How To Pray Earnestly

Prayer is our way of communicating with God. However, God can also speak to us through impressions, dreams, visions, and more. God talks to us primarily through the inerrant and infallible scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit and God-breathed, as written in (All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). We, on the other hand, talk to God through prayer. Just as we want others to communicate earnestly and sincerely with us, God also wants us to pray to Him authentically. After all, as mentioned, prayer is how we communicate with God. It is how we converse openly with our heavenly Father.

Father in heaven, I pray that I will always pray to You with a sincere heart. May I always pray eagerly, knowing that I can spend time with and converse with You. I pray that You will break the overfamiliarity in me when praying. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

 

How do we pray earnestly?

We pray earnestly by always remembering that our relationship with God is the basis of our prayer or communication. We pray to God not to earn His favor, do good works to improve our standing before Him, or even be a “religious person.” We pray to God because we want to converse with Him.

In (But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:7), Jesus teaches us that when we pray, we must not say or heap up empty phrases, thinking that God will hear our prayers any louder. That is one thing that does not make a prayer, or at least parts of our prayers, any more earnest. When we say something in prayer, we must mean it. However, we often say it just to say it, thinking that it makes our prayers better or even more effective. One commonly used word that we end up overusing is “Father, Lord, God.” Sometimes we overuse those words to the point that they are not part of the prayer anymore, but rather a habit we fall into when praying. As we pray, we ought to pray and say what we mean with all sincerity.

(And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. Matthew 6:5) also teaches us that when we pray, we ought not to pray like the hypocrites who pray in public to be seen. We pray because we want to talk to our heavenly Father, not because we want to impress other people. There is nothing inherently wrong with praying in public. What Jesus was pointing out was that praying in public due to wanting to be seen as a prayerful person—that is the sign of a heart aiming to please men rather than God.

We pray earnestly by genuinely communicating with God and pouring out to Him what we want to pour out. Whether those are prayers of thanksgiving, as written in (Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), prayer requests where you lift to God the concerns you have, as written in (Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7), or anything where you pour out your heart to God, just as David did in the Psalms.

 

The critical thing to remember to ensure that we are praying is “relationship.” Are you praying to God out of your relationship with Him as your heavenly Father? If that is where you are coming from as you pray, you won’t need to appear religious in order to be heard. You don’t even need to impress others because, in Christ, God is already impressed with you.

Heavenly Father, I thank You because through Christ I can be in a relationship with You, where I can be intimate and vulnerable toward You. Thank You because as I pray, I don’t have to impress You or pray in a certain way for You to hear my prayers. In Christ, I have access to Your throne of grace. I don’t have to impress You because You are already pleased with me, for You see Christ in me. In Christ, my prayers are heard. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

We also end up not praying sincerely if we see and perform prayer as an obligation. While God has commanded us to pray to Him, we should do it out of our love for Him. In (By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:2-4), it is written that our love of God means that His commandments are not burdensome. We pray because it is something we delight in doing, not because it is something we must do. When done out of love for God, it becomes a delight rather than an obligation. We appreciate prayer and will pray earnestly when we realize what a privilege it is to be brought near again to God in Christ, be adopted as His children, and be able to come to His throne of grace to pray.