“[Pray] at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” – Ephesians 6:18
What is Prayer?
Prayer is an intriguing thing in the Bible. There are thousands of prayers in the Bible and those prayers happen in all kinds of situations and locations. They are prayed for a wide variety of reasons. Many different people pray, including men, women, children, clergy, laypeople, kings, and peasants…pretty much anybody and everybody.
So, what is prayer? With such a broad use of prayer in the Bible, it can most simply be defined as,
“Talking with God.”
How Do I Pray?
The Bible doesn’t define certain times of the day or year. It doesn’t establish specific locations. There aren’t specific words that must be said. You can pray anytime, anywhere, using whatever words you choose.
What the Bible does tells us, though, is who we pray to. We pray to the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We don’t pray to other so-called “gods,” other people, animals, or created things (idols).
The Bible describes prayer as coming before the throne of God. That’s amazing!…if not, a little scary. However, we shouldn’t be afraid. The Bible teaches us that because of Jesus work on the cross we come before the throne of God boldly, as children before their loving Father.
Just as a child boldly asks for whatever they need (or want), we do so with God. We know that He loves us, cares for us, and is both able and willing to help us.
The Structure of Prayer:
While the broad nature of prayer makes it easier to pray in some respects (we don’t have to memorize certain words or phrases, etc.), some people find that level of freedom a little paralyzing. We tend to like order, structure, and steps. So, there are some structures you can follow, if you find that helpful.
A.C.T.S
One of the things I like about this model is it includes pretty much everything you would want or need to do in prayer. It covers all the bases. Another thing I like is it helps to put us in the proper mental position. We begin by remembering who God is through praise. Then we unload the burden of our sin and receive forgiveness. Freed of that burden, we gratefully recount what God has done for us. All this makes us humble and reminds us that God can help and He loves us, at which point we ask for what we and others need.
Pre-written Prayers
It is great to pray from the heart, but it can also be wonderful and helpful to pray prayers that others have written. I find that sometimes the prayers from my heart start to all sound the same. By sometimes praying prayers others have written, it expands the language and focus of my prayers so that I pray for things I might not have thought of otherwise.
Pre-written prayers are also helpful when praying in groups, such as a family devotion or small group. It allows all the people in the group to pray together. Some of the more commonly prayed pre-written prayers are the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s morning and evening prayers.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.
Amen
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank you, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
Luther’s Evening Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray You to forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.
If you use a devotion for your daily time in God’s Word, they probably have a prayer included as well.
Praying the Scriptures:
Another practice that many people have used over the centuries is praying prayers from the Bible. The Psalms are most commonly used. You can simply start with Psalm 1 and pray through a Psalm a day.
One of the neat things about praying the Psalms is that there are different kinds of Psalms. Some are praises. Others are laments. Still, others are confessions. Some are even complaints. This can help us deepen our understanding of prayer, the language we use, and the breadth of the things we pray about.
There are other prayers throughout the Scriptures that you can use as well.
Teaching Your Children to Pray.
Your kids are never too old to learn to pray. They are also almost never too young. From when they can start talking and forming sentences, they can pray. Even before that, you can still pray with them even if they can’t speak. Not only are they part of your family prayers, but they can learn by watching and listening to you pray.
For most children, giving them some structure will help them learn to pray. The A.C.T.S. model above can work or you can use whatever works for you and your family. In my family prayers, we usually start with thanking God for our day, ask for forgiveness, then thank God for specific things, and finish by asking God for help with things. That’s what we do most of the time, you may have a different structure that works well for you.
For very young children, you may want to guide them through the prayer. When my 2-year-old was learning to pray, we would say a short phrase and have him repeat it. At first it was just 3 or 4 phrases. Over time it got longer. Now, he can come up with things himself most of the time.
Lastly, two other things can be very helpful for your kids. First, pray together. Let them hear you pray. They will learn from that. Second, I encourage you to include a pre-written group prayer, like the Lord’s Prayer or one of Luther’s morning or evening prayers. These allow the family to pray together. It helps to teach how to pray. And, in the case of those specific prayers, they include many elements of prayer (confession, supplication, thanksgiving, etc.).
You Can Do It!!
The most important thing with prayer is that we pray. It may not always sound pretty and that’s ok. Just do it. You’ll get more comfortable with praying the more you do it. If your family hasn’t prayed together, start.
If you would like to explore the theology of prayer more deeply, below is a link to a paper about prayer.
http://www.lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id=1745
God bless!
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
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