What is Prayer and how do I Pray?

Introduction

Throughout scripture, we witness many times that God’s people have prayed, and in turn we, as believers in our God, are also directed to pray to him.

However, some people who may be new to the faith, perhaps who have never been religious and may have had no exposure to a form of faith before becoming Christian, may not even know what prayer is, and therefore do not know where to start. Others may be from a former religious faith before converting to being a disciple of Yeshua (Jesus), but may have prayed in a way that is different to what is considered acceptable in Christian scripture.

Therefore, in this article, I aim to help such people in this regard.

What is Prayer?

This is the first thing is knowing just what exactly prayer is. Is it a ritual? A set of special words? A form of meditation?

The truth is in fact not complicated at all. Prayer simply is communication with God.

Through prayer, we can give praise, thank, request, petition, confess to, or just converse with our Almighty creator.

Praying to God is considered a form of worship, and is a sacred activity. Through prayer, we are spiritually approaching God’s throne to stand, or more accurately, bow before Him.

Unlike Earthly rulers, we have been granted unlimited and immediate access and audience to our God, any time, anywhere, any place. Prayer, therefore, is also an honorary privilege we have been granted by the Sovereign of the universe, our Heavenly Father, Yah.

How to Pray

The Act of Praying

To pray, all we need do is have faith that God can hear us and knows we wish to communicate with Him (1 John 5:14-15).

One may speak out loud to God (Psalm 54:2), or they may pray in silence within their own mind, knowing that God is able to hear our thoughts (1 Samuel 1:12-13, Matthew 6:8, 1 Corinthians 14:15). Praying is as simple as speaking to God as you would a person.

Saying “Amen”

Commonly, after we have said a prayer, we may say the word “amen”, as is seen in the scriptures. The word “amen” is ancient Hebrew, meaning “so be it”, “truly” or “agreement”, and in a sense acts as a “seal of approval” of one’s prayer, and often signals (but not always) the end of one’s prayer, akin to putting a stamp on an envelope of a letter. However, saying amen after a prayer is not “required” for God to hear it or approve of it, for the most part it is an expression of praise and affirmation.

It is common, however, that when saying group prayers, that one says “amen” to inform others that the prayer has ended, and those in the group in turn may then say “amen” in order to express their approval or affirmation of the prayer, to both the group and to God. Sometimes, some Christians may refuse to say amen to someone’s prayer if they personally feel they do not approve of it.

What position to pray in

There is no required position we need to pray in, one may pray with their eyes closed or open (John 17:1), their hands raised, clasped together, or simply on one’s lap (Psalm 63:4), a person may pray kneeling on the ground, sitting down, or standing up (Matthew 26:39, Mark 11:25).

There is truly no physical law when it comes to prayer, so one may express themselves freely how they wish, be it in solemness or joyfulness, so long as we are being respectful before our God.

Who to Pray To

In scripture, it appears strongly that all prayer is to be directed to the God Yah (YHWH) alone, the Father, as taught by Yeshua himself in his famous “model prayer”:

• “….So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, may be your name be treated as holy. May your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil [one]”. – Matthew 6:9-13

This example prayer of Yeshua, and seemingly most if not all prayers of his Apostles, were directed to the Father alone. As such, many Christians feel it only appropriate to pray to the Father alone.

We are not instructed in any single verse to pray to anyone or anything else. Nor do we ever see the word “prayer” (proseuchomai/προσεύχομαι) used in context toward anyone else but the Father.

Of course, there are arguments made by some Christians, that there is scriptual evidence that God has authorised us to pray to his Son.

In the Name of Yeshua

Last but not least, all of our prayers must be directed to God in and through the name of Yeshua, his Anointed Son.

God’s son, Yeshua, acts as the “mediator” between man and God, our High Priest who petitions before Yah on our behalf. This does not mean that Yeshua intercepts our prayers directly so that he can pass on a message for us (John 16:26), but Yeshua “petitions God” so that we may approach Him, and that we may request a cleansed conscience and forgiveness of our sins. Whether we are praying to God merely to converse with Him, or for forgiveness of our sins, it must always be through the name of Yeshua (Colossians 3:17).

Recognise, however, that praying in the name of Yeshua is not form of some kind of “ritual” or “magical set of words”, though we often do say “in the name of Yeshua” in our prayers. It is an act of internal acknowledgement on our part, that we recognise and accept that Yeshua is the bridge between us and our Heavenly Father (Hebrews 9:15, 1 Timothy 2:5).

Without Yeshua, our prayers cannot be “heard” or approved by God.

Formally, before Yeshua died for our sins, the ancient Jewish high priests were required to sacrifice cattle and give grain offerings to God on their temple altar in Jerusalem in order that they and their people could be heard by God. These Jewish high priests were a prophetic echo of the High Priesthood of Yeshua, as were the animal sacrifices an echo of the death of Yeshua (Hebrews 5:1-10, 10:8-22).

