I have a confession. I don’t pray well. I wish I had some practical guidance on how to go about it. And I’m guessing I’m not the only one out there with similar questions. There are a million ways to talk to God. What’s yours? Take second to answer the poll, and leave a comment. Somewhere out there someone is waiting to read what you have to say about prayer (and it’s probably me).
We were built to be heroes.
It’s about time we started acting like heroes.
Photo credit: Lel4nd / Foter.com / CC BY
365 Days Later 
I’ve settled this question in my own heart and mind before God: I do prayer like…breathing. “Pray without ceasing.” Doing prayer any other way stresses me and makes me feel somehow…rigid, anxious.
I believe that prayer is first “an attitude of the heart.”
I was impacted by the Keith Green song, “Make my life a prayer to You.”
I have this “trust” before God, that every breath of my life and experience, thought and emotion or action, etc. is all a constant conversation…a prayer. Adding words becomes seamless this way. I believe He is always with me….is richly informed on every level (Psalm 139),therefore, everything that squeezes out of me is a shared experience between Him and I. When He decides to say something…my ear is already bent toward Him, listening.
I don’t worry about how “perfect” this experience is. We’re together in this conversation for an eternity…so moving deeper, incrementally, into Him is just to be expected.
This is my settled conviction, according to what I’ve come to understand about God…and Daddy has affirmed me in this.
When Daddy is interested in special conversations because of a “dealing” or having me join in beside Him in something…His Presence lets me know to pay specific attention…
My life is as raw and real as everyone’s is. I would just as soon be with Him in heaven…but, as long as He wants me here…I’m here!
LikeLike
You know I’m starting to learn something in the blogging thing. There comes a point where the comments become a better article than the blog post. And that’s a pretty awesome thing. I’m so glad you stop by as often as you do. You’re a blessing here (and probably everywhere else).
LikeLike
Diddo backatcha. And I have come to your same conclusion re: comments. Yet, I must say, the posts do feel a bit like a good steak dinner:)
LikeLike
Spot On Chris Martin ! It’s a “conversation with Dad”. I express thanks, joy, anger, love… whatever’s on my mind. Sometimes outloud… sometimes internally… but always from the heart. Jim… as you know… I take a nice deep cleansing breath (wait for it… wait for it)… then begin praying for others with … “Phewwww…. THANK YOU GOD for ….” Always ending “In the Name Of Jesus”. This is my style… may not be everyone’s. The important thing is… we HAVE that conversation (those conversations) with Him. The very ONE who gave us breath… the very ONE who holds us in His arms… the very ONE who blesses us with ‘free will’… the very ONE who “allows” us to experience the veritable cornucopia of emotions we go through each and every day… the ONE whom we call “Abba Father”.
LikeLike
Thanks Chris. Having seen you pray, and how intentional you are about it, has been a great lesson to me. But through it all, you’re still Chris (last name omitted!! 🙂 ). I tend to try to change who I am first before coming to God in prayer and I’m suddenly wondering why.
LikeLike
Prayer for me is something that happens throughout the day. Prayer=conversation with God. I believe it’s vital that we take time at some point in the day to get absolutely still before the Lord. It’s hard. With so much going on, it seems impossible to have a quiet moment. I admit, I struggle to make time to be still. When I do, I will just talk out loud as if He was sitting in bodily form right next to me. It’s an awesome feeling to know that we have direct access to the Father through Jesus. We don’t have to do good. We don’t have to check things off a list. We can just talk to our Daddy whenever and however we want to.
LikeLike
This really makes me think about my desire to do prayer at a specific time every day. My initial thought on the “prayer throughout the day” is that it is so informal. I feel like God deserves a big event, scheduled event, as part of each day. But I have to say that this just isn’t happening. And that “big event”, even when it does happen, is just as distracted as my prayers throughout the day. But something hit me when I was reading your comment that prayer throughout the day isn’t disrespectful and disjointed if it is part of an overall closeness with God all the time. I think my desire to pray at specific times has me “ramping up” my relationship with God for a half hour and then setting it aside the rest of the day. I think this is probably why I’m just not feeling the connection with God, because I’m not expecting it to be there all day long.
I am starting to be very thankful that I made this post!
LikeLike
I pray when I wake up, I pray when I go to bed, I pray when I drive to work, I pray when I have something good, or bad, happen 🙂 The more I have been praying lately, the better I feel every moment of every day, and the tough things just don’t seem so tough anymore!
LikeLike
Gosh, I seem to remember something in the Bible about “pray continually” by some guy named Paul. Seems like you’re taking his advice! Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
I’m starting to rethink everything I have been doing in prayer. Thank you for your comment.
LikeLike
Lots of great comments already! For me there is an aspect of it being like breathing – and there is also the specific time when I just sit and commune with God like I would a friend. When I’m struggling with what to pray or how to pray during some of those times I’ve found Psalms are awesome to read back to God. I also love to listen to praise music and just worship.
LikeLike
Love the idea of praying using the Psalms… Love it!
LikeLike