How Do You Pray?

There are many kinds of prayer.

As I go through the day there are often times that something strikes me as wonderful and I praise God for it (sometimes silently, sometimes aloud). At times through a given day, I may be concerned or anxious about a problem, and I ask God for wisdom and/or strength and/or just His help as he knows best.

Sometimes I am at meditation. It could be with my Bible, could be just me. I like to remove distractions. Sometimes read scripture, sometimes just let God guide me. Often, when the meditation touches on God's authority over me, I find it helpful to bow my head to physically reinforce the attitude of submission.

One practice I have lacked, and am working on is to pray before meals. Its not that I do not acknowledge the source of all nourishment, both spiritual dietary; it is just something for which I never developed a habit.

At bedtime I am often in meditation concerning the day just past, or the day to come. This is also a time of prayer.

I am often confronted with things that strike me as funny, or points up a principle in a comical way. I also share that with the Lord.

Prayer is also a time of letting God direct your thoughts.

Remember you will never tell God anything He never knew. Much of Prayer is to make God's notice of your life and concerns real in your own experience, so that when He answers, you may recognize it and your faith strengthened.

What I pray for depends on my immediate concerns. I prayer for my family regularly, not so much because they 'need' it (although it never hurts), but as husband/father I must see to their needs. I pray for any concerns that I may have in my life. Recently I have been praying for help with a personal failing of mine (which does not absolve me of striving in this area). In the last day, since I have just joined this forum, I pray to be a blessing to these members, and to be blessed by them.

I find I don't pray much for such things as world peace, the end of hunger, or other lofty goals. Not that these are bad, but most of my prayers for something rather than about something concern areas that God may lead me to be a positive influence.

My Prayers about something tend to be a little wider and often involve adjusting my outlook rather than changing something else.

I am involved in a volunteer organization trying to fill a need. I often pray about persons both in the organization and those we aid.

I don't always have specific requests, but every time at quiet prayer, I try to include praise & thanksgiving.
 
I pray out loud by giving thanks for just about everything under the sun. Then i repent for my sins, and thank God for forgiving me and cleansing me of all unrighteousness. Then i pray the Lord's prayer, and forgive any that i may have aught against and then pray for the government, ps 91 over our police officers, emt's, firefighters, bus drivers, planes, and pilots. Then i pray ps 23, 91, 103, 112, Is 54, zech 9:11-12, 1 cor 13:4-7, 2 cor 9:8-15, eph 1:16-23, eph 3:14-20, col 1:9-11, rom 15:13, 29 over all my brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world and over all the godly ministries all over the world, and over our families. And pray that the Lord of the harvest send laborers to those who are unsaved, and that His angels go before my family and my fiancè's family to protect them in their day ahead. Then i pray in the spirit for about ten minutes, before i settle in for the night.
Of course i also pray little prayers throughout the day, and when i first wake up.
Blessings to you all!
 
Just curious..How do you guys pray?
I pray in tongues - praying in the Holy Spirit. Fervently. Usually at least 30 minutes in the morning to start the day. When other people have needs for healings, employment, provision or salvation or anything else (of benefit) - I pray in tongues and let the Holy Spirit give me access to my Father and the Throne of Grace.
I pray for results, for miracles, for blessings for others. I pray for little issues, I pray for big issues of concern. It is a joy to pray.
I usually close my eyes and focus on the Lord; but not while I'm driving my car and praying at the same time. :LOL:
Praying in the Spirit is uplifting and totally re-energizers me. It is when I feel most connected to the Lord.
 
I guess I do all the above. good thread!
i dont pray to Mary though.

