Powering Up Prayer

You may have noticed I’ve been quieter on BeanSpired Editions the past few months. Between a shift in writing projects, a quest for a healthier writing/life balance, and some life happenings, I’ve struggled to find time and words for this space.

Since I’m still sorting out some things, for this month’s post we’ll focus on something very basic: prayer. Which has actually been a major spiritual focus for me during this time.

Prayer is fundamental to a life of faith. It’s the simple act of talking to God—silently or aloud, in any posture, anywhere. There’s no one right way to pray, although the Bible presents basic principles for God-honoring prayer.

Yet as simple as prayer is, it’s incredibly powerful. It’s an opportunity to draw closer to God, participate in His work, and form Christlike character. What seems at first like a simple ritual can become a journey, a ministry, a way of life.

Here are four ways we can make the most of prayer’s opportunity:

Pray for people

God commands us to love our fellow human beings as we love ourselves. Prayer is one powerful and practical way we do that.

When we pray for someone, we extend them the best help available to us. We present their needs to Almighty God, who hears and considers our requests.

In doing so, we also position ourselves to serve as His instruments of help. Prayer puts us right where we need to be to access His guidance and provision for ministering to people in other ways.

Our prayers for others also prepare our hearts to love them. Genuinely seeking someone’s welfare from the One who made and loves us all levels the ground between us. It forces us to see the human needs and intrinsic, God-given worth of the person we pray for. We might never like the person, but we can no longer hate or belittle them.

And the more we practice this kind of love and humility, the more it changes us. In this way, prayer ministers to the petitioner as well as to the people they pray for.

So pray for people. All sorts of people. People you love. People you can’t stand. People you know. People you know nothing about except their needs. People who request prayer. People who don’t but whom you want to bless in some way.

If you don’t know what to ask for, pray for them anyway. Tell God you’re not sure what to say but want Him to bless them and meet their needs. He knows each of us inside and out. He knows what people need and when.

And there are certain things we all need, always. We need reminders of God’s love and presence. We need His guidance and provision to do His will. We need protection from evil. We need hearts set on Him. So, if nothing else, request those things for the people you pray for.

Don’t restrict your love to prayer—unless that’s the only directive God gives you in a particular situation. But don’t neglect to pray. And pray first.

Pray using Scripture

Sometimes when we pray for ourselves or others, we feel like our words don’t quite hit the mark. We want to pray in alignment with God’s will, but our hearts and words need direction.

When that happens, God’s Word is the perfect resource. Not only does it offer general principles for prayer, it offers actual words we can pray when ours fail. More importantly, it offers us God’s truth and perspective, which shape our minds and hearts in God-glorifying directions.

The Bible contains many ready-made prayers. There are prayers for every occasion—thanksgiving, praise, lament, requests for blessing, pleas for help, confessions of sin, and more. There are even ready-made benedictions and intercessions for other people—for example, Numbers 6:24-26, Ephesians 3:14-21, and Philippians 1:9-11.

Many other passages can be worked into prayer. For example, we might ask God to make us strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10) or ask Him for ears to hear and eyes to see what He has to show us (Matthew 13:16).

Just make sure the context speaks to your need. Taking Bible verses out of context distorts their meaning and intent. That leads us to not just misunderstand them, but to misapply them and expect the wrong things.

We don’t have to pray only Bible verses. But incorporating the Bible’s words in ways consistent with their context helps ground our prayers. It connects us to other believers through the ages, in whose words and stories we find comfort and wisdom for our own situations. It reminds us we share in the history of faith and helps us make sense of our situations in light of God’s kingdom.

So when you want to dig deeper in prayer, try opening a Bible and mine for treasure there.

Pray with the Holy Spirit’s help

Sometimes we want to pray but simply aren’t sure what to pray for. Or the things we need, want, or feel are simply too deep or complicated for words.

The good news is, we can still come to God. If we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we have a helper in our prayers just as we do in every area of our spiritual lives: the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit dwells in everyone who trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He provides everything we need to live a God-honoring life—including help with prayer.

When we’re not sure what to pray, He points things out to us. When we don’t have words, He intercedes for us. As we pray, He’s there to guide us—if we’ll listen.

