Is there a wrong way to pray? Good day Salt and Light Commissioners! Welcome back to another post, that I hope will be a blessing to you and the ones you know. If you haven’t already, please sign up and receive a free publication pdf, “Keeping God First in Your Life” I’m sure it will be a blessing in your life.
In my last post I talked about how to pray. I laid out the blueprint Jesus used to teach His disciples how to pray. If you are interested in reading that and putting that blueprint into your prayer life you can click right Here to check that out.
Today I want to talk with you about prayer again…an issue that most people run into with prayer. the disciplines were concerned that they could have the wrong way to pray. Let’s imagine for a moment that I’m at work and I decide to call my wife and the conversation went like this:
“Hey Honey you want believe the day I had. First, I drove off with my coffee mug on the roof of my car, then when I got to work I had to drink the office coffee and it was too hot and I burned my tongue. When I got at my desk my boss came in a dropped a stack of files on my desk for me to go over for a presentation I have to prepare to present this week. So, needless to say, I’m going to be working late tonight. Can you please pick up the kids from band practice for me and pick up my dry cleaning, and just set my dinner in the microwave for me. Thanks Hun, Love you , bye.”
What’s wrong with a conversation like that? For one was it even a conversation? It was in fact a conversation, but a one-sided conversation. You can’t tell if she was on the other end or if I got her voicemail. If had a conversation like that with my wife, it wouldn’t go over so well. So why do we think that type of conversation or prayer is OK for God?
Most Christians or anybody who prays throws out all this dialog to God and never gives Him chance to respond. We pray, listing all our problems, and then we get up off our knees without letting God respond. He might have an answer for us if we only take the time to listen. That’s the wrong way to pray.
The good news is I have 5 steps that can help you fix your prayer life TODAY!
1.) Schedule Your Time
In this exercise you will be not only be setting aside time to pray to God, but you will also be setting aside time to hear from Him after you pray. Remember, we don’t want to have a one-sided conversation, so give God a chance to respond, if He chooses to. Set a time for yourself. It could be 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, 2 hours. Whatever you’re able to carve out. Keep in mind however, God operates on His timetable, and just because you only have 15 minutes to set aside doesn’t mean God will answer you in 15 minutes. So it’s best to be led by God for the time. Most people have more time in the beginning of the day or at the end of the day.
2.) Eliminate Distractions
When you are in expectation to hear from God, you must detach yourself from the distractions of the world. This could means your phone, TV, radio and any form of electronics. When I do this, I pray in a quiet room that does not have any technological devices. That could be hard to find in today’s modern home, but this could be a closet (Matthew 6:6). We talked earlier about setting a time. Personally, I have used an hourglass to keep me on my schedule I had set aside for me and God. I didn’t want to have my phone, my watch or anything that would not only give me the time, but also give me alerts to the outside world. I wanted to disconnect to connect with God, and an hourglass gave me that option. Try it. Eliminate distractions, if you want to eliminate the wrong way to pray.
It might even be beneficial, if you are a socialite and people are constantly calling or texting you, to let them know you will be unavailable for a certain period of time. That helps in 2 ways…first it keeps people from calling you when you are alone with God and second, it keeps your mind from wondering on who is possibly trying to get in contact with you right now.
3.) Sit quietly
Now that you have eliminated all distractions, you are ready to sit still before God. The bible says, “be still and know that God is God” (Psalms 46:10). It also says to wait on the Lord (Isaiah 30:18). After you pray you should stop speaking. Tell God that you will be seating still to hear a word from Him. Have an expectant heart to receive something from Him. If you are in dire need, who knows He may answer quickly. He might bring forth the answer in your quiet time with Him. Sitting still and not speaking gives you the opportunity to hear from God’s still small voice. Think on God in this time.
4.) Write it down
Have a pen and paper handy. If you would like to have a running log, which is what I do, you can take a notebook. You want to be ready to jot down anything new idea that comes to mind. It could be that God is speaking to you through a new idea that you never thought of before. But you want to write it down as it comes to you so you can go back to it later after your session. Personally I have gotten many revelations doing this method. Things that I have never thought about before. This step can be tricky for newer Christians, because how can you tell if this is God speaking to you and not your own thoughts? The bible says, “My [Jesus] sheep know my voice,” (John 10:27). The more you spend time with God, the more you will know what is from Him. It’s also worth noting, the ultimate goal, that the more time you spend with Him the more your thoughts will align with His.
And that’s why I write down anything that comes to mind in that time with God. Even if I don’t completely understand it. That way I can re-read it and determine what is from God and what is not. Often times you repeat this session, and you are constantly getting the same message over and over again, that could be a clear indication that it’s from God.
5.) Repeat
Some days/nights I have done this, I have gotten a page full of “answers” some days I get a line or nothing at all. It’s like I said earlier in this post, we are on God’s timetable and He will answer when he is ready. It doesn’t matter if you have 5 hours to sit before God, if he is not ready to answer you yet, that is His mind to do so. At least you gave him the chance to respond to you. That’s more than what you use to give Him. We just try again the next day and the next day after that. The bible says, “Pray without ceasing,” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ). God will give you your answer if you diligently seek Him.
Well there you have it salt and light commissioners! Is there a wrong way to pray? Yes there is, but we have 5 steps on how to fix it today! Remember if this post has been a blessing to you, please consider subscribing and get you free gift, “Keep God First in Your Life. ” Also share this post with anyone that you feel will benefit from it.
Now let me hear from you . Do you believe I right with the wrong way to pray? How do you prepare to receive a word from God? Leave them down in the comments. I’d love to hear read them. Until next time remember, you are the Salt and Light of the World! be blessed!