What is prayer? We are told that it is our path of communication to God and that He longs for our prayers. He wants us to come to Him with all of our desires and concerns, but who should pray, what does a prayer contain, and how does prayer fit into the life of a Christian?
Who should pray? Jesus prayed. The Apostles prayed. Paul prayed. The Elders at the churches established by Paul prayed. The fact is that, even though some teach otherwise, all Christians need to learn to pray. Pray is truly our communication conduit to God.
What should a prayer contain? Some people believe that there are things that you shouldn’t pray for, things that you must pray for and stuff in between. The truth is, Jesus gave us an example when He taught the Disciples to pray. It's recorded in Matthew 6:9-15 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘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. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Many people call this “The Lord’s Prayer.” And they routinely recite it, verbatim. Jesus meant it as an example, a template for our prayers. A prayer should contain praise to God, our concerns and requests, and petitions for forgiveness of our sins. In reality, every prayer doesn’t need to specifically include all of these things.
Jesus said we should pray for our enemies (Matt 5:44). He said in Matt 26:41 that we should pray that we don’t fall in to temptation. Paul prayed for the other Christians and asked them to pray for him (Col 1:3). We should pray for the things that are important to God, each other, and ourselves.
How does prayer fit into the life of a Christian? 1 Thes 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. This is enough to show us that prayer should be always on our mind. We should remember that God is forever by our side and we can and should talk to Him often and about everything.
Who should pray? Jesus prayed. The Apostles prayed. Paul prayed. The Elders at the churches established by Paul prayed. The fact is that, even though some teach otherwise, all Christians need to learn to pray. Pray is truly our communication conduit to God.
What should a prayer contain? Some people believe that there are things that you shouldn’t pray for, things that you must pray for and stuff in between. The truth is, Jesus gave us an example when He taught the Disciples to pray. It's recorded in Matthew 6:9-15 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘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. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Many people call this “The Lord’s Prayer.” And they routinely recite it, verbatim. Jesus meant it as an example, a template for our prayers. A prayer should contain praise to God, our concerns and requests, and petitions for forgiveness of our sins. In reality, every prayer doesn’t need to specifically include all of these things.
Jesus said we should pray for our enemies (Matt 5:44). He said in Matt 26:41 that we should pray that we don’t fall in to temptation. Paul prayed for the other Christians and asked them to pray for him (Col 1:3). We should pray for the things that are important to God, each other, and ourselves.
How does prayer fit into the life of a Christian? 1 Thes 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. This is enough to show us that prayer should be always on our mind. We should remember that God is forever by our side and we can and should talk to Him often and about everything.
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