The Bible talks a lot about praying and Christians and pastors always stress the need for prayer. But how does one pray? Is there a manual on how to pray somewhere? As always the answer is in the bible and Jesus himself talks about prayer and how to pray clearly in the bible. Ever heard of something called the Lord’s Prayer? Yup, That is the blueprint for anyone who wants to pray.

Jesus talks about how one should pray in Matthew  6:5-8. “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.  But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

So one thing that is clear from the above verses is that Jesus wants us to pray sincerely and with some thought to what we are praying about. That means no thoughtless repetition, yes those are the words that Jesus himself used. Also, it is better to say a sincere prayer by yourself in solitude without anyone watching rather than spitting out amazing words of the prayer in front of large groups to amaze them. Jesus says it is okay to pray in front of people and they will be rewarded but the sincerity of the prayer is what matters.

How many times have we as Christians said a prayer just for the sake of praying and our hearts weren’t quite into the prayer so we end up saying something that sounded scripted or pre-written? This is not what Jesus wants He wants us to pray sincerely in the spirit and from our hearts.

The entire book of Psalms is a timeless example of heartfelt prayers from King David.  It seems like David poured his heart out in every one of his prayers and when you read through the book of Psalms you can really connect to some of the prayers that he is saying because he is speaking to the Lord from his heart. Also, every Psalm is unique and they are not repetitive which means they came truly from within his spirit and expressed how he is truly feeling to his God. This is the kind of prayer that God really appreciates. The sincere heartfelt and brutally honest prayers are just like David’s prayers in the Psalms. So how is this possible for someone like you or me? We are not David, The chosen King of God. We don’t have to be. We just have to pray from the heart and with utmost sincerity to our Lord.

Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people”. From this verse it is clear that it is okay to pray at all times and at different times or even different places, but when we pray we must pray in the spirit. Then we will see the power of prayer in our lives. Even if our prayers are not answered the way we want them to be, it will improve our prayer life and our dependence on God no matter what happens. When you pray communication between God and you will remain open and this will keep you grounded and improve your spiritual life.