How am I to pray?

I know prayer is important. How can I make prayer a part of my daily life?
Let me give you 6 guidelines.

1) First, have the right attitude.
We will only pray when we realise how dependent we are on God,
and we realise we can trust Him to hear our prayers, and to answer them according to His will.

There're people, who never think about God, and suddenly one day they find themselves in a crisis
that's far beyond themselves to handle,
and for the first time in their lives, they begin to pray and cry out for help.

Let's look at Acts 27. Imagine that you were one of the people on that ship, and as verse 20 says,
"Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up."
Most probably at this time, you'll be kneeling down to pray for your life.
At this hour of your life, all your pride and self-sufficiency would have gone by now. Now you feel a dependency on an Almighty God, you never felt before. Because before, there was no such need. And Matthew 5:3 says:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
That is to say that when you felt a dependency on God, you're blessed. "Poor in spirit" means you're dependent on God. And this is the 1st of all the other beattitudes; the 1st leading to the rest of the beattitudes. This is the right attitude you must have in order to make prayer a part of your daily life.
How can you pray when you don't believe you need God's help?
The Bible reminds us that
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (1Peter5:5)
Prideful, self-sufficient people will never pray.

2) Second, with brokenness

One of the most difficult things for any person to see clearly is his own sin.
Through humility, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us our sin,
so that we can confess it, repent of it and be set free,
so that God can bless us after the hindrance is removed.
Then the Holy Spirit will give insight into His word, His plans and purposes,
and guide us gently and confirm our hearts, giving assurance.

Through our weakness, God pours His power into us,
for we know not how to pray as we ought to pray.
"if My people will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face,
and turn from their wicked ways."
"a broken and a contrite spirit I will not despise."
Through prayer also comes a spirit of brokenness.
Prayer in God's presence will change us.
If we continue to walk in His presence, we'll remain broken and humble.
To live like this is to walk in honesty; we learn to lose face. We let our pride go.
The Holy Spirit will cause us to be open and frank, with humility before God.

If we're broken and contrite before God, He gives us more grace.
Success is based on the grace of God.
How do we get more grace?....
by being broken in humility before God.
Therefore the secret to success in prayer is brokenness.
It was God's grace that made Joseph successful, and favour from the king toward Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 1: 4,11
-I wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before God
-O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant,
and let Your servant prosper this day.
Through prayer, Nehemiah knew the mind of God, and he was able to stand firm,
and was able to be in control of the circumstances around him.

As you pray, there arise a new attitude of violence against your flesh and pride,
and you learn how to walk gently with the Holy Spirit,
to allow God to complete His divine work in our lives.


3) Third, with godly fear

Prayer is not just talking with God;
it's a deep, reverent submission to Him.
Through prayer, we come to know the intentions of the father heart of God.

When we come to God in prayer, what is the attitude of our hearts?
God reads our hearts as we pray....
is your heart in oneness with God?
is there reverent submission with godly fear?
is there singleness of mind to hear the still small voice of God in you?
is your heart receptive to His guidance?
Jeremiah 29:11-13
"I know the thoughts I think toward you, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you'll call upon Me, and go and pray to Me, and I'll listen to you.
And you'll seek Me and find Me,
when you search for Me with all your heart;
I'll be found by you."

Jesus prayed and He was heard because of His godly fear,
beause of the submissive attitude of His heart.
Hebrews 5: 7-10
"who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him, who was able to save Him frm death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the authour of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek."


4) Fourth, without fear but with boldness and confidence

When you pray, "Lord, give me safe journey home, which is 10 miles away. Keep me safe from road accidents" Do you think you're praying with faith?
Then how should you pray?
"Lord, help me to be humble, giving way to other cars. Help me not to be impatient, but wait patiently and move with common sense." or
"Lord, even if a big Tsunami were to come and destroy everything there is, I know Lord, if my time is not up, I will still be standing upright, just as You said to Paul, "Do not be afraid; you must stand before Caesar."

Deaths and disasters do not happen by chance;
they happen due to a reason, and for a reason.
Nothing happens by chance.
For God, there's no such thing as a coincidence.
You were born here on this earth not by chance either.
God knew you since you were in your mother's womb,
till the day you die.
Everything happens according to God's will and perfect timing.

5) Fifth, with unwavering faith

We're to pray with unwavering faith, believing that God hears our prayers, also that God will
answer them, in His timing, with His methods,
and for our eternal benefit, and for His glory.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
and certain of what we do not see."(Hebrews 11)

When we pray, think of the greatness of God. See Him for the mighty God He is.
God created all things....the heavens and the earth.
He moves mountains and calms seas.
As you pray in the face of a spiritual attack, set your mind on the vastness of God's power.
In the face of fear, He gives us boldness.
"God has given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."(2Tim 1:7)
He has power over death.
He gives us an eternal home in heaven.

6) Sixth, According to God's will

God is more interested in us knowing His will and obeying His
than just "saying our prayers."
What God wants is a heart obedient to His will.
Cry out with deep concerns of your heart,
and allow God to bring understanding, strength and comfort into your lives.
Know the heart of God; know His will.
Our prayers are often self-centred, outside the will of God.
God is committed to His loving plans and purposes for us.
God always has eternity in mind.

Prayer is not just for the purpose of getting God to help us,
but of getting our hearts and minds in line with God's will.
Through prayer, we receive wisdom for our lives.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
God desires to instruct us in the way we should go.

Proverbs 3:5,6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on thy own understanding;
in all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He'll make your paths straight."
If we lean on our own understanding, our hearts and minds can be full of the cares of this world.
Prayer is the secret to live without anxious thoughts.
But many people of the world try to do all things by themselves....
so they have stomach ulcers, heart attacks, insomnia and depression.
On the other hand, prayer produces spiritual understanding, even physical health.

Prayer gives us greater discernment, so that we're able to see what others cannot see.
Prayer helps us to hear the still, small voice in us,
hearing God speaking to us in our hearts,
sometimes giving a small warning,
and a word can change everything, making all the difference.


God's purposes are much larger than all our needs and requests.
The plans of God are beyond our imaginations, more than we can ever imagine.
Often we do not see the whole picture;
we ask for things that are unwise or even wrong.
God knows what is best for us.
God not only is working in us, but also working around us,
and often God guides us through our circumstances.