I know this is a stupid question. But how do you properly pray?

[Neostarwcc]

Please understand that I don't mean to sound like a troll on any of these questions. They are all honest and genuine questions from the heart. I honestly have been apart from God for so long that I don't know how to properly pray. Both my wife and I could use help on this. My wife has only prayed a few times in her life when she was Catholic as a kid. But she's always believed in Christ from the moment she was born. I on the other hand, was also raised Catholic but never shared my mother's faith so I didn't bother with praying much. I prayed sometimes but I still feel like as a kid I prayed the wrong way because I used to pray to Mary and to the saints and all of the other Catholic ways which I don't feel comfortable doing now as a protestant.

But yeah, I was an atheist for most of my life so I missed out on the whole "How to pray" thing. I know prayer is just talking to God and telling him about how you feel and thanking/praising him but what's expected of us when we pray? Would God care about the tiniest details of my life? Like say I want to pray about playing Video Games and tell him how happy they make me feel or tell him that I want to get to a certain level or something? Lol An honest question that I'm really embarrassed to ask. Let me explain. I don't want God to not care about what I have to say or if I'm committing a sin against him I don't want him to be angry at me or whatever. Or if I want to share with him that since I never achieved the goals in my life that I'm semi angry with him? I'm mostly angry at my dad but mostly because my dad physically abused me when I was growing up and told me that I would never amount to anything and basically that I was a loser. I've told God multiple times that I want to let this anger go in my life because God probably didn't want me to achieve the goals of my life and I should accept it. God also gave me my father for a reason. Maybe so that I would love my heavenly father more. Who knows.

Should we get in the habit of praying daily to God? I know some Christians would give varying answers to that question so maybe I can't be helped on that one. Does God hear our prayers in our thoughts or do we have to pray out loud? Would God hear my wife and I if we started praying together or is prayer supposed to be done by us individually in private like Jesus seems to command in Matthew 6:6? Do I pray to the Trinity or just to Jesus/God the Father the Holy Spirit alone?

Scripture pretty much says to pray to God the Father only but yet many Christians pray to the Trinity why is that when never in the New Testament do we see examples of Prayer to Jesus or the HS and Jesus never prayed to the HS? It makes sense why he wouldn't pray to himself but there's still another part of him that's fully and equally God and equivalent to himself so why didn't he pray to him to help guide him in his earthly mission?

If I just say "Dear God". Or just simply "God" when I start my prayer does that mean I'm praying to the Trinity or to a random false God? Does God know the desire of our hearts when we pray? Sounds like a stupid question but it's sincere. Like say if I pray "Dear God" does God know that I intend to pray to him or to pray to the Trinity? I really don't want him to think that I'm praying to some false God.

How do you overcome fear of rejection and the awkwardness of prayer? My wife feels extremely guilty and like God will smite her down any second because she's barely prayed to him. Nor do we really live for God and are just Christians on paper (That's changing).

I think that's about it for my questions for now. I'll probably ask more as this thread gets bigger.

 

[devin553344]

I find that I get answers to my prayers when I pray for Jesus will to be done in my life, not my own. Also I ask to God to change me in ways that support Jesus way. I find that he does change me.

In contrast, if I'm asking Jesus questions and want answers, nothing really comes back usually. If I'm asking for some blessing, sometimes it happens. So that is only sometimes effective.

God will answer to the good, he can do no evil, and that is a tricky subject in general life, HTH, Devin

 

[Te're'sa]

Thanks, Love, for posting this for both of us.

Just for the record, though, the smiting part is inaccurate - it's more of me being exasperated that my thoughts keep going towards guilt and therefore most of my prayer life ends up being reassurance that He forgives me and is glad I'm talking to him in that moment. I know He won't destroy me on the spot (even though He's God and totally has the right to). I do regret that my prayers can't hardly get any deeper than that.

I also suffer from nagging thoughts that "God knows everything and even predestined it so why bother praying to tell Him what's going on?" But if I'm making a sincere and urgent request on behalf of a friend or loved one, praying for someone besides myself, this and the above don't apply.

