How Do We Pray?

Whether you like shopping or not, most of us would agree that the best way to approach a shopping experience is to make a list. Write out all the things you need and mark them off one by one as you put them in your cart. While this approach works for shopping, it doesn't work for prayer--although many of us try it anyway. Prayer is not about coming to God with a shopping list; it's about communicating and having a relationship with Him. Once we start to view prayer as a relationship, the way that we approach prayer will completely change.

Receive
"Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence" (Ephesians 3:12, NLT).

"And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him" (Hebrews 11:6, NLT).

"And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for" (1 John 5:14-15, NLT).

• What sort of attitude are we to have when we come into God's presence?
• Why is it so important that we have faith when we pray?
• How can we be confident that God will give us what we ask for?

Reflect
These verses tell us that prayer is about confidence and faith. We have to pray expecting God to answer our prayers (although it might not necessarily be the way we want them answered or as quickly as we would like). If we don't believe in the power of God to answer our prayers, we lose our confidence that He will answer them. Ask yourself:

Is there any doubt in my prayer life right now?

• Are there things that I was praying for but I've given up on?

Do I come to God every day in prayer or just when I need something from Him?

Respond
In any relationship, it takes two people to make it work. Our relationship with God is exactly the same way. God does His part in our relationship, but we must do our part. Spend some time today thinking about your relationship with God and ask yourself these questions:

Is my relationship with God one that is pleasing to Him?
Am I genuinely approaching prayer with faith and confidence in Him?

You'll find that once you're able to view prayer as a relationship with God and approach your prayer with confidence and faith, praying will be much more satisfying.