First Free Prayer

Prayer in its simplest definition is conversation with God. Now, don’t move past that too quickly. This isn’t small talk with someone in the grocery store or chatting football with buddies. This is conversation and connection with the God of the universe! Notice the word conversation. That means not only do you speak to God, but God speaks to you. Prayer is talking and listening; it’s expressing and receiving. What a gift!

It does! And here’s some reasons why. First, prayer is a primary means in which your relationship with God develops. It’s hard to get to know someone and grow in a relationship with them if we only talk once in a while. But God invites us into more than just a “once in a while” relationship; He actually invites us to “pray continuously” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That means He wants a continuous relationship with us!

Second, prayer is all over the bible. It’s demonstrated and commanded throughout the Old and New Testament for knowing the Lord (Psalm 27:4), asking for deliverance and healing (James 5:14-15), asking for guidance (Psalm 25:4-5), and lamenting and grieving (Psalm 13), just to name a few. Life is always best lived within what God commands us to do, and that includes his commands to pray.

Lastly, prayer is effective, as James 5:16 says. Whether it’s hearts changing or situations shifting, the Lord loves us praying for His breakthrough in our lives and the lives of others. As a result of His people praying throughout church history, people have been healed and delivered, prodigals have come home, revival has come to communities, deep pain has been comforted and healed, and the good news of Jesus has spread across the globe. As Oswald Chambers writes, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”

If you have this question, don’t worry, you’re in good company. It’s a fantastic question that the Lord loves! The disciples themselves asked Jesus this question in Matthew 6. You probably know it as “The Lord’s Prayer”, and we think it’s one of the best places to start when talking about how to pray. You can simply pray it top to bottom, or you can find the themes of the prayer and use your own words. For example;

• “Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name”. This is something called adoration. It’s simply acknowledging who God is and is a great place to start when you pray. It’s not that God needs reminding who He is, but US that needs reminding. Adoring can bring your mind and heart in a place to “magnify the LORD”(Psalm 34:3), and put Him and all of life into proper perspective.

• “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” This is referred to as intercession. Simply put, it’s asking God for things on behalf of someone else, in agreement with His heart and His character. This could be praying for your daughter to be safe in college, that coworker who shared some medical struggles with you, praying for the whole nation or a people group, etc.

• “Give us this day our daily bread,” This is petition. When most people think of prayer, they think of this type of prayer. This is really simply asking God for your daily needs. And yes…he wants you to ask Him for things.

• “Forgive us our sin, as we forgive those who sin against us.” This is a prayer of repentance/forgiveness. A common place the enemy tries to trap us and oppress us is when we’re in place of unforgiveness. Here in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus is giving us the beautiful invitation to come back to Him and repent of “what we’ve done and have left undone” (as the Book of Common Prayer says) as well as bring others who have wronged us before the Father and say “I forgive them, just like You forgive me.”

• “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This is spiritual warfare. This is the prayer of God’s leadership and deliverance from the enemy’s desire to steal, kill and destroy. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” God desires that we do our warfare in a place of prayer with him, over ourselves as well as others.

These are just a few examples of different types of prayer, but there are more. There’s also types like contemplation and listening prayer which have far less to do with what you say, and far more to do with listening and meditation on the word of God (Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 1:2, Psalm 119:15, etc).

To borrow some wisdom from Pete Greig of 24-7 Prayer, the best thing to keep in mind as you start/continue this beautiful journey of prayer is this; keep it simple, keep it real, keep it up. That is, don’t overcomplicate it, be real and raw with the Lord, and keep doing it!