The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Therefore confess your sins so that you may be healed. I they have sinned, they will be forgiven. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well the Lord will raise them up. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Equip us to better pray and have heart-felt conversations with You so we can continually grow closer in our relationship with You. Lord, hear these prayers and go with us into this day. You may not always hear Him in that moment, but be sure you build those quiet listening times into your life so you can hear God. If you were talking to someone in person, you’d give them a chance to talk, right? So, allow God the same space. Don’t fill all your prayer time with your own words. When I can’t find the right words, I trust You know even the groanings of my heart. Help me boldly pray for myself and others, and then truly believe You are at work in these requests. Lord, help me be more confident in my prayers so I can be a stronger leader. Pour out your heart to God, asking Him for help, guidance, and healing. This is where prayer can be so powerful and effective. 5) Make your requests – ask for yourself and othersĪsking for ourselves and others is an essential part of prayer. I know prayer is not a contest for who has the best words, but instead is an offering of ourselves to You. Sorry for not believing You want to hear whatever words I have. I’m sorry for not trusting You to guide me and help me find the words. ![]() ![]() What is the other phrase we constantly drill into our children? “I’m sorry.” We are forever guiding our kids to say “I’m sorry” when they’ve done anything wrong to someone else, yet we don’t always set the best example, do we? How many times each day do we mess up? How often do we sin in thought, word or deed? God wants to hear our “I’m sorry.” I know I should feel more comfortable talking to You and I should volunteer more to lead our group in prayer, but I just don’t feel I’ll have the right words. What would you share if you were having this conversation with a friend? Maybe something that’s causing you stress and worry. To truly let Him in, you need to share what’s happening in your life, what’s on your heart. 3) Share something about your day, what ’s going on in your life Thank you for bringing us together this day, to read and study Your word and to learn how to have better conversations with You. Thank you, God, for the blessings You pour down upon us. It’s a common curtesy and makes the other person feel appreciated and more willing to give again. We drill this into our children all the time to say ‘thank you’ anytime someone gives you something. God, you are amazing! What an awesome sunrise you created this morning! 2) Say thank you Who doesn’t like to hear something nice? We all love when a friend says something nice – compliments our hair or shoes, praises something we’ve done. Sometimes my prayer will focus on just one or two, but I do try to touch on each throughout the day. I don’t always get all of these incorporated into each prayer. Let’s look at some key elements of a good conversation and see how we can apply these to prayer. How To Make Prayer An Every Day Conversation With God We just have to be present and start a dialog. We don’t have to use any specific words or poetic phrases. ![]() We don’t have to follow a set script or formula. Then I learned that prayer is just a conversation with God and He wants to talk with us in whatever words we can muster, even when we can’t even find the words to say. I got frustrated and felt that my prayers weren’t good enough or weren’t the right words to take to God. However, I could never get my prayers to sound quite the same. I didn’t always understand them, but loved how they sounded. The prayers I always heard at church were so beautifully written. I used to think prayers had to be said a certain way or use special poetic language. Have you ever felt this way? Why are we so afraid to pray in public? Why are we so uncertain even in our private prayer time? I squirmed a little in my chair, feeling my face become flushed, as the leader looked for someone to ask. You know, the ones who always sound so eloquent and seem to have the perfect words. Instinctively, I buried my head in my Bible, trying not to make eye contact, hoping desperately one of the “good pray-ers” would volunteer. As our small group meeting was ending, the leader asked if anyone would close us in prayer.
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