Silverton Evangelical Church

Prayer for absolute beginners


Question 1: "How are you supposed to pray?"


 

Is there a formula you're supposed to use? Do you have to kneel down or cross yourself or wash yourself first? What if you say the wrong thing? How do you know you're doing it right?

Here are three important things you need to know...


Theres no secret recipe


It really doesn't matter what words you use. Sometimes people use written prayers, just to help them get going and get their thoughts in order, but you don't need to do that. (We have actually provided some basic prayers on a separate page which may help if you're not sure what to pray).


The key thing is this: God wants reality and honesty from us, not flowery words. King David was a man who messed up many times, but what God liked about him was his total honesty. You can see that in Psalm 51, written after one of David's big failures. He says:


 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,

    a flawless performance is nothing to you.

I learned God-worship

    when my pride was shattered.

Heart-shattered lives ready for love

    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.


 

And Jesus told his hearers that prayer needs to be simple and direct:


 “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programmes and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply."


 

So you can pray about anything. It isn't just a matter of listing your needs, as if you were doing Click and Collect with Tesco's. Prayer is a conversation - you can talk to God about your day, your thoughts and feelings, your worries, the stuff you get wrong, the things you don't understand. And you can pray for other people too, not just yourself. There are no rules - just a Heavenly Father with a listening ear. Go talk to him.

 

  You have to believe enough to ask

 


You're probably looking at this page because there are things you would like God to do for you. (That's not a problem - that's how most people get started.) But there's a big difference between a prayer like this:

 

"OK, God, I don't think I believe in you but I'm going to give it a try anyway. So here's the experiment. I need fifty quid by the weekend and if I don't get it I'll stop believing. Got that? "

 

And this:

 

"God, I'm not sure you're there, and I feel like an idiot talking like this, but I'm prepared to believe that you really can help me..."

 

The first person is challenging a God he really doesn't think will do anything. The second may have doubts, but he's reaching out with all the faith he can muster.

 

The New Testament says this:


 Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

 


So does this mean you need to believe perfectly and fully before God will answer? No. It just means that you have to believe enough to ask.  You don't "keep all your options open" - you take a deliberate step of trust in Jesus.  Be honest about your doubts and fears, but put them to one side and ask anyway.


Once Jesus was asked by a distraught father to cure his son, who was writhing on the ground in the grip of a seizure. He cried out, "Lord, I believe - but help me with my doubts!" That's the kind of attitude God can work with.

 

 You have to ask in Jesus name



What does this mean? That Jesus' name is some kind of magic mantra that sets up good vibrations in the cosmos if you repeat it often enough? Nope. To ask "in the name of Jesus" just means: claiming the help and authority and power of Jesus himself. Being clear in your mind that if God is going to help you, he'll do it because Jesus has made it possible.

 

God's Son died on the cross to make a way for us to approach God without fear and guilt. He rose out of the grave to prove that he has conquered the worst enemies the human race has ever had, and he's got the power to help you now. So we come to God "in Jesus' name".


We're sinful, failing human beings, and we have no right to ask anything from a Creator whom we've ignored for most of our lives. But because Jesus has died in our place, we can come before him with confidence. Here's the Bible again:

 

 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.


 

By the way... All the Bible quotations on this page are taken from The Message, a very different modern translation which makes it much easier to understand what the Bible's saying. If you'd like to read a bit more, try the Gospel of Luke - you can find it online here  (And if you decide you don't like The Message, go to the drop-down box at the top of that page and choose another translation instead - e.g. The Good News Translation (GNT).)



IS THIS ALL WE CAN TELL YOU?  No, there's loads more. If you want help in getting started, or if
you'd like somebody actually to pray with you, no problem - just let us know.

 





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