven on our behalf. This goes to show you how much God wants to be in relationship with us, to be in communication with us, to have us join him in the work he is doing in the world.
A few final words on what to say to God:
The art of conversation…
Prayer may begin as simple exchanges of "thanks" and "help" - but what we want to develop is an ongoing, unending conversation with God. As we move through life, as we come to understand that God is always with us - well he's always ready to communicate with us about whatever we are experiencing. Sometimes he initiates the conversation, sometimes we do. But at some point we'll realize that our exchange with God has never really stopped - it just picks back up where it left off. Like a good friend.
Conversation implies listening - and this is the oft overlooked part of prayers. By focusing on prayers as requests, you cut off the desire to listen. You just want miraculous results from God. But God wants relationship with you, and he wants his will done on Earth. So conversation and communication, listening to and looking for Him are part of our prayers, shaping what we say.
If you ask me how to have a conversation with God, it'd be like you asking how to have a conversation with your parents, or friends, or other adults. Learning how to pray may be part of you learning how to have a conversation with somebody that isn't rooted in complaining, trashing somebody, talking about yourself, or gossip.
Learning what to say to God may enrich your ability to have constructive communication with others.
Prayer as a speech/letter/journal entry to God
Writing out your prayers has a long and rich tradition. It takes longer to communicate through writing then it does speaking - and sometimes this slowed-down process is good for our minds and hearts. An advantage of writing out your prayers is that then you can review them at a later date.
By putting down on paper what you want to say to God, or what you think you are hearing from God, can add clarity to your mind. People have learned that sometimes what is swirling around in their head gets sorted out when written down. So it goes with our concerns, questions, fears, and prayers.
What to say to God in a letter? I always start my written prayers with: "Dear Father..." and then I just write and write and write. Try it.
Prayer as a song/psalm/poem to God
So many of the prayers in the Scriptures are communicated as a song, as a psalm, as a poem. It's a sophisticated, rich, thoughtful, beautiful way to express yourself to God. For the artist in you, this may be a great way to experiment with how you pray. To fashion what you say to God says as much about what you say as why you say it. Again, it matters less what you say, and more about why you say it.
In conclusion:
There is much more to learn about praying. And you only learn by doing it. Relax when you pray. Do not be afraid of saying it "wrong." If there is any fear in you while you pray, you are sabotaging your prayers! Again and again Jesus says to us: Do not be afraid! When you pray, whatever you say, do it with confidence.
Prayer requires belief: you must believe that God wants to hear your thanks and cry for help. You must believe that he wants to be in a relationship with you, that he wants to communicate with you, that he wants the conversation to pick up again and again and again. That he wants to hear what you have to say. Trust him in this.
Just start talking. Start reflecting with him about your life and everyday situation. Faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to get your prayers launched up to a God who is a close as the next breath.
When the disciples asked Jesus what to say to God, here's what he gave them:
Lord, Teach Us To Pray:BASED ON THIS TEACHING OF JESUS ON WHAT TO SAY TO GOD, WHAT CONCLUSIONS COULD YOU DRAW?
"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.
Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge! You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.
"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part."
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What else do you want to know about how to pray?
