I Don't Really Pray...

Eph 6.18 tell us to pray with "all prayer". There are many different kinds of prayer, and each is right in its own place. Sometimes I feel I am a "friend of God". Other times I am blown away in awe of His majesty. The key is to be sensitive to what Holy Spirit is doing in our hearts, and to cooperate with it. It's important to listen. A prayer regimen may help, as does Bible reading.

If you're having difficulty praying keep at it the best you can. Look for pragmatic ways to honor God in every circumstance. Your relationship will grow closer and you'll have more to say.

Dear Driftless. In Matthew 22: 35-40: Jesus tells us: " The first and great Commandment is: " Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself." Jesus also tells us: " On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
God is Love and God wants loving sons and daughters. In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " Ask and you shall receive," we ask God for Love and Joy, then we thank God, and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour: all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends. God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and bless us.
The Bible tells us: " Repent and be Born Again," we change from being selfish and unloving to Loving God with all our beings, and loving our neighbour as we love ourselves. We might stumble and forget at times, but then we ask God to forgive us, and carry on Loving and Caring.
The Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY. You talk to God a lot, that is like praying, and in time you will thank and ask God for many things: (praying to our Heavenly Father. I say this with love, Driftless. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

I do the exact same thing! I just talk. Sometimes out loud, sometimes with no voice and sometimes in my head. This is the only form of prayer I can do, and I feel self conscious about it. As if it's not a real prayer. I don't know if it is. But I hope it He listens to it as a conversation and prayer.

In my opinion you're praying like you should be--like a son talking to His father. Just remember to pray from the heart, always be thankful, and be sure to honor Him for who He is. That is the way you keep a good relationship strong.

Blessings,

Alan

Jesus called us friends. He is our Creator, Lord, and friend. He was called the friend of sinners.

Christianity is all about a relationship, based on the love of God for us, and us responding to his love, with ours.
How can there be any relationship, if there is no fellowship? That is not possible.

Communication between us and God, is the foundation of our relationship with God.

Love needs communication, in order to be expressed.

About praying;

Prayer first of all, is worshipping and praising God, for Who he is, and for what He does.
We were created with the purpose to worship God, the Creator.

Then we need to thank God, for everything He gives us, and for everything He does in our life.

Asking God for what we need, remains the last.

Psalm 148, Psalm 100, Revelation 1:6, 4:8-11, 5:10-14, 7:11,12, 19:1-10,16, 20:6, 22:8,9, Psalm 119:164, 2 Timothy 2:20,21, Psalm 113:2, 3, Psalm 27:6, Psalm 29:1, 2, Isaiah 6:1-4, 42:8,10,12, 43:6,7,21, 66:23, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20, 10:31, 1 Chronicles 23:5,30, Acts 12:23, Romans 1:21, 12:1, Hebrews 1:6, Psalm 117.

Prayer is acknowledging God in all things, giving thanks always and relying on God to provide for you. I think a lot of people struggle with prayer life, but prayer should not be a set regime, sometimes you may pray only for a specific issue, another time for thanks.

Persistence, petitions and patience is a simple motto if you get disheartened. God hears our prayers, and they do get answered, not always how we want, but according to His divine purpose. Persistence teaches and increases our faith in God.

God delights in our prayers, for we are made righteous in Him through faith.

Proverbs 15:8 - "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But He loves him who follows righteousness."

Hebrews 5:7 - Christ as our example
"who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear"

You are doing what was suggested in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 --

Pray without ceasing.

That doesn't mean chants -- it is the continual mindfulness that God is beside you, ready to converse at all times.
A written prayer can be helpful to keep our minds on praying, or give us reassurance that we're praying on the right track -- but there is no rule in scriptures that says we must use prayer books.
In fact, books were not printed for distribution until the 1400's. Before that, people were hand-writing documents, so people didn't own prayer books or Bibles. Some couldn't even read their own languages. (True in some countries not very long ago, and still in small pockets.)

So people must have prayed what was on their hearts and minds. You don't need to feel guilty for the conclusion you have tested and found to work well.

I am still grateful for the few I had to memorize, because they pop into my head at useful times... but I don't rely on them for daily prayer.
The Lord's Prayer -- keep that one.