Do you ever feel like you have no idea what to pray? Here’s A Guide On Learning How to Pray and What to Say. It’s really not that hard!

Guide on Learning How to Pray

Or maybe you feel like your prayers never reach the gates of Heaven. Or you feel as if you are too new in this walk with Jesus and you have no idea how to actually pray. We all feel this way sometimes and it doesn’t make us less holy than the next person. If we are all honest with ourselves we all feel this from time-to-time. We feel as if our prayer life is dry, stale, unqualified and lacking a strong relationship with God. It is normal. You are normal. You are human! Give yourself some grace and strive to be better. Isn’t that all we can do in this life?

Pray Boldly

First and foremost, be strong in your faith and convictions. Stand firm in the name of Jesus. Read your Bible and get to know The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit through scripture. Only then will you be able to stand firm in your beliefs and be able to pray boldly for yourself and others.

But before we can pray boldly we have to know what prayer even is and how the Bible defines it. Prayer is a way of speaking to God. Prayer can be thanking God for providing for our needs, thanking Him for being who He is, or maybe leaning on Him during a difficult time. Prayer is repenting and recognizing our sins. Prayer is also just talking to God like a friend.

Learn to Pray From Examples in the Bible

  • Solomon gives a great example of praising God and praying boldly for his people. Read Solomon’s prayer here.
  • David was always praising God through prayer and song. Even when he thought he had nothing to say, he found the words as God led him. David wrote a lot of the Book of Psalms and it was filled with prayers and thankfulness of the All Mighty.

To read more prayers of the Bible, go to 222 Prayers of the Bible for more examples.

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How to and What to Say

Alright so look, you don’t have to get out all of the big words and add in the “thou”, “art”, “command”… you know the ones. You don’t need to be formal or properly educated, come as you are and He will meet you where you are, but only if you ask Him.

  1. Ask Him what to pray but listen to His response. 1 Peter 3:12 – “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
  2. Thank Him for His love and mercy. Psalm 118:1 – Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
  3. Count your blessings. Psalm 5:12 – Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
  4. Pray for forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 
  5. Pray for others. James 5:16 – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
  6. Pray for guidance. Deuteronomy 31:8 – Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.
  7. Pray for protection. Isaiah 41:10 – Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
  8. Pray for your faith in Him to grow stronger. Nehemiah 8:10 –  Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
  9. Pray for peace. John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
  10. Pray for love. 1 Corinthians 16:14 – Do everything in love.

When Words Fail You

I have prayed many times when my words have failed me. They have failed me and all I could say was the name of Jesus.

When I was first rushed to the hospital with heart problems, not knowing what the future was going to hold in the years to come, I lay on the ER table with my husband and a nurse at my head as the doctors stopped and restarted my heart, I could only say the name of Jesus. I had no idea what to pray or say. My words failed me and that is okay. Chris, the nurse and I, all three, said His name confidently and He honored it.

A Guide On Learning How to Pray and What to Say

 

Prayer isn’t about the righteous, it’s about the humbled relationship that you grow with God through His love, joy and mercy. Prayer is about the relationship He wants and yearns for with you. Prayer does not have to be complicated, it just has to be there in a small voice that is willing and wants to grow in His word. Easy as that. 

So the next time you cannot find the words, lean into Him, His word and love and it will come to you. All you have to do is listen.