Prayer is a conscious opening of ourselves to God, who initiates communion and communication with us.  Prayer is receiving and responding, speaking and listening, waiting and acting in the presence of God.  In prayer we respond to God in adoration, in thanksgiving, in confession, in supplication, in intercession, and in self-dedication.  The Christian is called to a life of constant prayer, of “prayer without ceasing.” (Rom. 12:12; 1 Thess. 5:17) 

Prayer in personal worship may be expressed in various ways.

•  One may engage in conscious conversation with God, putting into words one’s joys and concerns, fears and hopes, needs and longings in life.

• One may wait upon God in attentive and expectant silence.

• One may meditate upon God’s gifts, God’s actions, God’s Word, and God’s character.

• One may contemplate God, moving beyond words and thoughts to communion of one’s spirit with the Spirit of God.

• One may draw near to God in solitude.

• One may pray in tongues as a personal and private discipline.

• One may take on an individual discipline of enacted prayer through dance, physical exercise, music, or other expressive activity as a response to grace.

• One may enact prayer as a public witness through keeping a vigil, through deeds of social responsibility or protest, or through symbolic acts of disciplined service.

• One may take on the discipline of holding before God the people, transactions, and events of daily life in the world.

• One may enter into prayer covenants or engage in the regular discipline of shared prayer.

What is prayer?

Prayer is a dialogue between God and His people in which we:

1. Express our love for God as a response to all that God has done for us, as a way to carry God with us constantly in our hearts and minds as a way to live according to God’s purpose, and as a spiritual exercise that draws us closer to God; and

2. Tell God about our needs: 

•  Spiritually.  Communion with God fills a need in the souls that cannot be met in any other way.

•     Emotionally.  God can calm our hearts when our own strength fails.

•     Mentally.  Sharing our thoughts with God brings divine guidance to problems.

•     Physically.  Faith has always been the strongest of all paths to bodily health.

Why should I pray?

People have always felt the need to be more intimate with God.  God gave us prayer to fulfill this need.

What should I pray for?

To glorify God.  In thanks for God’s greatest gift – Jesus.  Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son … (John 14:13) 

To feel God’s presence – to know God directly in our lives as Christians.  The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.  (Psalms 145:18)

For comfort in a time of need.  In His time of greatest need, Christ turned to prayer … should we do less?  You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.  (St. Augustine)

To experience God’s forgiveness that He might know our willingness to do better.  … if my people … pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin.  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

How do I pray?

We should pray by involving ourselves completely with God:  mind, emotions, and attitudes.

Think

•  Use your mind fully to try to understand God

•  Think through the hardest questions you have about God’s world

•  Concentrate as full as you can.

Feel

•  Your emotions help you to relate to God

•  Express your emotions; don’t try to hide them

•  Realize that God speaks to the heart as well as the mind.

Will

•  Be totally YOU when you pray

•  In joyous prayer, be open and giving

•  In troubled prayer, promise to grow and be strong.

When should I pray?

Prayer can’t be overdone.  So pray anytime.  God doesn’t have “office hours.”

•  At special times.   Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to Thee, when my heart is faint.  (Psalm 61:1,2)

o   On religious holidays of remembrance or joy

o   In time of tragedy or need.

•  In fellowship.  …if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  (Matthew 18:19)

o   With your congregation

o   In prayer groups

o   At home with your family.

•  Alone.  But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  (Matthew 6:6)

o   When you have time for personal meditation

o   In spontaneous “flash” prayers during the day.

Will my prayers be answered?

Christ tells us that true prayer is always answered.  Ask and it will given to you; seek and you will find.  (Matthew 7:7)  But the answer may not be what we expected.

      •  “NO”  When god has a plan different from ours or when our prayer is insincere or selfish.

      •  “WAIT”  Our faith must be “long” as well as “strong;”  God may require patience from us.

      •  “YES”  when we are spiritually right with God and when our prayers are strong and unselfish.

What are the best conditions for effective prayer?

•  Be prepared in heart and mind.  Put other tasks away; read Scripture before praying.

•  Realize the presence of Christ in your life; feel His nearness.  …I am with you always … (Matthew 28:20)

•  Be confident.  Pray with faith, expecting your prayers to be answered.  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.  (Matthew 21:22)

•  Be receptive to God’s message to you; accept His wisdom; don’t ‘preach’ to God.

•  Devote yourself to God with all your love and desire; put yourself totally in God’s control; surrender your life to the Lord.

•  Be modest in the way you pray.  Don’t pray to ‘show off’ to others; think of prayer as a dialogue.

•  Discipline yourself with daily prayer; be consistent; be persistent.

•  Be unselfish as you pray.  For whom are you praying?  Don’t ignore others for your own interest.

What are the obstacles to effective praying?

• Selfishness – the temptation to ask for personal benefits; confusing ‘evil’ and ‘unpleasant’ in our lives.

• Lack of faith – losing confidence in Christian life; asking for God’s time without giving Him ours.

• Dishonesty – pretending to be what we aren’t; covering up instead of revealing ourselves to God.

• Ignorance – forgetting that God has His own plan for things; forgetting that we don’t always have the ‘right’ answer.

• Unforgiving Spirit – condemning instead of loving; thinking ourselves ‘holier’ than others.

What are the different kinds of prayer?

•  Thanksgiving.  Offering our prayers in return for God’s gifts to us; gratitude for body, mind, and life.

•  Confession.  Telling God about our sins and failures; sharing these with God in order to experience God’s forgiveness.

•  Praise.  Worshipping God in the highest, most personal way; worshipping God’s greatness and love.

•  Petition.  Asking for our needs for health, strength, and faith.

•  Intercession.  Praying for the sick, for our enemies, for those who witness to Christ and those who need Him.

•  Guidance.  Asking God to teach us to live Christian lives, to help us solve problems we can’t solve alone.

What are the resources for use in prayer?

• the daily news and church program interpretation materials and guides to personal worship;

• in Scripture, especially the Lord’s Prayer and other prayers, the psalms and other biblical songs;

• in hymns, spirituals, and other songs;

      • in service books, prayer books, and worship aids;

      • in the heritages of prayer and devotion expressed in literature and visual arts.

What is the Lord’s Prayer?

The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples as recorded in Matthew 6:9-13:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors;

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the honor, and the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

Does prayer have real power?

The Bible gives us many examples of the way that prayer changed people’s lives.  Examples include:

• Elijah challenged the priests of a false god.  His prayer brought a miracle that theirs didn’t; he brought rain to a dry land through his prayers.  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, art God, and that you have turned back their hearts.  Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering … (1 Kings 18:37-38)

• Moses received the guidance of the Ten Commandments through prayer; he also saved the Israelites in the desert through prayer.  Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated.  (Numbers 11:2)

• Peter healed the sick and converted others through prayer; he was also released from prison through the prayers of early Christians.  But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayer; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.”  And she opened her eyes … and sat up.  Acts 9:40

• Paul was cured of blindness by prayer; he freed himself and fellow prisoners by prayer and worship; he healed the sick by the power of prayer.  It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him.  Acts 28:8