Prayer Basics, 1of5

~ Techniques of Prayer ~

“Teach us what we should say to Him” (Job 37:19a).  In this five part series we will look at Techniques of prayer, Types of prayer, Essentials of prayer, Effective prayer, and Topics of prayer. 

How To Pray

Pray with words, pray for forgiveness, and praise God in your prayers.  “Take words with you, and return to the Lord.  Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips’” (Hosea 14:2).

Pray to God alone—do not pray for a response from others, and pray sincerely not with mere mechanical repetition of words.  “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.  And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen” (Matthew 6:6-13).

Pray to God with other like-minded Christians.  “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:19-21).

Pray with confidence.  “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:1-4).

When To Pray

Pray in the morning.  “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (Psalm 5:3).  “But to You I have cried out, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer comes before You” (Psalm 88:13). 

Pray throughout the day.  “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17).  “Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to You all day long” (Psalm 86:3). 

Pray day and night.  (O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You” (Psalm 88:1). 

Pray late at night.  “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). 

Pray always.  “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). 

Pray when you’re in trouble.  “Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (2 Chronicles 33:12).  Note: there are many Psalms which speak about prayer when in trouble. 

Pray when you are emotionally distressed.  “I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed” (Psalm 61:2b). 

Where To Pray 

Pray wherever you are.  “From the end of the earth I will cry to You” (Psalm 61:2a). 

Pray when you are in a disaster.  “If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will … cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save” (2 Chronicles 20:9). 

Pray when you have hit bottom.  “I called on Your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit” (Lamentations 3:55).  “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly” (Jonah 2:1). 

Pray in your local place of worship.  “We will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You” (2 Chronicles 20:9b). 

Pray by yourself in secret. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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