Day 5

OK so I seriously underestimated my ability to write a post daily!  Either way I will do 31 posts on this subject! My prayer life is not at all what it needs to be for me. So I'm learning more as I write these posts. To see the previous posts please click HERE.

Prayer -
I like to think of a prayer like a verbal (sometimes written) letter to God. In elementary school I learned about the 3 parts to a friendly letter. First up we have the greeting. This will vary from person to person depending on both preference and familiarity. Address Him in the way you feel most comfortable. I often begin with Heavenly Father, Dear Lord, or Dear Father.
Next up is the body.  Sometimes in my more selfish prayers I enter the body of the prayer (letter) by asking for something. Something like this - Dear God, I need xyz. Or I want XYZ. Or can you xyz... Something to note here - I believe he CAN do any and everything I ask. I also believe that He knows best what I need so I don't expect Him to treat my prayer request like a list to santa. The body is also where we take the time to thank Him for everything including my most important - the fact that HE loves me so much that He takes the time to listen to me, even when I'm being selfish. This is also where we would ask him to watch over, be with or do something for someone else. This is where we submit prayer requests on behalf of our friends, families, and even perfect strangers.
When you don't know what to say or how to say it. Do the best you can. If it's so overwhelming you can only cry, that's perfectly fine. Remember God knows you better than you know yourself. He wants you to come to Him even when it isn't easy or pretty and whether things are going great or life feels terrible. He wants to share in our triumphs and struggles. He wants us to learn to lean on Him for EVERYTHING! And that includes what we think would be the small stuff.

Side Note - when praying for strangers, for example the homeless person you passed on the street, You could simply say " Lord you know the needs of the man on the street, please be with him and give him the peace that comes with knowing that You will provide for him.
And then there's the closing. Again this may vary. Some prefer to say "In Jesus' name, Amen. Some simply say Amen. Again, say what you feel comfortable saying.

I compared this to a letter for two reasons - 1st, in general it is similar. 2nd, because I want to encourage you to begin a prayer journal. This is a place for you to write down your prayers and prayer request specifically. Date them and occaisionally (not frequently) go back and how far you've come. Look and see what prayers have been answered and those that haven't. Remember God doesn't answer all prayers. He doesn't heal every illness and its very rare for Him to bring someone back from dead. But he is still in the business of answering prayers. Sometimes it's in the strangest most unusual ways. Sometimes it's in the most plain obvious way. You just never know what He's gonna do.

At the beginning of this post I touched on ways to address God. There are many names for God. Here are two links show a few of the names God has been called by His people.
Names from the Old Testament
Eight redemptive names of God

I was also asked about Bible study material - I will post a few links to both online resources and physical book resources tomorrow. A daily devotional is an excellent way to study the Bible and there are hundreds if not thousands of resources out there. It's really just a matter of finding the one that works best for you. And the place you are in your life right now!

XOXO