Think of an exciting day or a hard day that you have had recently. At those times, you especially want to share your experiences with a friend. People who love you want to know what is happening in your life, and Jesus is no different. Prayer is your communication with God. Like all communication it requires a combination of talking and listening.
As you talk with God, be real and share what is on your heart and your mind. If you read the Psalms, you will notice David was very open with God about his feelings, and then he always remembered God’s loving character and His faithfulness. Some people use a pattern to help them pray so that they not only ask God for things, but they also remember to thank God for who he is.
One popular pattern of prayer is ACTS. You will start praying with Adoration, letting God know how much you love Him. The second step is Confession. Examine your heart and actions and repent and ask for forgiveness. The third area of expression is Thanksgiving. Thank God for all He has done for you. The final stage in this pattern is Supplication. Come before God with your requests. As you pray don’t forget to listen for God to speak to you. This goes hand in hand with Scripture reading. As you read, ask God what He wants to show you in that passage and how you can apply it to the things about which you have been praying. Many people keep a prayer journal. In this journal you can record the things God is showing you, as well as your prayer requests. Keeping track of your prayer requests is a great way to see God’s faithfulness as He answers them one by one!
It is hard to slow down to spend time talking to God. However, the more you pray, the more rewarding it will become. God is waiting to hear from you!
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of Him.
I John 5: 14-15
Jesus’ Prayer For You
In John 17, Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and future believers. This is what he prayed for you…
“ I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought in complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.
Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because you loved Me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know You have sent Me. I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.”