How Do I Pray?

Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer. The Bible tells us on multiple occasions, Jesus stayed up all night to pray. Why? He’s God, right? Why does He need to pray?

During Jesus’ time on Earth, He was fully God and fully human. As a human, He was like us and needed to use consistent habits to sustain His relationship with God, His Father. For Jesus, prayer was a source of direction, courage, and connection with God—and prayer can do the same for us.

Check out how Jesus prepared to make a big choice— choosing a core group of followers who would end up founding the church.

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles … Luke 6:12-13 NIV

Jesus didn’t just pray before making big decisions. He also prayed to experience closeness with God and to find strength before facing difficult situations. How can we develop a habit of prayer like Jesus?

First, let’s talk about how Jesus didn’t pray.

• Jesus didn’t fill His prayers with fancy words.
• Jesus didn’t pray to impress the people around Him.
• Jesus didn’t pray with a list of demands for God.

Prayer is meant to be a personal conversation with God— like you would have with friends, family, or a mentor. Take the pressure off. Let go of how you think you should pray and just talk with God openly and honestly.

So, how did Jesus pray?

• Jesus made prayer a priority.
• Jesus prayed in the presence of others. Jesus prayed on His own.
• Jesus asked others to pray for Him.

Today, let’s start a habit of prayer. Simply take a few minutes on your way home from work or before going to bed to talk with God. Tell Him what you’re thankful for, ask Him for what you need, and listen to His voice. As you do, you’ll discover a closer relationship with Jesus every day.