Dorothy never felt more alive than when she was praying. It hadn’t begun that way. When Dorothy first became a Christian, prayer was awkward and forced for her. She tended to pray only on specific occasions calling for prayer, not spontaneously or frequently. And when she did pray, her prayers felt and sounded to her like they were stilted and strained, as she grasped for words. But gradually, over the years, Dorothy learned to pray from her heart to the heart of Christ, not from her head to a distant deity. Dorothy learned to trust that God already knew her prayers and just wanted more of her heart, devotion, attention, and intimacy. Dorothy then prayed more often, more genuinely, and more simply. Finally, prayer and communion with God through it was Dorothy’s default stance, as natural as breathing.
Disciplines
Christians sometimes speak of having disciplines, among which prayer is at or near the top. Worship, scripture study, fellowship among believers, service to the body of believers, and fasting are other Christian disciplines. A Christian discipline isn’t something that anyone makes another do. A Christian discipline is instead an individual commitment and practice that a believer may do to grow more Christ-like in character and closer to God. Some disciplines, like fellowship, are corporate practices, meaning practices of the body of believers. Other disciplines, like worship, scripture study, and service, are outward practices that believers may do together or alone. While believers may also pray corporately and outwardly, prayer is also an inward-facing discipline, one most likely to shape the believer’s heart, mind, and soul.
Definition
To pray is to converse and commune with God. In prayer, one speaks to God and listens for God’s response, whether felt, heard, intuited, or spiritually discerned, as God may communicate. Prayer may take the typical form of the person speaking to God without much if any pause for listening. Yet prayer at least implies the willingness to listen to God as well as to speak to God, again not that God will necessarily answer audibly but that the formulation and expression of the prayer may guide one in discerning God’s desire. The Bible depicts figures, such as Israel’s deliverer Moses and king David’s son Solomon, both speaking to God and receiving God’s response in more-or-less conversational mode. Jesus also conversed with his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his betrayal and on other occasions. To conceive of prayer as a two-way communication is appropriate, even if not what one typically observes or expects of prayer, which tends instead to look like a one-way communication. Speak to God as often and as intimately as you wish. Also listen.
Subjects
The subjects of prayer can be as numerous as the matters that come to one’s attention. Bible figures pray to God to find a spouse, find the right spouse, have a child, have more children, have rain for the crops, stop the rains from flooding the crops, say whether to go into battle, fight the battle, bring victory in battle, reveal sin, forgive sin, give meat to eat, give water to drink, give sight to the blind, raise the dead, and many other things. The Psalms include long prayers for protection and rescue from enemies, and defeat for those enemies. Simeon and Anna each prayed at the Temple to live long enough to see the advent of Christ. Jesus himself prayed at the Last Supper for his disciples, for all believers, and for God to glorify his Son. In and outside of church, one hears prayers of all kinds, from good weather for a church or family event to safe travels on the highways or in the air, school graduation, a new job, healing of sickness, salvation for the living, assurance of salvation for the dying, and comfort for the grieving. Pray about whatever matter of significance to you or others comes to mind.
Patterns
Prayer can also take patterns. A common pattern is to begin with adoration, move to confession, continue with thanksgiving, and end with supplication, referring to requests. Taking the first letters of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication gives the acronym ACTS. Following the ACTS pattern is a sound approach to ensuring the breadth of one’s prayers. Not every prayer must be a request. Some prayers should thank God for what he has already provided, rather than just ask God for more. Yet God responds to a pure and contrite heart. So prayers should include confession. And prayers need not always be about you, the one praying. So prayers may properly include adoration of God. Following the order of adoring God first, confessing one’s sins next, and thanking God for what he has already provided, may all properly precede your next urgent request. In that way, ACTS prayer can foster a relationship with God beyond treating God as merely a provider. Prayer isn’t a magic formula. But follow a healthy pattern for your prayers, including prayer’s multiple dimensions. If you never pray in confession, your unconfessed sin may impede answers to your prayers.
Postures
A traditional posture for Christian prayer is to kneel, as a sign of submission, humility, and reverence. Tradition holds that kneeling prayer wore and calloused the knees of James, the half brother of Christ, credited with authorship of the New Testament letter bearing that name. Bowing the head, again in humility and submission, and bringing the hands together in front of one, are other traditional postures for prayer. But biblical depictions of prayer also include figures lying prostrate, standing, addressing gatherings, sitting, and lifting eyes and hands heavenward. Prayer does not demand a certain outward posture but instead an inwardly pure and humble heart. Christians today pray in all postures, including in circles while holding hands, while laying hands on one another for commissioning or healing, and in mass recital or song, as the setting and circumstances suggest. Pray in the posture most conducive to holding your heart pure and humble before God.
Forms
Prayer can also take several forms. Prayers may certainly be vocal, not just muttered under one’s breath but instead spoken clearly enough for others to hear, understand, and agree. Prayers at worship services and prayers asking God’s blessing on a family meal are examples. Yet subvocalized prayer, muttered under one’s breath just audible enough for someone nearby to recognize the action if not make out the words, can also be appropriate. The biblical figure Hannah prayed in that manner at the Temple, as one might also pray for God’s blessing on a meal at a restaurant, when one didn’t wish to disturb other nearby diners. Silent prayer is also appropriate, keeping in mind that God knows our thoughts. Yet God also knows our hearts. If you are unable to express your prayers even in silent thoughts, then let your heart do so. God’s Spirit intercedes on your behalf. Some Christians also commit to breath prayer or breathing prayer, uttering words or committing to silent thoughts with each breath in and out, often repeating the same words. The simple Jesus prayer, Lord Jesus Christ..., Son of God..., have mercy on me,... a sinner, can work well in that manner. Christians also sing and chant prayers, alone and in gatherings. Christians may also lapse from speaking to one another, into prayer to God, and back again to speaking to one another, as Psalm 23 does. Pray in the form most appropriate to the occasion.
