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How to Pray
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Now, there are some conditions on which we can expect God to
hear and answer our prayers. To begin, we must feel a need for His
help. Unless our hearts are open to the Spirit’s influence we can’t
receive God’s blessing. The Bible says, “Ask and it will be given to
you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to
you.”
Matthew 7:7
, NIV.
Next, we need to have faith. Jesus said to His disciples, “What-
ever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it
will be yours.”
Mark 11:24
, NIV. Even when we do not receive the
exact things we pray for, we need to believe; we need to have faith.
When it seems our prayers are not being answered, hold on! Believe,
trust in the promise, and the answer will come. God is too wise to
make a mistake and too good to keep from us anything that is for
our best good
When we come to ask for a blessing from God, we should have
a spirit of forgiveness in our heart. Jesus reminds us of this in His
model prayer by saying, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12
, NIV. If we expect our prayers
to be heard, we must forgive others in the same way and to the same
extent as we hope to be forgiven
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Daily, continual prayer keeps our lives united with God, so we
must never allow anything to interrupt this prayer connection. Pray
with others, pray with the family, but, above all, take time for per-
sonal, private prayer, for it is the very lifeblood of your soul
What will you talk to God about in your personal prayers? Ev-
erything! Your wants and needs, your happiness and sadness, your
problems and fears, tell it all to God. He will never consider a single
word or request a burden, no matter how long or how much you
pray.
Certainly nothing is too great for Him to notice; remember, He
sustains all the worlds of the universe. Nothing is too small for His
interest and desire to help you. If it’s something of concern to you,
it’s a concern to Him, too.
Jesus says, “I will do whatever you ask in my name.”
John 14:13
.
To pray in the name of Jesus means more than merely mentioning
His name at the beginning or end of a prayer. It means praying in
the spirit of Jesus, believing His promises, relying upon His grace,
and acting as He would have us act.
