How can we Pray to God?

When we pray, we are seeking God’s presence and trying to talk with Him. Most of the time, we don’t take the time to make it more than a one-way conversation: from us to God. We send up a prayer and then get on with our busy lives. We wonder if God heard us and we wonder why we didn’t notice His answer to our prayer.

Be Still

Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46: 10)

In order for it to be a two-way conversation, we need to take the time to be still before the Lord and to wait upon His answer. In respect and reverence to God, we need to be still. We need to quiet our busy thoughts in order to hear His still, small voice. He tends to speak to His children softly. If Almighty God ever shouted at us, the sound would be deafening.

Enter into God’s Rest

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. ² Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62: 1-2)

God waits for us to be ready to spend time with Him. He demands to be first in our thoughts and our hearts. He is not going to try to compete with the busyness in our lives and the swirling thoughts in our heads. But, when we are truly ready to spend time with Him, He is always ready to spend time with us. God encourages us to enter into His rest and spend time with Him.

Pray with Humility & from Your Heart

¹⁴ If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7: 14)

¹⁶ Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. (Deuteronomy 10: 16)

Jehovah God tells his people to humble themselves before him. Humans tend to be prideful and arrogant. When their hearts are hard, God tells them to soften their hearts in a way that reminds them of his covenant with them.

When God criticizes his people for being “stiff-necked” he is telling them to bow their heads in humility and respect toward him. Yet, God is not asking his people to demean themselves. God is primarily focused on what is going on inside a person’s heart: because the person’s heart determines their actions (Matthew 15: 18-19).

Pray Secretly & Genuinely

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6: 5-6)

Do not pray like the hypocrites who pray publicly in order to be seen by others. Jesus tells us to pray discretely, and our Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward us.

Avoid Repetitive Babbling

⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6: 7-8)

Jesus also tells us not to babble as if we would be heard because of using so many words. Jesus does not forbid praying the same prayer more than once, but he does forbid the repetitive chanting of prayers. When the same words are repeated over and over again, the words lose their meaning because the people go into a robotic mode instead of sincerely speaking the words that are in their heart.

Ask with the Right Motives

You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4: 2-3)

God the Father knows what we need before we ask Him – but we are still to ask. Consider how Jesus healed the sick: Jesus always had them acknowledge that they wanted healing before he gave it to them.

Pray to the Father in Jesus’ Name

Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 23-24)

Jesus tells us to ask in his name. When Jesus’ disciples asked how to pray, Jesus provided an example of how to pray: The Lord’s Prayer.

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