We love God by talking to Him and listening so as to build our relationship with Him.
There is so much written on prayer, I can't do it justice here. However, there are some essential truths that I hold close.
Preparation
Our natural heart needs preparation to be able to come before a holy, perfect God in prayer.
Eph 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
So before taking a time to fellowship with God it is important for me to ask His spirit to teach me his word, thoughts and ways through reading and meditating on scripture. I like to read a passage, and miner digging for gems, find a key truth to study, mediated on and then use in my prayer time to pray back to God, asking God to make it real in my life, claiming the promises, and submitting to the instruction.
Prayer
When praying I also like to use the ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) outline for organizing my prayer time that is loosley based on the Lord's Prayer in Matthew...
Adoration - Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name
It is essential that we study God's Word to know His character, so that we can trust and emulate Him.
Eternal Faithfulness Foreknows Good Holy Immutable Impartial Incomprehensible Infinite Jealous Justice Longsuffering Love Mercy Omnipotent Omnipresent Omniscient Righteous Self-existent Self-sufficient Sovereign Transcendent Truth Wise Wrath
More on God's character can be found at We can also use the names of God and scriptures that describe His greatness that are included on the Who is God page.
"Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise Thee." Psalms 63:3
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise." This is a great prayer acknowledging God and their disobedience ....Nehemiah 9
Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them....Psalm 111
“Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet…
harp and lyre… tambourine and dancing… strings and flute… clash of cymbals resounding. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. PRAISE THE LORD.” Psalm 150
Confession - Forgive us our trespasses - and lead us not into temptation - repenting and turning from any selfish independence from God
Pray for God to show you your sin, where you have not acknowledged and loved Him, where you have not shown love to others.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:8-9
Sins against God for not acknowledging, seeking, listening, loving, obeying, thanking, praising, worshiping, or serving.
Sins against others for not showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control with them.
Confession allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him. All of us have sinned, and the Holy Spirit will reveal areas in our life that are not pleasing to Him. Take some time to confess those sins. If the Spirit reveals sin in your life, name that sin specifically and repent. This involves a change in your attitude and an active move on your part to no longer indulge in that sin. Then thank God for forgiving your sin on the basis of His promise in scripture.
I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Finally, and most importantly, ask God to fill (control and empower) you by His Holy Spirit.Sometimes confession involves restitution or making things right with friend you have wronged. If the Holy Spirit reveals this in your life, do not hesitate to obey.
Psalm 51:1-19 ESV ...Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ...
Psalm 32 1-5 ESV Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Thanksgiving - In all your ways acknowledge Him and what he has given you...freedom from death, bondage of sin, from purposeless living.
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thess. 5:18
Thanksgiving allows us to thank God for what he has done for us, and through us, right now, just as Adoration is to praise God for who he is, in his pre-existent and eternal Being. Whereas adoration is to praise him for his character, thanksgiving is thanking him for his actions toward us. Each day God is blessing us! Every moment we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. We need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings.
"He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me." Psalm 50:23
1 Chronicles 16:8 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 34 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 ¶ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every
one of you for one another is increasing.
Ephesians 5:4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Supplication
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Phillippians 4:6
Your will be done as it is in heaven. Pray for God's kingdom and that His desire that all men come to Him be effected.
Pray for others including Christian brothers and sisters that they would be protected from Satan, that they would learn to love God and has his heart for the lost.
Eph 6:18 To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
Pray for those suffering for the name of Christ that they may have the Spirit's strength and peace.
Pray for those followers of Jesus that minister to you, that God would protect them, guide them, encourage them.
Pray for the lost that the Holy Spirit would work in their heart and that they would be drawn to God, repent and glorify Him in their lives.
Pray for those in authority over you that God would give them wisdom, and guide you in how to serve them.
Pray to God Bible Promises he made and ask him to perform them in your life and in His kingdom.
"No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11
Practical Helps for your time in prayer
* Set a time. The same time every day is the best way to establish a lasting habit. When will you devote time to your relationship with Jesus every day?
* Set a place. The same place each day is also instrumental in establishing a disciplined time with God. Where will you meet alone with the Lord?
* Prepare your heart with a passage of scripture that speaks to you so you can pray it back to Him.
* Avoid distractions. What are the things that could distract you from following through with your desire to focus only on God? TV? Music? Visitors? Phone calls? The refrigerator? Whatever it is, how will you avoid this distraction?
* Set reasonable goals. You may know someone who spends an hour a day with the Lord, or another who reads through the Bible completely in a year. But these goals may not be reasonable for you to start out with. Perhaps at a later time these would be good goals for you! Be realistic! What can you pretty much guarantee you would do each day?
The idea is to be successful at reaching your goal with consistency. Maybe 20 minutes of Bible reading and prayer, maybe 30 minutes? What can and will work for you?
* Have someone hold you accountable. It is always helpful to have another Christian know your goal and be praying for you that you will reach it. They could even call you daily or intermittently for a while to ask you if you spent time with Christ.
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- Pray God's Word back to Him
- Prayer is spiritual warfare
- Praying with others
- Praying out loud - calling on the Lord.
Christ's Model for Prayer...pray like this;
How NOT to pray - James 4 - we ask for our passions
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions [fn1] are at war within you? [fn2] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! [fn3] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
How to Pray - Commands for Prayer in the Old Testament
Prayer commanded for the nation of Israel that we can use to pray back to God. The Shema is one of only two prayers that are specifically commanded in Torah.
http://www.jewfaq.org/m/shemaref.htm
Deuteronomy 6: 4-9
4¶“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
5“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6¶“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
7“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
13¶‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORDyour God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14‘then Ifn will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
15‘And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’
16“Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,
17“lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.
18¶“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
19“You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
20“And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
21“that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
37 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 38 “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
Great Authors on Prayer
The Ministry of Prayer, if it be anything worthy of the Name, is a ministry of ardor, a ministry of unwearied and intense longing after God and His holiness. - E. M. Bounds
Watchman Nee
www.prayerforallpeople.com - has free access to the books by many great authors on prayer.