CBN India

How to Pray: The Beginner's Guide

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This is a practical guide to getting started talking with God, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey.

What Is Prayer?

People often say that prayer is just talking to God as you would to anyone else. It’s true that a relationship with God contains many of the same ingredients as our other relationships. But there is at least one unique factor: we can’t rely on the senses of sight, sound or touch to connect with God. So, talking to God is just like relating to anyone else except in the ways it is completely different. God is ready and willing to listen because He knows you and wants to be known by you. If you believe that, or you want to believe that, you’re ready to learn how to pray.

How Do You Pray?

You can bow, kneel, stand or walk around when you pray. God will hear you, so choose a position that helps you focus. Kneeling, or bowing your head, is a great way to focus your body and your mind on God. It’s also a way to show how much you respect His authority.

People will say things like, “Father God,” “Heavenly Father” or “Almighty God” to address God directly in a way that acknowledges the uniqueness of who He is. How you choose to address Him will remind you and anyone you might be praying with about who you are talking to and what He represents in your life.

If you’re ever in doubt, pray like Jesus.

Jesus’ closest friends, the men he focused most of his attention on, faced the same problem we do. So, they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. The result is the best-known prayer in human history — what we call the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

When and where do I pray?

Anytime and anywhere can work, but it’s good to find a distraction-free time and place if possible. God deserves your focused attention, and you might find it harder to listen to Him in a busy place.

Some people create a space in their homes for this purpose, like a prayer closet. Others will choose a favourite park to take time out with God, or even a coffee shop.

How do I end a prayer?

A common way to end a prayer is by saying something like, “In the name of Jesus, amen.”

But why is this? Well, think about how you began your prayer by addressing God directly, by name. This is important because it acknowledges that God is more than a force, more than an unnamed higher power or an idea.

God is a person choosing to be present in your life. Most importantly, He is the only person with the authority and ability to answer your prayers. This common conclusion is a reminder of who this God is. Whatever you choose to say can also act as a reminder that you believe God has heard your prayers and that you trust Him to know how best to answer them.

If you’re the kind of person who starts talking to God as you go about your day, you don’t need to wrap up every communication with a formal ending for God to take you seriously. God is a Father who loves His children to talk to Him as much as possible.

Why Should You Pray?

People pray for all sorts of reasons. Some pray to comfort themselves in troubling times and to acknowledge there is a spiritual dimension to life. But Christians pray for very specific reasons.

Becoming a Christian is about much more than adopting a label, changing your demographic or subscribing to a new worldview. To be a Christian is to believe God invited you into a personal relationship with Him and to accept that invitation.

Here are four great reasons why you might choose to pray as a Christian:

  1. You want to tell God how much you love Him and why.
  2. You need to say “I’m sorry” for specific actions or attitudes.
  3. You want to thank God.
  4. You want to bring a concern about your life or someone in your life to God and invite Him to help.

Should I pray out loud?

Depending on how comfortable you feel or what kind of situation you are in, you will choose whether to pray out loud or silently. Over time, you will likely grow in your confidence praying out loud.

If you are praying for someone who is physically present with you, it might encourage them to hear your faith expressed through your prayers. But if you find praying silently allows you to focus more on God than on someone you might be praying with, go for it. The one time most of us need to stop talking is when we are trying to listen to God. You will find it harder to hear what He is saying if you are doing all the talking.

Next Steps

Now that you know the basics about how to pray, all that remains is to begin. The aim is not to become an expert on prayer but simply to move deeper into a relationship with your Father in heaven.

As with most other relationships, the things you talk to God about will develop as your trust in Him grows. Remember to listen to God as you talk with Him. Strong relationships are not built on one-way conversations.

Source: Ross McCall – How to Pray: the Beginner’s Guide, https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/prayer/how-to-pray.html

This will close in 16 seconds

This will close in 35 seconds

CodePenCodePenCodePen
Enter your email id to download A Giant Adventure – Nepali
दाऊद र गोल्यत को कहानी सुपरबुक एपिसोड, एउटा महान कदम माथि आधारित छ। यो कहानी एउटा किशोर गोठालो दाऊद को विषयमा हो, जसले दैत्य गोल्यत को सामना गर्छ जो संग इस्राइल का सबै योद्धा डरायेका थिए। अंत मा दाऊदले गोल्यत लाई यो भनेर परास्त गरे, “तँ मकहाँ तरवार, बर्छा र भाला प्रयोग गर्न आइस्। तर म तँ कहाँ इस्राएलका सेनाहरूका परमेश्वर सर्वशक्तिमान परमप्रभुका नाउँ मात्र लिएर आएको छु।”