HOW SHOULD I PRAY?
by claribel santiago

"Dear God, here I am again..."

So many of my prayers have started like this. I get so confused about how to pray, I am ashamed to admit, I don't pray as often as I should. It seems like everywhere you turn someone has the method, latest formula, or advice on what words to use or posture to have when praying. Perhaps, you've heard it has to do with whether you are thinking positive, or which direction you're facing or even the method you are using. I think that these same methods designed to help us pray, are many times what hinders our desire to do so.

Why Don't We Pray?

Could it be that over-instruction has caused many of us to become so frustrated and uncertain that we just don't pray? Perhaps, we have heard so much about how to pray that we are too afraid to do it "wrong".

Personally, my most effective prayers, when I feel God's total attention, have always included two things: my desire to communicate and the admission that I desperately need to hear from Him. When I've called on God in hurt and honesty, knowing I depend on Him for any answer, that's when I've seen Him come through with power.

"Faith as a mustard seed, Whoever comes must believe"

A little bit of faith, a desire to communicate with God believing He will answer, these are the fruitful times; not just for myself, but for others as well. I have heard countless stories of how people in desperation called out to God, and He answered in a radical way.

If you could pray and know that He would answer, what would you ask or say? All it takes is faith as a mustard seed. So, why not pray to Him today? He is waiting to answer.

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"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"
Ephesians 3:20