Teach Me How to PraySample

Present Your Request to God

For the last 3 days, we’ve focused on a prayer strategy that is so contrary to what many of us have been taught. We’ve made it all about God and not about us. That is what the first half of our prayer times should be about. Worshiping God should take up a good chunk of our time with Him, but there does come a point where it shifts from praise to petition. Prayer has the power to change things. When we pray, miracles happen. When we don’t pray, we live a life that is subpar to the calling that God has for us. Jesus addresses this in the Lord’s prayer. He told the disciples that part of prayer should be us requesting, “give us this day our daily bread”. We have needs that only God can meet. There are miracles that only God can fulfill. How do we experience those? We present our request to God. We cannot just think it, we must ask it. Asking God for our needs humbles us and positions us for God’s power.

I practice this by making a prayer list every month. My prayer list is broken down into 5 categories: urgent needs for this month (this is a category that is specialized and updated because of something pressing for this particular month), family needs, ministry needs, personal needs, and souls that need to be saved. In short: urgent, family, ministry, personal, and souls. These five categories are updated each month. It gives me a daily guide of what I’m believing God for. When it comes to my wife and kids, I try to pray for them by name every single day. If I have a financial need, I try to get as specific as possible. When I pray specific prayers, I get specific answers. Take some time today and make your list. Don’t hold on to your problems, present them to God.