The Basics of Prayer

Life can be a mixed bag of both good and bad things, and when it turns ugly, we have a choice about how to handle it. Many people try to tough it out on their own, crossing their fingers and hoping for the best. However, plenty of people find out the hard way that their own efforts aren’t enough to turn the situation around. But others realize they need divine help, and they earnestly turn to God.

Evil can come in the form of a divorce, job loss, health issues, family or marital problems, or a thousand other ways. The Bible tells us that it’s a question of when, not if, trouble will show up in our lives. When it does, a heart-to-heart conversation with God about the situation is in order. Talking with the Almighty can bring us new insights into what we’re going through. “Thus says the Lord Who made [the earth], the Lord Who formed it to establish it—the Lord is His name: call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand)” (Jeremiah 33:2, 3, AMP).

Most of us never learned how to pray when we were children. We were given a standard set of verses to memorize and repeat back to the adults, and that was called praying. But true prayer comes from the heart, not from the head. “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns” (Philippians 4:6, MSG). God knows what we’re feeling, and just like a loving father with his children, He delights in hearing from us in prayer.

God is well aware of the fear that can paralyze us when trouble strikes, and His will is for us to trust Him enough to let Him bring us through it unharmed. He promises never to abandon us or let us down. In the Old Testament, this promise worked for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, (Daniel 3:1-30) and it will still work for us today. 

The God Who made all creation loves us so much that when we believe what He says to us, and we accept His Son as our personal Savior, we become His own children. He enriches our lives and empowers us to defeat any fear, temptation, or negative emotion that arises against us. When we read the Bible and meditate on all the promises in it, we can’t help but give thanks, and praise God for Who He is. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NKJV). This attitude is what makes true prayer so powerful.

On our own, we can get blindsided by life. Listening to the One Who God sends to help us through both the good and bad times keeps us on track. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26, NKJV). When we acknowledge that all three parts of God want only good for us, we begin to feel the peace that He promises us. If our prayer life doesn’t reflect this peace and joy that God wants us to have, maybe it’s time to get back to the biblical basics.