In answer to one of your questions ("Will God hear us if we pray out loud together?"), I believe that He would. BUT I believe also that it's easy, when ad-libbing prayers, to try to sound important "like the hypocrites," and lose track of the awareness of God and of the other person. That being said, I do want us to pray together; I kind of miss saying a prayer out loud longer than "God Bless this Mess" (meaning food - my own dad used to say that one when he was in a hurry but taking a break to eat lunch with us kids).

To other responders: I will let the rest of my husband's questions stand, and I'm interested in hearing your opinions and advice as well.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Prayer can be done silently or out loud. God reads hearts so He can hear you even if you’re silent.

There are formal prayers you can offer. The Our Father, for example. The Catholic Church has dozens or hundreds of formal prayers anybody can use.

The value of a formal prayer is that it’s written down already. All you have to do is recite it. That’s useful for people like me, who aren’t very good at speaking extemporaneously.

You can pray in tandem with someone else if you want. God is powerful enough to speak creation into existence so He can definitely hear the prayers of the faithful all at once.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Please understand that I don't mean to sound like a troll on any of these questions. They are all honest and genuine questions from the heart. I honestly have been apart from God for so long that I don't know how to properly pray. Both my wife and I could use help on this. My wife has only prayed a few times in her life when she was Catholic as a kid. But she's always believed in Christ from the moment she was born. I on the other hand, was also raised Catholic but never shared my mother's faith so I didn't bother with praying much. I prayed sometimes but I still feel like as a kid I prayed the wrong way because I used to pray to Mary and to the saints and all of the other Catholic ways which I don't feel comfortable doing now as a protestant.

But yeah, I was an atheist for most of my life so I missed out on the whole "How to pray" thing. I know prayer is just talking to God and telling him about how you feel and thanking/praising him but what's expected of us when we pray? Would God care about the tiniest details of my life? Like say I want to pray about playing Video Games and tell him how happy they make me feel or tell him that I want to get to a certain level or something? Lol An honest question that I'm really embarrassed to ask. Let me explain. I don't want God to not care about what I have to say or if I'm committing a sin against him I don't want him to be angry at me or whatever. Or if I want to share with him that since I never achieved the goals in my life that I'm semi angry with him? I'm mostly angry at my dad but mostly because my dad physically abused me when I was growing up and told me that I would never amount to anything and basically that I was a loser. I've told God multiple times that I want to let this anger go in my life because God probably didn't want me to achieve the goals of my life and I should accept it. God also gave me my father for a reason. Maybe so that I would love my heavenly father more. Who knows.

Should we get in the habit of praying daily to God? I know some Christians would give varying answers to that question so maybe I can't be helped on that one. Does God hear our prayers in our thoughts or do we have to pray out loud? Would God hear my wife and I if we started praying together or is prayer supposed to be done by us individually in private like Jesus seems to command in Matthew 6:6? Do I pray to the Trinity or just to Jesus/God the Father the Holy Spirit alone?

Scripture pretty much says to pray to God the Father only but yet many Christians pray to the Trinity why is that when never in the New Testament do we see examples of Prayer to Jesus or the HS and Jesus never prayed to the HS? It makes sense why he wouldn't pray to himself but there's still another part of him that's fully and equally God and equivalent to himself so why didn't he pray to him to help guide him in his earthly mission?

If I just say "Dear God". Or just simply "God" when I start my prayer does that mean I'm praying to the Trinity or to a random false God? Does God know the desire of our hearts when we pray? Sounds like a stupid question but it's sincere. Like say if I pray "Dear God" does God know that I intend to pray to him or to pray to the Trinity? I really don't want him to think that I'm praying to some false God.

How do you overcome fear of rejection and the awkwardness of prayer? My wife feels extremely guilty and like God will smite her down any second because she's barely prayed to him. Nor do we really live for God and are just Christians on paper (That's changing).

I think that's about it for my questions for now. I'll probably ask more as this thread gets bigger.

