The “Right” Way to Pray
Is there a formula for prayer?
Verse of the Day
“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.”
Today’s Devotional
It’s time for a confession. When I start studying something, I very easily fall into the trap of wanting to get it “right”. I want to study and learn about prayer and then somehow learn the secret formula to praying “the right way.”
News Flash: There is no formula or “right way” to pray. There is a wrong way to pray, which is to avoid it altogether. We have been given guidelines and suggestions that we use to learn the art of communicating with the Almighty God. We are flesh and He is spirit, so we must learn how to communicate with Him if we are going to be in a relationship with Him.
I don’t seek to have conversations with my husband and then check it off my list for the day. I don’t sit down with a formula for how to communicate with him. I don’t analyze my conversations with him to make sure I am staying within a set of boundaries. I have a deeply personal relationship with my husband, so talking to him and listening to him is one of the joys of my life. So it should be with our Father.
Packer and Nystrom taught me this in their book Praying: “Think of young children in a family. They want something that the parent is happy to give them. A toddler will reach out and whine. “augh, augh.” The mother says cheerfully as she reaches for the carton, “Can you say, ‘Juice’? Can you say, “I want juice’?” And so she teaches the child two things. The first is, that juice is something she is very willing to give, and the second is how to present wants in ways not as socially unpleasing as a whined monosyllable, which, fine for a toddler, no doubt would be a little obnoxious by age ten. We are children of God, we too need to learn to ask properly for things God is ready to give. These two things together – what to ask for and how to do it – are what learning to pray is all about.”
After I read the above paragraph a few days ago, it resonated with me. As I think it through, what if our learning to pray is exactly what we need to live a better life on this planet? In the above example, the mother knew what the child wanted. The child’s utterances were sufficient for the parent to understand the request. But the loving parent teaches the child how to communicate because this is a skill the child will need to have a better life. Because the child will need to communicate with others who will not understand the child’s noises. What if that is why learning to pray is important to us as children of God?
Looking at today’s verse, God hears us when we call to Him. Are we doing that? God longs for us to ask for His help, and is ready to come to our rescue. Maybe it doesn’t matter if we call out like a toddler or a devoted scholar. Maybe our growth in prayer is a gift that is part of our rescue.
I can only share my experience, which is this: I have been studying prayer and practicing what I’m learning. The depth of my relationship with the Father is growing as I continue. In addition to that, my conversations with other humans have been better. I have had a couple of really hard conversations recently. I prayed for God to allow me to speak only what He wanted. Both of those conversations went better than I could have imagined. I didn’t use any special formula when I asked God for His help, I just didn’t want to stick my foot in my mouth or make the conversations all about what I thought was right. If a novice like me can see the benefits of learning and practicing prayer on a deeper level, then anyone can do it.
What I see in today’s verse is a need to be aware of my need for God’s help. And the more aware I am of my need for His help, the more I want to talk to Him. And the more I talk to Him, the more I learn. And the more I learn, the more aware I am of how He is helping me, which then makes me want to thank Him and talk to Him all the more. It’s not a formula, it’s a relationship.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How do you fall into the trap of wanting to get prayer “right”?
How have you grown in your ability to talk with and listen to God? How has that helped you?
How do you need God to rescue you? Are you calling out to Him?
How has God already helped you? Does that give you the faith that He will help you today?