prayer

What is prayer and what does it take to pray?

Matthew 6:5-8
The Lord's Prayer

⁵ "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
⁷ "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (ESV)

Don't do it to look good. Be genuine in your prayer.

Matthew 5:44
⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (ESV)

Pray for your enemies.

Ephesians 6:18
¹⁸praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, . (ESV)

Pray about anything.

Philippians 4:6
⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (ESV)

Pray when you are anxious about something.

1 Thessalonians 5:17
¹⁷pray without ceasing, (ESV)

Do it regularly.


How does someone pray?
Jesus has given us a model of how we should pray. This model is called the 'Lord's Prayer'.

Matthew 6:9-13
⁹ Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come,
your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,
¹² and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil. (ESV)

Some things Jesus tells us to pray:

verse 9: Address God as 'Father' and praise his name.
verse 10: That God's will be done.
verse 11: Provision of what we need
verse 12: Forgiveness for us and help to forgive others
verse 13: Protection from temptation and the evil one.


This is a summary of the Lord's Prayer:
Give thanks to God for who he is and what he has done.
Pray for the needs of others.
Pray for your needs.


Putting it into practise
Think about meeting with one or two other people to pray together.
Think about writing down your prayer requests in a book so you can remember what to pray for and also see how God answers each prayer over time.