Prayer is the most simple thing and yet people complicate it. It is talking to God. In order to get through to God, we need to be honest and real. God answered the simple prayer of a tax collector - "God be merciful to me, a sinner". The thief on the cross asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus answered him immediately. We do need to pray in Jesus name. However, I was a 12 year old unbeliever when God answered my prayer. It was so obviously an answer that it scared me and I did not pray again until I was born again. Talk to God as if He was a real person who loves you to a degree that you cannot possibly imagine. That's because it's the truth. I write my prayers out because I find my mind does not wander as much. Praying out loud is helpful. God is love. He is not going to smite you. Ask God to reveal Himself to you.

Lord Jesus promised that if we pray in His name, God will hear us. He may not answer as we would like. I'm still waiting for the $50 million that I asked for years ago... J/K but you know what I mean. God only gives good things. But we don't always understand God's ways. Praying for patience, for example. God will allow troubles to come our way, because "tribulation works patience" (Romans 5:3) God asks us to trust Him. God's love for us has been proven beyond doubt. He loves us enough to send His only Son to die in our place. You can trust a God like that!

 

[Neostarwcc]

I find that I get answers to my prayers when I pray for Jesus will to be done in my life, not my own. Also I ask to God to change me in ways that support Jesus way. I find that he does change me.

In contrast, if I'm asking Jesus questions and want answers, nothing really comes back. If I'm asking for some blessing, sometimes it happens. So that is only sometimes effective.

God will answer to the good, he can do no evil, and that is a tricky subject in general life, HTH, Devin

Yes, I want to do God's will and not my own. When I accepted Christ and vowed to be committed to him for the rest of my life that includes doing what God wants and not what I want. Lately I have been doing what I want and that's going to change. But that's a whole other topic.

So when we do God's will our prayers get answered? But our prayers have to be within God's will for God to answer them right? We can't just ask for whatever we want. Obviously God wants to give us the desires of our hearts but he isn't Oprah Winfrey who will give us free stuff if we just ask for it.

Plus many people ask God for many things and most of them don't come to pass. I think it's because God hears all prayers but he doesn't answer the prayer unless for one you're Christian and for two it's within his will. But then again, I could be wrong.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Prayer is the most simple thing and yet people complicate it. It is talking to God. In order to get through to God, we need to be honest and real. God answered the simple prayer of a tax collector - "God be merciful to me, a sinner". The thief on the cross asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus answered him immediately. We do need to pray in Jesus name. However, I was a 12 year old unbeliever when God answered my prayer. It was so obviously an answer that it scared me and I did not pray again until I was born again. Talk to God as if He was a real person who loves you to a degree that you cannot possibly imagine. That's because it's the truth. I write my prayers out because I find my mind does not wander as much. Praying out loud is helpful. God is love. He is not going to smite you. Ask God to reveal Himself to you.

Lord Jesus promised that if we pray in His name, God will hear us. He may not answer as we would like. I'm still waiting for the $50 million that I asked for years ago... J/K but you know what I mean. God only gives good things. But we don't always understand God's ways. Praying for patience, for example. God will allow troubles to come our way, because "tribulation works patience" (Romans 5:3) God asks us to trust Him. God's love for us has been proven beyond doubt. He loves us enough to send His only Son to die in our place. You can trust a God like that!

So when I pray to God I just talk to him as if I were talking to my wife or to a person? So he would care about the random things about my life and things that give me joy? People I talk to and online friends that I've made? Even if they're sins? Or does he want me to repent of those sins and try to remove them from my life? It's widely debated whether or not most of my hobbies and actions are sins or not among Christians so it would be impossible to know what's a sin against God and what's not. But maybe God would guide me through not praying about them anymore.

 

[devin553344]

Yes, I want to do God's will and not my own. When I accepted Christ and vowed to be committed to him for the rest of my life that includes doing what God wants and not what I want. Lately I have been doing what I want and that's going to change. But that's a whole other topic.

So when we do God's will our prayers get answered? But our prayers have to be within God's will for God to answer them right? We can't just ask for whatever we want. Obviously God wants to give us the desires of our hearts but he isn't Oprah Winfrey who will give us free stuff if we just ask for it.

Plus many people ask God for many things and most of them don't come to pass. I think it's because God hears all prayers but he doesn't answer the prayer unless for one you're Christian and for two it's within his will. But then again, I could be wrong.

