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Effective Praying to Change Your Life

For Christians, prayer is a wonderful gift.

Prayer is how we fellowship with God and enjoy a personal relationship with a personal God.

It’s the sweet, amazing, and sometimes rather unusual way that we communicate with our Creator.

Indeed, according to author Henri Nouwen,

“Prayer is the most concrete way to make our home in God.”

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According to author Henri Nouwen, Prayer is the most concrete way to make our home in God. Share on X

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Effective Praying to Change Your Life

But are we doing prayer RIGHT and in the most effective way as believers?

When it comes to prayer, Christians can get into trouble, often inadvertently, with the way that we pray.

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How do we get into trouble?

If you listen carefully to the majority of the prayers prayed in your church, they are primarily “transactional.”

In other words, believers pray and ask God for something in return.

Then, they have faith that God will fulfill their request in some capacity.

For instance, if a person is sick, then they might pray to God for healing. If someone is hurting, they ask for relief. Or, if a person needs a job, they implore God to send them one.

Christians pray for everything, from better relationships with the spouse to help in coping with stress and anxiety. Some Christians even pray for more money or power.

Transactional prayers solicit some kind of positive intervention from God.

Truly, they are commonly how we pray.

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Transactional prayers solicit some kind of positive intervention from God. Share on X

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What’s wrong with our prayers?

But when you step back and analyze transactional prayers – asking God for something beneficial – you soon realize that these prayers can become completely one-sided and a bit self-centered.

Essentially, we are asking God to make our lives easier or more pleasant in some way.

God can be a source of peace and solace, but we know first-hand through the experience of Jesus that “being comfortable” is not the main thing God wants for us.

There are many unbiblical ideas Christians believe. Truly, one of the most damaging is the idea that God should answer every prayer that we ask and in the way we want.

In truth, God isn’t a genie in a bottle, ready and waiting for prayers to make your life easier.

God sees the trials and tribulations you’re experiencing, but has an overarching purpose for your life, no matter how difficult any particular situation may seem.

If you experience a challenge, then the task of the Christian is to find purpose in that situation.

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“Many people pray as if God were a big aspirin pill, they come only when they hurt.”

B. Graham Dienert

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Many people pray as if God were a big aspirin pill, they come only when they hurt. B. Graham Dienert Share on X

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Towards A Different Kind Of Prayer

The book of Acts says that the role of Christians is to bring forth the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

Christians can bring His kingdom to Earth by showing others the fruit of the Spirit and applying it in their own lives. Goodness in the world doesn’t emerge from the inherent characteristics of people, but rather the working of God through specific individuals.

Prayer, therefore, is a tool that Christians can use to understand the mind of God better and enact His kingdom on Earth.

The Christian should see himself as a vessel for God, searching for what God wants and then executing. The Bible is full of examples of people who spoke to God, listened to what He said, and then carried out His desires.

Prayer is more like a briefing than a request to grant a wish.

Many characters in the Bible like Elijah, Moses, and Gideon, asked God for the resources to carry out their mission, rather than praying that God would make their lives easier.

There wasn’t a moment when they prayed to God to make it easier.

It was all about developing their personal courage, strength, and robustness to be a warrior for God in the spiritual realm.

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Prayer, therefore, is a tool that Christians can use to understand the mind of God better and enact His kingdom on Earth. Share on X

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So how should we pray?

There’s nothing wrong such ith praying for a desirable outcome, as the healing of the sick. Jesus, after all, said that those with faith would be healed.

But by and large, the majority of our prayers should be about searching for God’s wishes and then carrying them out.

God wants us to bring the kingdom of heaven to Earth.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

Yet, the battle is real. It’s so easy to pray for ourselves, about ourselves, and for God’s provision.

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So, how might we work on praying less self-focused this week?

How might we pray more in tune with what God wants?

Indeed, how might we pray to allow God to change our lives?

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“[Paul] does not see prayer as merely a way to get things from God but as a way to get more of God himself.”

Tim Keller

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How might we pray more in tune with what God wants in the ways that we pray? Share on X

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A few practical ways to pray differently this week:

First… Pray all week WITHOUT asking God for one single thing.

Second… Take time every day to thank Him for 4-5 things.

Third… Tell Him how much you love and adore Him.

Fourth… Worship Him. Turn up the music and sing.

Fifth… Pray for other people. Lift other’s needs to Him.

Sixth… Invite God to use you to impact others.

Finally… Pray for God to be honored throughout your life. Invite Him to use you in His Kingdom.

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Pray for God to be honored through your life. Invite Him to use you in His Kingdom. Share on X

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“Prayer gives us relief from the melancholy burden of self-absorption.”

Tim Keller

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So, what about you?

How do you intentionally move from praying about yourself to praying for others and for God’s will to be done?

What suggestions do you have for praying selflessly?

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Want more prayer inspiration?

HOW TO PRAY AS PARENTS OF TEENAGERS

10 POWERFUL SCRIPTURES TO PRAY FOR YOUR KIDS

7 SUPER WAYS TO PRAY FOR ELEMENTARY AGE CHILDREN

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