Prayer. What is it? Why is it important? How do we do it? When do we need to pray?

What is Prayer?

We are told all over the Bible to pray, but what does that really mean? We see people praying over their meals, or maybe you do it yourselves, but what does that mean? What is prayer?

Prayer is a conversation between you and God. It’s how we can communicate with God.

It’s kind of like our cell phones. We communicate with people all around us through call, text, email, and even social media.

When we pray, we are communicating with God. It’s our direct line to Heaven.

We pray to give thanks, praise God, ask for forgiveness, ask for help, etc.

Why is it important?

Like I said in the section above, prayer is our way of communicating with God. If we would like a relationship with God, we must communicate.

Think of it this way, what if you never talked to any of your friends? They never heard from you and you never heard from them. I don’t know about you, but I think it would be hard to have friends if I never talked to them.

That’s how it is with God. It’s hard to grow your relationship with a God you never talk to.

How do we do it?

I believe that there is no perfect formula to prayer. It’s honestly just a conversation with God, so I talk to Him like I am having a real conversation with Him. Now, there is some structure to my prayer sometimes, but most of the time I just have a conversation with God.

In Matthew 6, Jesus lays out a model prayer. This is what it says:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
 but deliver us from the evil one.^“

Matthew 6:9-13

Now, this is just a model prayer. You are not required to say this prayer everytime you pray to God. I actually use this model prayer as a “template” to what I pray.

Now, I am going to be honest, most of the time, my prayers are not structured at all. THAT’S OK! Your prayers can simply being said, “Lord I need help,” or “Lord, thank you for what you have given me.” Just have a conversation with God. When you pray, act like God is sitting in a chair in front of you and you are having a conversation with Him.

What should I pray for?

Anything and everything! God wants to hear it all! He wants to hear your joys, your struggles, and even the things that may seem unimportant to you. Pray about absolutely everything! From the biggest challenge to the smallest joy, God wants to hear it!

When should I pray?

Whenever you want to! You may be sitting in your living room and you feel that you need to pray, then pray. You don’t have to be in a church to pray. You don’t have to be kneeled before your bed to pray. God’s doors never close, they are always open ready for you to come in. So, it does not matter the time of day, if you need to pray about something, pray.

Prayer is a very important part of my life. I pray a lot about things that sometimes I think God does not care about, but I am finding out, He does. He wants to know the small things as well as the big things. He wants to know when I am nervous about my first game. He wants to know when I am struggling to study. He wants to know absolutely everything!

So, this week, I pray that you pray about anything and everything. Take it to God. You may not get the answer you want, but God will always answer your prayers!

See ya next time beautiful people,

Madi