You're correct in my opinion! God is good and only does good. And sometimes good is not what we want or our will. At least that's what I find. Being Good is a complicated issue made easier by biblical teachings. You could always ask for something that you know is God's good nature and therefore His divine will. There is more in the bible for getting answers like these in prayer but here is a good section:

Matthew 25:35-40

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

 

[Willie T]

It's kind of simple. How did Jesus do it?

 

[Neostarwcc]

Prayer can be done silently or out loud. God reads hearts so He can hear you even if you’re silent.

There are formal prayers you can offer. The Our Father, for example. The Catholic Church has dozens or hundreds of formal prayers anybody can use.

The value of a formal prayer is that it’s written down already. All you have to do is recite it. That’s useful for people like me, who aren’t very good at speaking extemporaneously.

You can pray in tandem with someone else if you want. God is powerful enough to speak creation into existence so He can definitely hear the prayers of the faithful all at once.

Yes, when Jesus was asked this very question he gave the Our Father prayer. Are we supposed to use the our father before every prayer or just our morning prayer? Can it just be used as a single prayer or is it just a prayer that's always said before the rest of your prayer?

I think it's been explained to me this way. Jesus gave up the our Father prayer because when it is cut down into various sections it teaches us how God wants us to pray. Like for example when we say "Our Father who art in heaven" we are giving glory to and acknowleding God. "Your kingdom come your will be done" is declaring to God that we want his kingdom on earth and we eagerly await Jesus's return. Your will be done means that we want to do God's will and not our own. "Give us this day our daily bread".

and "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" asks God to forgive us and declares to God that we will forgive others. I could go on but you get the point. The prayer is basically how God wants us to pray. He wants us to praise him, to forgive others and be asked to be forgiven, to eagerly await his kingdom on Earth and for his will to be done in our lives ...etc.

Idk I could be wrong.

 

[Neostarwcc]

It's kind of simple. How did Jesus do it?

Jesus prayed in secret to God the Father. He never prayed in groups or to the Trinity and he always asked for God's will to be done not his will. He wanted to come to Earth to do God the Father's will and to free us from our sins.

 

[Neostarwcc]

You're correct in my opinion! God is good and only does good. And sometimes good is not what we want or our will. At least that's what I find. Being Good is a complicated issue made easier by biblical teachings. You could always ask for something that you know is God's good nature and therefore His divine will. There is more in the bible for getting answers like these in prayer but here is a good section:

Matthew 25:35-40

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Right those passages were about our Good works on heaven that God called for each one of us to do. I think I see what you're saying.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Thanks, Love, for posting this for both of us.

Just for the record, though, the smiting part is inaccurate - it's more of me being exasperated that my thoughts keep going towards guilt and therefore most of my prayer life ends up being reassurance that He forgives me and is glad I'm talking to him in that moment. I know He won't destroy me on the spot (even though He's God and totally has the right to). I do regret that my prayers can't hardly get any deeper than that.

I also suffer from nagging thoughts that "God knows everything and even predestined it so why bother praying to tell Him what's going on?" But if I'm making a sincere and urgent request on behalf of a friend or loved one, praying for someone besides myself, this and the above don't apply.

In answer to one of your questions ("Will God hear us if we pray out loud together?"), I believe that He would. BUT I believe also that it's easy, when ad-libbing prayers, to try to sound important "like the hypocrites," and lose track of the awareness of God and of the other person. That being said, I do want us to pray together; I kind of miss saying a prayer out loud longer than "God Bless this Mess" (meaning food - my own dad used to say that one when he was in a hurry but taking a break to eat lunch with us kids).

To other responders: I will let the rest of my husband's questions stand, and I'm interested in hearing your opinions and advice as well.

God is revealed by Jesus as Father, something that the people of Israel never understood. Decent parents love their kids and enjoy talking with them. God loves us and wants us to ask for things. I know that the world is becoming more insular, insensitive and uncaring. Too many parents are more interested in their smart phone than their kids. God is not like that. He has 3 answers: Yes, No and Wait. Just be real with God. Be yourself. I read a book years ago called "Hey God". It was the testimony of a woman who had a wonderful prayer life. And yes, she spoke to God saying, "Hey God" as the preface. I have a feeling she was Italian, but it was a long time ago. God knows our every need and weakness. He also knows that we need Him above all else. If He just doles out answers without our asking, it would create problems. We would not see our need of God. We would live independently, which is the sin that brought Adam and Eve undone. We would take God for granted. We have free will. God respects that. We need to make our will clear to God. Lord Jesus told to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking. We are told that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. It's relationship. How would it be in your marriage if you only spoke to your husband on a Sunday morning?

