Whether you are a new Christian, are exploring Christianity, or have been a Christian for many years, prayer can be challenging. Many would agree that prayer is one of the more challenging aspects of practicing their faith. This makes sense. We are prone to interact with who and what we see, so praying either out loud or quietly in our hearts to a God we cannot see can often feel daunting, ineffective, or even unproductive.
The Bible gives us several reasons to have confidence that our prayers are meaningful when made in faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us Jesus is our “great high priest” who “always lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25), so we can have confidence that God hears our prayers. In fact, in Christ, we can go to God with “boldness” and “confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). The reason we can go to God with confidence is because all his promises are “yes and amen” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). In other words, if we ask God for something he has promised to give, we can be assured he will make good on his promise.
Secondly, we can go to God with confidence because he reveals himself as our father. In the same way that a child reaches up her arms to her father to ask for what she needs, God is pleased to hear our prayers and provide for us. In fact, the book of Revelation tells us that our prayers come before God like pleasing incense (Revelation 5:8; 8:4).
So these are all good reasons to pray, but what do we pray, and how do we pray it? God does not leave us to guess at that either.
One example of this is when Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a short, simple prayer, but it shows us God’s comprehensive care for us, because it covers everything we need in life:
- A loving Father – “our Father in Heaven”
- A renewed heart – “hallowed be your name”
- Renewed desires – “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”
- Provision for our needs – “give us this day our daily bread”
- Forgiveness for sins – “and forgive us our debts”
- Reconciled relationships – “as we forgive our debtors”
- Help in temptation – “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”
So God shows us in the Lord’s Prayer that he is concerned for our basic needs in life. He also shows us in other places in scripture that he cares for us and is ready to listen in every state in which we find ourselves: anxious, angry, depressed, lonely, and all the rest. In fact, he gives us examples of prayers we can use or follow when we don’t know what to pray in those circumstances. The book of Psalms is the epitome of this.
In fact, you might be surprised at some of the circumstances in which God encourages you to pray and gives you the words to pray to him. Here are just a few examples:
- How to pray when you’re angry at God (Psalm 73)
- How to pray when you’re angry at other people who have wronged you (Psalm 35)
- How to pray when you’ve sinned (Psalm 51 – this was a prayer made after David committed adultery and had a man killed to try and cover up his adultery)
- How to pray when you’re depressed (Psalm 6)
- How to pray when you’re anxious (Psalm 37)
- How to pray when you’re lonely (Psalm 142)
The Psalms shows us that God cares for us and invites us to pray, not just when we feel particularly spiritual or religious but also (perhaps especially) when we are desperate.
The Bible gives us the reason for this. Earlier, we saw that Jesus is our great high priest. The book of Hebrews tells us what that means for our prayers:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15–16)
We can often get this turned around, as if God is more pleased with us when we pray more often or when our prayers are for good things. However, the Bible says that God loves us and desires to listen to us before we even begin to pray! Because of Jesus, we receive mercy and grace when we go to God the Father with our prayers.
One helpful way to learn to pray is by praying with another person. It can be clarifying to share your needs with another person and then pray for each other. If you would like prayer or would like to meet with someone to pray, please don’t hesitate to contact us here. We would be honored to do for you what Jesus has done for us–listen, empathize, and pray.