As God, He knows us fully and understands us perfectly. He’s also better aware than we of the needs around us. And, being one with the other two Persons of the Trinity, He knows what’s needed to fulfill the will of God.

So if your prayers feel stuck, invite the Holy Spirit to lead them. Beg Him, if you feel so inclined—but know He’s more than happy to help. After all, God wants you to pray!

Follow His lead. And take comfort in the fact you’re not alone.

Pray your heart out

Sometimes we approach prayer with the idea that it should only cover our most pious petitions or urgent needs. Or we think we should stick to a certain length or formula. After all, we reason, God is too holy and/or busy to bother with every last desire, question, or detail of our lives

Other times, it’s we who find ourselves busy. Worn thin by to-do’s and distractions, we cut all the things we long to say down to the pressing minimum, saving the rest for another time that never seems to come.

I understand. I’ve been there.

But the better I get to know God and the better I realize He knows me, the more I realize I can—and need to—say to Him. Telling Him anything less than everything that’s on my heart is cheating myself of a deeper, stronger relationship with the very One who loves me most in the world.

In fact, looking at the Bible, we discover just how much God wants us to confide in Him. He tells us to bring Him all our cares and requests (Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:6-7). He urges us to pray at all times (Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

The Bible also shows us how much of our confidence He can handle. Famous prophets like Moses, Elijah, and Jonah voiced fear, reluctance, bitterness, and self-pity…and God answered them with reassurance, direction, correction, and redemption. The God-fearing but tragedy-afflicted Job poured out misery, self-justification, and frustration…and God answered, corrected, and restored him. The writers of Psalms versed doubt, grief, and anger as well as praise and devotion—often mingling the good, bad, and ugly.

God didn’t turn these people away for their honesty. He didn’t destroy or discard them for speaking to Him what was in their hearts.

He heard. He responded. And, if they let Him, He guided them to right paths and spiritual fruitfulness. For their sake. For His name’s sake.

That’s how He wants to work with you.

He wants your deepest fears, your pettiest concerns, your hardest questions, your dearest desires, your most excruciating hurts. He wants what keeps you awake at night, what keeps you from living, what makes you hide, what makes you wonder, what makes you wander, what makes your blood boil, what makes your heart leap.

Bring it all to Him. You don’t need to wait till a formal quiet time—although those are priceless when they’re possible. Talk to Him on the go, in quiet moments, as the needs and questions come.

Lay out your thoughts and feelings as they are—not as you wish they were or think they should be. God will work on your heart with you, but until you’re honest about what’s there, you won’t be able to work with Him.

Trust Him to bear your honesty. Trust Him to discern your heart even when you feel you can’t express it adequately. Trust Him to respond rightly. Trust Him to transform you in ways you need transforming, even using your own prayers to do so.

He’s capable. He’s worthy. He’s the best Friend—not only a confidant but a provider, leader, and healer.

And He loves you. He loves you more than anyone else in the world does. As much as you need to be loved, and more.

He loves you so much He sacrificed to enable you to have a free, unobstructed, eternal relationship with Him. Jesus—God the Son incarnate—died on the cross to atone for our sins, was buried, and rose to life on the third day afterward to defeat death. Forty days later, He ascended to heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand, where He intercedes for His people. And one day He’ll return to renew this fallen world and end sin, suffering, and death forever.

Because of that, anyone who believes in His saving work, repents of their sins, and trusts Jesus as their Lord and Savior can seek Him and find Him. We can draw near to the Father for grace and receive it. We receive the Holy Spirit and can call on Him for all our spiritual needs. We can approach God in prayer anytime, anywhere, as long as we live—until Jesus returns or calls us Home and we meet Him face to face.

If you haven’t already accepted God’s offer of a relationship in Jesus, now’s the time to do so! Confess your sins to God and ask His forgiveness. Believe what Jesus did for you. Ask Jesus to be your Savior and the Lord of your life.

Thank God that, because of Jesus, we can draw close to Him in prayer. Thank Him that we can have the Holy Spirit’s presence and power with us always.

Thank Him that, because of Jesus, one day we’ll spend eternity in the full presence of God. There we’ll talk with Him face to face.

The Lord is near all who call out to him,
all who call out to him with integrity.

Psalm 145:18 (CSB)

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Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.