 

[devin553344]

Right those passages were about our Good works on heaven that God called for each one of us to do. I think I see what you're saying.

To answer your other question, as you indicated also I think, I pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus the Christ. We're told to pray to Heavenly Father by Jesus himself in the Lord's prayer Matthew 6:9-13. I say it word for word once a day in the morning, but we are to pray in that manner, so the rest of the day I want to pray in that manner personal prayers.

I say at the end, "in the name of Jesus the Christ I pray". We are told by Jesus in John 14:13-14:

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

I'll add to that, that if you read the surrounding passages you get a better idea of what to pray for.

 

[Albion]

It's kind of simple. How did Jesus do it?

Ask the Father, and do it in Jesus' name??

 

[tturt]

Sometimes the best prayers are "Jesus,, Jesus" Praying is about what's on our hearts and He understands our heart cries.

You might want to try it.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Are we supposed to use the our father before every prayer or just our morning prayer? Can it just be used as a single prayer or is it just a prayer that's always said before the rest of your prayer?

Different people pray it at different times. There isn’t a one size fits all solution for it.

I have a set of morning prayers. It includes the Our Father, some formalized Catholic prayers and the Nicene Creed. But you can pray any prayer as often or as rarely as you want.

 

[com7fy8]

Would God care about the tiniest details of my life?

Have you had children? How many details of your children have been interesting to you? But God is not like us humans. As our children get older, they can seem more demanding to us, and we might just as soon turn them over to toys and TV and games to babysit them. But our Father does not change on us, like this. Our Father desires to share with us in all our activities and how we are relating.

"casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

But if you put God on time out, you are putting yourself on time out from how we can discover loving with Him . . . in everything.

"Let all that you do be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)

So, there is nothing to do without Him. He is this personally interested in each of us.

But we are the ones who are into ourselves and impersonal, so we do not share with Him in His love.

And so prayer is related to relating in love, sensing, responding, staying submissive to God all the time . . . in His peace >

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15)

If you are living and loving in this peace, you won't need any vain things to help you feel good. Learning how to love and share with God is the most worthwhile adventure and challenge and education there is

 

[somuchjoy]

When I pray, I almost always start with Dear Heavenly Father and end with In Jesus's name I pray-this is just something I have done since I was little and was always told to pray in Jesus's name. I pray every morning and night-and in between Sometimes, I will just talk to him like I am talking to my friend. I cast all my worries onto Him throughout my day. Sometimes, when I don't know what to say, I will say the Lord's Prayer. I will even say something like "God, I do not like doing (whatever part of my job I am struggling with)". I may say it out loud talking to him, or even just think it, and I know he hears me and I feel like I am talking to my earthly parents and just having a conversation. I find that as I get further along in this journey, I do pray more and simply talk to God more. You will probably get much better answers than mine, but I always ask to be shown the way and the right way to do things.

 

[Prodigal Son returns]

I once read somewhere to pray with all your heart and all your mind and I wondered what that meant.
Maybe i'll never fully understand that but this is how I've been praying recently.

I just stick to the "Our Father" prayer taught to us by Jesus. However as I'm praying i keep in my mind and heart the purpose of the prayer. For example if I want God to help me with the temptation of sin I keep focusing on that in mind while praying. If I'm thanking God for something I keep that focused in my mind while praying. Whenever I tried just talking to God I become so nervous, I try make it sound eloquent but just end up stumbling over my words. God reads our minds and hearts and knows what we are going to ask for before we ask it.

And Neostarwcc, I wouldn't be wasting prayers on video games. I would thank God first for the things u have such as your lovely wife who sounds like she yearns for a connection to God. Then I would ask him to help remove any resentments against family members and to keep your relationships strong.

God Bless