How To Pray Properly

Prayer is our way of communicating with God. Just as we talk or have conversations with our earthly parents, we do the same with God through prayer. It is not just simply communicating with Him but also having communion with Him. Many things are going on when we pray. We become vulnerable to God, lift our prayer requests to Him (Philippians 4:6-7), receive grace from Him, and see more of God’s heart.

Heavenly Father, always remind me how important prayer is and that even though it is something You have commanded me to do, in the end, it is all for my sake because it is where I get to be more intimate with You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Why Do We Have To Pray Properly?

Before we get into why we must pray properly, we must first point out that prayer is done out of our relationship with God. It is not some ritual that we must do correctly so that God will hear us. If that were the case, then we would be no different than the Pharisees, who care so much about the ritualistic aspect of worship and prayer, as well as the legalities of it, that they forget the main essence of prayer, which is worship. We pray because we are in a relationship with God, birthed again in the spirit because of Christ. We approach God not just as a God high up in the heavens but also as our heavenly Father. In Galatians 4:3-7, it is written that in Christ we have been adopted as God’s children.

But why, then, must we worry about praying correctly? While indeed God is our heavenly Father, we must remember that He is still the Most High God. He is still the God who sits on the throne (Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Psalm 45:6), mighty (I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8), all-powerful (Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:5), all-knowing (For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Psalm 139:4), sovereign (Psalm 97), holy (And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:3), full of splendor and majesty (His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant. Psalm 111:3-5), awesome (For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: Deuteronomy 10:17), and the Creator of everything (Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. Isaiah 40:28). Because God is the Most High God, we must still revere and respect Him. That is why (The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Proverbs 9:10) tells us about fearing God, which is the beginning of wisdom. When we recognize God for who He is and revere Him, we will see things from His perspective and center everything on Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We aim to pray properly before God because we recognize that He is the almighty God. If we visit the president in the Oval Office at the White House, surely you would take steps to present yourself properly to Him. You would wear decent clothes and behave properly and with respect. You would still do the same even if the president were your uncle, father, or relative. You would still show respect to the presidency and wouldn’t just sit around casually placing your feet on the table. The same goes for God. While God is our heavenly Father, He is still the sovereign God. Therefore, we aim to pray properly whenever we come before His throne of grace (Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16).

That does not mean we have formal rules to follow whenever we pray. That is not the heart of it. The heart of why we aim to pray properly is because we want to worship God in both spirit and truth (God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24). While we should not be legalistic by imposing specific steps on ourselves when praying, we should also not be too overfamiliar with God that we sit around looking at our phone while praying to Him.

How Can We Pray Properly?

The answer to this question is quite subjective, as we relate to God differently according to our faith. Some are more mature in their walk, while others are not. Some have different convictions or views, while others think differently. However, regardless of one’s conviction when it comes to prayer, there is a general principle that can guide us and ensure that we pray properly, and that is to “fear God.” The fear we are talking about here is not the kind of fear we feel when we are terrified or afraid in a bad way. Our fear of God is a reverential kind of fear because we are in awe of His awesomeness.

If we always keep that in mind, it will guide our prayers. For example, perhaps we used to pray to impress others and show that we were prayerful. If we come to know God’s holiness and understand that He knows everything, even the deepest recesses of our hearts, it compels us to pray without trying to impress others. If praying is something that we do on a whim, whenever we feel like it, we should come to understand that God owns everything in the universe, even our time. We can come to realize that our time and schedule should adjust to God and that prayer is something we should do with intentionality. We must avoid being distracted by our gadgets because we know that we are speaking to the King of kings, our heavenly Father. That is why, in Luke 11:1-13, when Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He began with hallowing God’s name.

Father in heaven, break whatever apathy and overfamiliarity I have towards You and show me Your glory, just as You showed Moses. May Your glory stir my heart into worship so that I do everything out of worship, especially praying. May the way I pray always be guided by my reverence for who You are and what You are like, worshiping You in both spirit and truth. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

We have a supreme, sovereign, and holy God high above our reach, yet we were brought near to Him by the blood of Christ, who reconciled us to the Father and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility (For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: Ephesians 2:14-16). What Christ has done gives us the privilege of coming before the Father’s throne of grace.