How Do You Pray And Why Pray?

Someone told me once you are a prayer warrior, are you? I don't even know fully what that means! I have heard this term used to mention people who claimed to pray continually and regularly because they wanted to tap into the mind of God. They wanted to conquer and get things done physically and spiritually. I wish I could answer, of course I am! I know that it would be presumptuous and even exaggerating the truth.

Do you pray? If you do, how do you pray? When I was a Catholic, I remember reciting some phrases given to me so many times in order to have my sins pardoned and feel clean. Throughout the years of growing in the Christian faith and being exposed to various denominations ways and traditions, I learned to pray with psalms and other verses that I considered very expressive and well written and that would identify my situation perfectly to God. It was acceptable to me to thank God for everything I have, thank Him for my family, and give him a list of what I wanted him to do for me and others.

I have been in prayer meetings with people from various denominations where I was exposed to various styles of prayers. I have seen people shouting when expressing themselves to God or commanding the evil spirits. Probably God or the evil foes they were addressing are hard of hearing. Or is it, as they say, a way to take authority, demand respect and command things to be done in the spirit. I have seen people with soft-spoken voices and well-phrased articulated sentences calling God by all His attributes and using all the stated old English terms with such eloquence that I say to myself, I am surely missing it and am in big trouble if this is the type of prayer expressions and people God listens to.

I have seen people kneeling, standing or sitting quietly in a position of reverence with not even a word coming from their mouths when praying to God. I have heard people speaking in what they called the heavenly language. I've heard people say that speaking with other tongues (1 Corinthians 14:4) was the highest form of prayer and that my prayers weren't complete without it. I have seen and heard so many things that I have resigned myself to be me. If God is not happy with the way I pray, He would have to change my ways by teaching me.

By the grace of God I pass the stage when I was only talking to a stranger identified by a certain name, who is living in a certain place called Heaven. I pass the stage where my main motive for prayers was for Him to help me and get me out of trouble. The only thing I know now for sure is that I can not not go to the Father regularly because I love and trust Him in everything. I have tested that the Lord is good. I know He loves me, wants the best for me, and will deliver me from all my troubles because He will not allow them to be above and beyond what I can handle, but He will also provide the way of escape.

He is in my mind it seems to me every moment of my day. He is in my mind when I am not choosing to think about Him. He is in my mind when I am yelling at my children. He is in my mind when I am upset at my husband. He is in my mind when I choose deliberately to misbehave and have bad attitudes. He is in my mind when I am down. He is in my mind when I am upset. He is in my mind when I wake up and when I lay down. He is always directing and indicating ways to behave, needs to fulfill, and wants to satisfy. What He is doing with and in this temple is still to be revealed.

Since Jesus says in Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray...”, I can already see that he expects me to pray. He himself, as precious Son of God, would spend countless hours praying the Father. I know that I don't have a choice in this matter. I know that I must pray if I am to be victorious and spiritually strong in this life. Through my various trials and through seeing what goes around me and in the world, I can not not go to Him in prayers. I will be standing in the gap in His face until I see changes, until He comes back in power to establish the Kingdom fully on earth, or until He takes me home.

Let's follow the advice of Apostle Paul not to be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving to present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6). My question to you again is: How do you pray, and do you pray?

Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it! (Luke 11:28)

Marie Monaus