5 Ways to Pray to God

Prayer is the most powerful gift God has given us. But knowing how to pray is not always easy. Jesus’ disciples had a lot of questions and uncertainties the same way we do. For Christians, there are types of prayer.

First, we have the Blessing prayer, which we ask God to fill us with grace. All blessing comes from God. A householder can make the sign of the cross on the forehead of his child; God sees that action and blesses them. In addition to that, a priest, thanks to his ministry, blesses clearly in the name of Jesus.

Another way of praying is to Worship. This is when we humbly recognize God as the Almighty. If we worship God, we feel his power, greatness and sanctity.

Then, we have the prayer of Petition, which we use to ask God for our necessities. He knows everything, which includes what we truly need. What God wants for us is what we need. You must frequently ask with faith, but remembering to be open-minded to what God considers is better for us. For example, God saw and knew how the people of Israel suffered in the desert, but He did anything when He listened to his people yelling. Yelling which means prayer, petition, acclaiming God.  

Another kind of prayer of petition is the intercession. Pray for others. We earn grace by praying for those around us. For example, if we see a car accident, do I pray for the ones affected and their recovery? If I see a beggar asking for handouts, do I pray for that person? If I see someone who offends Christ, do I pray for them, or do I only judge him internally?  

The next payer is Thanksgiving. As Saint Paul would say: what do you possess that you have not received? Everything we have in our lives, was given to us by God. We may think that all we have is obviously because of our own effort, but, who gave us the will to make an effort? Who gave us our bodies and intelligence for achieving what we wish? Expressing your gratitude to God means you are showing love and humility, because we are aware that he is our Creator.

Finally, we have the prayer of Praise. We clearly know that God doesn’t need applause, but we need to recognize Him as our Lord. We must show our joy and amazement, because we are children of God.

Prayer is an amazing privilege and the best way to communicate to God is through prayer. Through words found in the Scriptures, we have an open invitation from the Lord Himself: “Call unto me and I will answer you.” (Jeremiah 33:3a)

God promised that He hears us: "You will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." (Jeremiah 29:12) 

Through the pages of our Bible, we see clear examples of men who prayed. Even Jesus prayed. Because God the Father wants us to walk in the image of His Son, we know we need to pray too. Why is prayer often challenging? It can seem complex and hard to understand.

Why do we struggle with how to pray?

We usually think we have to pray long and eloquent for it to really work. We measure ourselves with spiritual giants like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa, and we feel unqualified and unworthy. Sometimes we separate prayer from the rest of life; we look at it as something we do at church or in our quiet time.

When I read Paul’s words in Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,” I wonder; how do I devote myself to prayer when I have a regular life with a job and kids? I forget that Paul was surely talking about a heart attitude, not a never-ending prayer meeting or devotional time. Devoted prayer is a heart tendency to turn to God at each turn in our day. We should make it a consistent habit.

Let’s check these tips:

1. Pray in a simple way - Prayer is an effective way to pray to God but He is ready to receive our requests even on the most simple things.
2. Pray bible Prayers (Ephesians 1:17-19, Matthew 6:9-13) 
3. Jesus prayed with a kind of authority and power that has been never seen before. God was listening, when they came to Jesus, they didn’t say, “Teach us another prayer.” They said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is Jesus Christ’s response. This is a great prayer that every Christian should put in their heart.
4. Make Prayer Active and pray frequently (Luke 18: 1-8, 1 thessalonians 5:17)
5. Make Prayer a consistent part of your daily schedule.. (2 timothy 1:3) 
6. Pray with Faith (Hebrews 11: 1)

Prayer becomes a lifeless exercise when we’re not looking for answers. Jesus invites us to expect God to work. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

Conclusively, Colossians 4:2 says “Devote Yourselves to Prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Let’s use the prayer to pray God His blessing, to worship Him, ask Him what we need, pray for others, give thanks to Him and praise Him. When someone is able to make time for that, we will live calmer, peaceful, and overall, better lives than before. You've matured, but have your prayers? Has your understanding of prayer matured since you learned to pray before your mother and father? Or, like many of us, do you continue to pray, year after year, as you were taught as a child? If your prayers are difficult or boring, your problem may not be so much failure of will (you do try to pray well) as lack of knowledge about how mature souls pray. Most of us have been doing it so long that we pray automatically without really thinking about it. The good news is that such problems are easily overcome!