What Every New Believer Should Understand about Prayer
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When you study this prayer, you will discover there are important elements within it that will help you grow and develop your prayer life. Within this prayer we find worship, surrender, repentance, and asking which are all aspects you can include when you pray. The goal of prayer is to pour your heart out to God, so don’t think too much about formulas. However, if you ever wanted to know things you can incorporate into prayer life, this is an outstanding model to follow.
There will be times when you pray longer than others. However, the length of the prayer is not what determines whether it was effective. Remember, it is always about the heart. Yet sometimes the circumstances may determine how long you pray.
For instance, if you are facing a monumental life situation, that might lead you to pray longer or more intensely. Many times, this intense prayer helps you find the strength you need from God to endure the situation you are going through. Just know that more words in prayer do not equate to more effectiveness in prayer.
A huge part of prayer is not just what you ask God, but what God asks of you. As we stated before, prayer is a conversation, which means you speak to God and he speaks to you. Many times, in prayer, there will be moments where there are no words because you have entered God’s presence and you are allowing him to minister to your heart. Often it is in these moments of silence and stillness that we can hear what God is saying to our hearts.
While the length of prayer does not determine its effectiveness, when you wait before the Lord it provides an opportunity for God to speak, and sometimes this takes time. It is in these still moments that God can point out things in your heart and life that he wants to strengthen or correct. When this happens, it changes the dynamics of your prayer life. And it changes you as well.
There will be times when you have a great desire to pray and times when you won’t. That is just how it is. That’s why prayer is a discipline, and for it to work, you must take part even when you don’t feel like it.
Make time for prayer. There should be formal times within your day when you set aside time to pray, but you should continue that conversation with God throughout your day.
There is no such thing as something too small to pray about. Again, these prayers don’t have to be long; you can say quick prayers before a meeting, before an exam, when you travel, before you eat, before you study, whatever the situation is you can pray. One reason is because God cares about your life, and another is that by praying you are inviting God into every aspect of your life. That, my friends, is how you build your relationship with God.
The last thing I have to share with you is that the Holy Spirit will help you pray. The Bible is clear: there may be moments when you don’t know what to pray or how to pray. In these moments, the Holy Spirit can guide you in how to pray. Since the Spirit of God lives in you, that means the ability to pray lives in you as well.
If I could leave you with one thought, it is this. Don’t worry about trying to pray perfect prayers. Instead, focus on praying consistently. As you learn more and as you pray more, it will become more natural.
Perhaps here is the best part. God enjoys those times you spend with him in prayer, and he longs to be with you. So make prayer a habit because you can sit with the God of the universe. This is part of the outstanding privilege that comes from being his child.
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What Every New Believer Should Understand about God
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He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose, which helps readers understand how God leads them into his will, and the author of The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has released his first course, Bible Study Basics, to achieve that goal. To learn more about his ministry and resources, please visit clarencehaynes.com.