"Prayer can do anything that God can do, as God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent." R.A. Torrey, "The Power of Prayer"
How to Pray! PVI A.C.T.S is an acronym or axiom that points us to the Lord's Prayer and other Scripture, and gives us precepts so we can divide up our time and purpose to engage in prayer with a correct devotion and attitude. "ACTS" refers to the percepts of prayer-the categories of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.
How to Pray! PIII First off, there is no "method" or process on how to pray, as there is no specific principle on how to talk to your mom or best friend. We just do it. Yes, there is edict, attitude, and good ways versus bad ways to communicate. Thus, God does give us a pattern as a checklist to make sure our time and attitude are lined up to more of His will and less of ours.
How to Pray! PII So, How do I Pray? The passages in Matthew and Luke give us the quintessential template on how to pray. Jesus is calling us to a relationship with Him; and, to do that, we are to seek Him. We do this with communication, as we would talk with anyone, with the emphasis on our sincerity.
How Can I Pray? What if I have never been taught how to personally pray or to talk to God? What if I grew up in a church that never had conversational or personal prayer? What if I only know liturgy? What if I offend God?
When we grow more in our prayer life, we will see more of God in our lives, more realization of Him and His power. Thus, everything we do will be affected in a positive way as a response of His work in us and our personal adjustments in becoming less of ourselves and more of Him...
Perhaps, one way to see our prayer life is as a relationship. A relationship is a living, growing entity that needs the fuel of attention and heart. We need to allow prayer to build slowly-like a relationship. Growing our prayer life is like growing a relationship. We start off as acquaintances; then, as we get to know each other, we become more...
Prayer is not just about what our own needs are. It is about putting our lives and experiences in Him, sharing our days and lives, both in times of urgency and times of happiness, and bringing others to our thoughts and into our prayers. Continual and effective prayer will build our relationship with God. We will realize that...
What is prayer? Prayer is an intimate communication between God and man. It is the wonderful privilege of talking directly to God at any time about anything. We have this opportunity because of what Christ did. The Christian life is about the ongoing, personal relationship you have with God through Jesus...
For real prayer to function at its apex, we need to acknowledge who God is, and see Him as Lord Supreme over all things, including our very lives. We must seek Him out for all occasions in life so that in all situations, we have a first response of praising and adoring Christ for who He is, and because He is worthy of eternal praise. But, do we do this?
Have you ever thought through why you do not spend more time with God? What aspects of your time and commitment hold you back from prayer? Most of us do not have the kind of prayer life we should have; in my experience, most people give up because either they do not know how to pray or they do not understand the significance of prayer.