Commitment
Christians welcome the biblical injunction to pray continually, always in thanks and rejoicing, and with all kinds of prayers, petitions, and requests. Many Christians commit to praying before every meal, thanking God for the food and asking God to bless the meal, while sometimes adding other thanks and requests. Christian spouses and families may commit to praying together, particularly as children go to bed. Christian individuals may pray before they fall asleep and pray again when they wake up. Christians gathering at church for meetings often pray before beginning the meeting and may pray again when closing. Christian worship services may open with prayer, include later prayer for sick or grieving members and for the pastor giving the sermon, and close the service with prayer. Pastors visiting the sick at home or in the hospital will routinely pray with the ill person and family members. Pastors will also include prayers at weddings, baptisms, and memorials. Pastors and elders may also pray when commissioning missionaries for foreign or domestic travel and sending volunteers for local service. In these and other ways, Christians regularly weave prayer into everything they do, individually and corporately.
Effectiveness
In a particular context, in response to the disciple Peter’s observation that a fig tree that Jesus had cursed had quickly withered, Jesus told his disciples that whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Jesus also urged his disciples to pray in his name, suggesting that doing so opens God’s heart to the prayer for an affirmative answer. Faith in general, and faith in Jesus Christ specifically, is thus a critical component of prayer. Christians nearly uniformly end their prayers in the name of Jesus or with a similar conclusion. Don’t construe that conclusion as a magical incantation. Belief in and reliance on Jesus is the point, not his name’s mere recitation. An unbelieving prayer, God is unlikely to answer, even one that repeats a formulaic phrase. Christians may say that God answers all prayers, although sometimes his answer is either not yet or even no. The New Testament letter attributed to Christ’s half-brother James warns that God does not answer prayers uttered with the wrong motives, such as for one’s own pleasure. James also shares that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. Humble yourself and check your motives before you pray. If God does not seem to be answering your prayer, confess and repent of your sin. But also wait. God may have granted your prayer but for a better time than you imagined. And consider repeating your prayer. Jesus told the parable of the widow whose petition an unjust judge granted simply for her persistence.
Meditation
Some Christians associate closely with prayer the practice of silent meditation. Christians may meditate over God, a specific issue or concern while waiting to hear from God, or a Bible verse connected with a specific issue or concern. To hide God’s word in your heart and meditate over it in communion with God is a very special privilege. Christians may also clear their minds of all thought, in silent meditation, waiting to hear from God. Yet the Christian practice of meditation would differ from meditation practices in Eastern religions. Christians would generally avoid a mantra or sit in a specific yoga pose while meditating, for instance, if connected with a deity or tradition foreign to sound Christian practice. Mantras and yoga poses closely associated with Hinduism and Buddhism might appear to submit to a different god or spirit than the one true God in Jesus Christ. Christians generally desire to avoid syncretistic practices mixing Christian beliefs and forms with the beliefs and forms of other religions. Meditate and pray, but avoid forms and practices that may lead you away from God rather than toward him.
Fasting
Fasting is another discipline that Christians often associate with prayer. When especially challenging issues arise, Christians may commit to fast and pray, with the two disciplines aiding one another. To fast is to forgo food, water, or some other sustaining activity for a period. A Christian might fast from food, for instance, for a day or less, or up to a couple or even a few days. Fasting can focus the mind on God, freeing the mind and body of the time and attention that food, drink, or other activities take. Fasting may have other spiritual, psychological, and physiological effects that sharpen the senses or discernment, making for more effective listening in prayer. The generally small sacrifices that fasting takes can also demonstrate one’s humility and confirm one’s will and intentions for effective prayer. Consider bolstering your prayer with the discipline of fasting, so that you can focus on God.
Reflection
What are your prayer practices? On what subjects do you most frequently pray? In what place and posture do you most frequently pray? Do you regularly pray for God to bless your meals? Do you lead and join your family in prayer? Do you include adoration, confession, and thanks in your prayers, along with your requests? Are you relying on Jesus and invoking his name when you pray? Do you pray with the right motives rather than selfish motives to indulge your pleasures? Are you comfortable praying openly at Christian meetings and gatherings? If not, what would make you more comfortable doing so? Have you tried meditating on God’s word when praying? Would you be willing to try a brief fast in connection with your current or next major prayer subject?
Key Points
Prayer is among several spiritual disciplines Christians exercise.
Prayer involves conversation with God, both speaking and listening.
Prayer subjects can be as diverse as any issue, interest, or concern.
Adore, confess, and thank God before supplication or requests.
Christians pray in every posture, focused on reverence and humility.
Christians pray corporately and alone, verbally and silently.
Christians commit to continual prayer on all occasions and subjects.
Effective prayer invokes Christ’s name with the right motives.
Christians sometimes meditate and fast in connection with prayer.