Some different things I do that nobody has mentioned yet.
Yes sometimes on my knees in bed.
Often with my head covered or bowed (wear hats in church)
Pray in tongues while walking and driving or when its busy.
I dont put my hands together but I do kind of give God a sign I am open and listening with my hands palm up.
Pray scriptures.
use a prayer journal.
pray with others...if I agree with someone, pray with them over the phone.
Pray unceasingly..often short prayers like Lord help me..find a parking space. Or I dont know what to do next..direct me!
Bless food and give thanks when Im eating..have to remember to do this sometimes I forget.
Answered prayers...yes. I feel peace when praying and its a big issue and run out of prayer then I know God has heard and is doing something.
Sometimes I think I complain too much, God is correcting me on my attitude but sometimes I just cry and he understands. I have learned to thank him first for all he has already done.
Pray alone in my bedroom and at night.
Pray in the bath.
Say the Lords prayer others in church..and when people do pray in church, say amen, if the prayer is relevant. Sometimes I hear ppl in church pray selfish long winded prayers. I forgive those as maybe they just learning.
I do close my eyes if I dont want to be distracted by the outside world but obviously dont do this when Im walking round or driving!!! or reading the Bible prayerfully.

Often ask God for wisdom and he shows me scripture.
 
Sorry something I also forgot to mention is - fasting and prayer - more so for big issues like a life threatening diagnosis, or someone injured in an accident or having suffered a heart attack.
Sometimes overcoming ingrained bad habits or to press in for a great miracle a saint needs to show that they are serious about their prayer.
I guess fasting represents sacrifice: giving up carnal wants in exchange for a more earnest expression of prayer and faith in being answered.
 
Yep fasting too. Big part of prayer.
Thats why praying at night is effective, you not distracted by food.

Does anybody use prayer books? Like 40 days prayer for muslims or pray for the nation things. I did pray for my country last year as a focussed prayer on various issues. posted these prayers on a christian forum so others could agree.
On this forum continued to pray for husbands. Stomie ormantian wrote a book called power of a praying wife. And other prayer books.
I generally pray for friends as God leads...as dont have husband. But imagine if did have a family of my own be praying for them everyday. So I ended up praying for other peoples husbands cos their wives were so exhausted and giving up. Lol.
 
Yes psalms is good. David had a very close relationship with God, it was said he was after his own heart.
I kinda gave up on the prayer books like the 40 days of this or that. they are good but they will always be somone elses idea of what God would like is to pray for I guess.

Psalm 23 has wonderful picture of what God is like. I suppose the best things about psalms is the pictures it paints of God. and also David is always thanking him on what God already did like parting the red sea etc.
 
Here is a sample of an appropiate prayer for guidance and salvation from the Lord -
Psalm 139: 23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Simple, and yet effective, to the point...
 
Another good verse to pray is pr. 16:3 amp....Roll your works upon the Lord (commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and) so shall your plans be established and succeed.
 
I would say all of the mentioned and it will depend on what the day brings. God has shown me to say the same ol prayers day after day simply does not cut it. Praying His word always brings quick responce.

I want to know if any of you just simply go into prayer to just simply tell God how much you love Him and not be there to ask Him for anything ? If you have not.....Ohhhh let me say this....you should.....

Have you ever just been out about and just start talking to and with God and realise that you have been talking out loud for quite some time and people have seen you ? LOL Well at least these days, you see it all the time thanks to blue tooth but Honestly.....I could care less what some one might think.

Blessings
Jim
 
The day before Billy Graham’s interview in 1982 on The Today Show, his director of public relations, Larry Ross, requested a private room for Graham to pray in before the interview. But when Mr. Graham arrived at the studio, his assistant informed Ross that Mr. Graham didn’t need the room. He said, “Mr. Graham started praying when he got up this morning, he prayed while eating breakfast, he prayed on the way over in the car, and he’ll probably be praying all the way through the interview.” Ross later said, “That was a great lesson for me to learn as a young man.”

Prayerfulness is not an event; it is a way of being in relationship with God. This kind of intimate relationship is developed when God’s people view prayerfulness as a way of life. The Psalms encourage us to begin each day by lifting our voice to the Lord (Ps. 5:3); to fill our day with conversations with God (55:17); and in the face of accusations and slander, to give ourselves totally to prayer (109:4). We develop prayer as a way of life because we desire to be with God (42:1-4; 84:1-2; 130:5-6).

Prayer is our way of connecting with God in all life’s circumstances. God is always listening. We can talk to Him any time throughout the day.
 
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