Through Yeshua, we no longer are required to offer up sacrifices on altars before God in order to pray to him, and therefore it is important to recognise Yeshua’s role in this respect, as both the mediating High Priest, and the sacrificial “lamb” (John 1:29).

Inappropriate forms of Prayer

Though we are free in our body language and speech during prayer, it should still be considered a holy and pure act, and therefore prayer not be expressed inappropriately as is done in many ancient and even some modern pagan religions, as well as by some mislead Christians.

Ritualistic Prayer

This involves prayers that involve pagan customs such as mystical hand signs (such as making the sign of the cross, ritualised hand gestures akin to Buddhists, Kabbalists, etc).

Likewise, we should not be praying with “vain repetitions”, meaning saying the same words over and over again in a scripted way. Our God wishes us to speak to him in a personal way, not as a form of ritual, or “babbling” with preset words, as is practised in many pagan religions (Matthew 6:7).

Prayer should be considered a conversation with God, not as a form of ritualistic spell casting.

Idolatry and Iconography

We must also be aware not to perform idolatrous prayer, such as praying before or to statues, pictures, crosses, shrines or other images and icons, for we are commanded to “flee idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14, Habakkuk 2:18-19, Isaiah 17:8). Such a practice was customary amongst the pagans, but not amongst the ancient Jews and Christians. Therefore, we do well to heed the command of Yeshua, to not “pray like the pagans”.

We do well to remember, that even if our prayer is directed toward the true God, he does not approve of contaminated worship, just as he expressed when the ancient Israelites prayed to God before a golden calf in His name (Exodus 32:4-7).

Sexualised Prayer

It should also go without saying, that we should not be practising things such as sexualised prayers (Deuteronomy 23:17, Genesis 6:2-3, Jude 1:6-7), (very common in ancient pagan religions, and some tribal religions even to this day), be that praying with ‘intentionally’ sexualised acts, or performing sex worship, such as “having sex before God” with one’s spouse, or somehow involving God in sex.

(Many readers may assume it is strange or unnecessary to mention this subject, but sadly some Christians in fact HAVE practised such things, and others new to the faith may have come from former religions or cultures which do practice such things, therefore it is a necessary thing to address for the sake of such ones).

Wish Making

Whist God invites us to pray to Him when we are in need (be it emotional, physical, material, or financial distresses), prayer should not be abused for selfishness or materialism. God is not to be treated as a “genie in a bottle” who will grant us every request we make to Him (as many churches today wrongly portray prayer to be).

Such prayers would be disrespectful, especially if such prayers are not in accordance to his will (such as praying for things that are sinful, petty, worldly or evil, ie; praying for riches, for one’s sports team to win, to win a bet, or praying for something bad to happen to someone we don’t like). (1 John 5:14).

God is more concerned for our spiritual welfare and essential needs above all things, therefore, he will not likely support our personal endeavours, business goals, or any other “fleshly” or “worldly” desires. He instructed that we be “content with basic things” (Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:8).

Whilst it is not a sin to make money, run a business, or have a personal goal in life, the desire for these non-essential things should not be the subject of our prayers. God is not “on-dial” to simply give us everything we demand or want.

Praying to Beings who are not God

The scriptures condemn the worship of creatures and false gods. Prayer is often seen to be a form of worship, and therefore it should only be directed toward the Father, as Yeshua taught.

Prayer should not be directed to other gods, angels, the apostles, saints or Mary. No faithful men or women in scripture have directed prayer to anyone else but Yah, the Father, who is the hearer of prayer (Psalm 65:2).

Praying through or in the name of other Beings who are not Yeshua

We must also do well to remember, that Yeshua is the “only” mediator between God and mankind. Nobody else can bridge the gap or act as an intercessor between us and God. Therefore, akin to prayer, we should not be praying “through”, saints, apostles, angels, Mary or alike, but only through Yeshua (1 Timothy 2:5).

Conclusion

Coming to a brief end and overview.

• Prayer is communication between us and God.
• We are not required to be in a certain position, or say certain words.
• Prayer can be done silently or out loud.
• It is an act of worship and therefore should be respectful.
• All prayer should be directed to God the Father, Yah, and only through the name of his Son, Yeshua.
• Prayer should not be ritualistic
• No images or idols should be used in prayer
• Prayer should not involve pagan customs
• Prayer should not be used as a form of selfish wish-making

We are warned many times in scripture that God “does not listen” to prayers He does not approve of, and in fact such prayers can be deeply offensive to him (James 4:3, Proverbs 15:8, Deuteronomy 12:3-4, 13, Ezekiel 8:18, Jeremiah 14:12), therefore we should do well to pray in a way He approves.

But on the contrary, God wants us to pray to Him, to express all our thoughts, questions, uncertainties and concerns, be they physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. He invites us to communicate with Him as both a friend and Father to us, as well as to give thanks to Him and praise Him.

Our prayers need not be complex or sophisticated, but only heartfelt, respectful and honest, and doing so is simple. Prayer to God is only a mere thought or sentence away. The eternal God who never sleeps, will always be ready and willing to listen to those who have faith in Him.