Prayer is a topic of critical importance in the Christian life. But many people still wonder, “how do I pray?? Is there a right and wrong way to do it?? What do I say??” And it’s these questions that today’s book quote does such a great job of answering.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
Today’s post will be especially short and sweet. That’s because for the topic I have today, it’s a case of another person said it best. As I was reading through my latest book, Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel, I read the passage I share here today and thought it perfectly summed up an important Christian topic. I decided I could share the quote from the book and it would do such a great job of explaining the topic, more words from me would be unnecessary. So that’s more or less what today’s post is.
Prayer is a topic of critical importance in the Christian life. But many people still wonder, “how do I pray?? Is there a right and wrong way to do it?? What do I say??” And it’s these questions that today’s book quote does such a great job of answering.
So let’s get right into it then. How should we pray??
Make Your Needs Known, Your Way
The question of how should we pray is something I’ve written about before on my blog, but it’s not a frequent topic. You can find things I’ve written about it among some of my earliest posts.
What I’ve said about prayer is that when we talk to God, we should talk to Him as if we’re talking to a loving Father. Talk to Him like a treasured friend. That means, talk to Him normally like you would in a regular conversation. We tell God everything; we tell Him what’s on our mind, what bothers us, what we want, what we’re Grateful for, and more. Everything. For the most effective prayers, we can’t hold anything back.
Christianity isn’t about religion, it’s about having a relationship with God. To have that relationship, God needs everything from us, not only our happy Gratitude. He needs our anger, fear, sadness, He needs everything from us. Same as any other close relationship. To give God everything we need to tell Him everything, and speak to Him from our heart without holding anything back.
Alright, I said that today’s book quote says it better than I could. So let me get out of the way and turn it over to Craig Groeschel.
In Winning the War in Your Mind, Groeschel points out two elements in prayer. First, let our needs be known. And second, let our needs be known in our own way. That means in our own words. There are no “right” or “wrong” words when it comes to prayer, only our words and whether we’re being honest or not.
Let’s read from Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel:
Paul wrote, “Present your requests to God,” which may sound a little formal, but it’s not. Another way of translating Paul’s words is, “Let your needs be known.” […] how should you pray? Just let your needs be known.
I have six kids. […] My six kids have six different personalities, and they each let their needs be known in their own unique way.
My oldest daughter, Catie, lets her needs be known through texts. Her texts are loving but short, direct, and to the point.
My second oldest, Mandy, does not text; she calls. She’s a talker. My average call with Mandy lasts about forty-three minutes. […]
[… … He writes something about each of the six kids … …]
Each of my kids is creative in how he or she asks, because they are not trying to do it “the right way”; they’re just being themselves. God doesn’t want you to do it “the right way” either. He wants you to be yourself, just like he made you. Let your needs be known in the way that feels right to you. Pray your way.
You might talk your prayers, yell your prayers, sing or journal them. You might pray long or you might pray short; just make sure you pray. There is no perfect way. Just pray.
When you pray, ask with confidence. I’m a dad, and I like it when my children need me. God is your perfect heavenly Father, and he loves it when you come to him and let your needs be known.
Craig Groeschel, Winning the War in Your Mind, Pages 171-172
Couldn’t say it any better myself, so I’ll let the quote stand on its own.
“Be yourself with God, the way God made you.” “Pray your way.” “There is no perfect way. Just pray.”
Check, check, and check. Pay attention to what he’s saying, because this is the truth.
There is no right or wrong way to pray. The belief that we need to speak some specific combination of words to unlock God’s Blessing is a belief in magic. And magic is an abomination to the LORD. All we need to do is approach God with confidence as one of His Beloved Children, and speak to Him in our own words. Tell Him everything on our minds, good and bad. That’s it; that’s how we pray.
Since it’s so simple, let’s take extra care to pray as much and as often as we can. The more we pray, the more we talk to and engage with God. And more engagement with God will change our life for the better. So let’s all get to praying, and see what happens!!
I will write a book review of Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel soon. It’s an excellent book and I 100% recommend it.
That’s it for #shorts Part 40.
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