Is prayer a struggle for you?
I have a confession to make. While I talk about prayer to others, ask people for prayer points, even have prayer breakfasts and pray out loud, I struggle to spend quality time on my own praying to God.
Yet, this is something that I should be prioritizing because prayer is good for us. Giving us direct access to God cost him his own Son. He asks us to share with him our thanks and our requests (Philippians 4). He taught us how to pray (Matthew 6) and gave us so many examples of prayers (John 17 where Jesus prays for himself and for us, Philippians 1, 1 Thessalonians 1, 2 Thessalonians 1 and many more!).
Why is it that we still struggle with prayer? Perhaps we sometimes just don’t know what to pray for.
What should we pray for?
This list is endless! There are so many things we can bring before God that it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. Here are some helpful tips for working out what you should pray for:
Follow Paul’s examples of prayer
- Thank God for your brothers and sisters in Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:3)
- Thank God for the love and faith of others (Colossians 1:3-7)
- Ask God to teach you and others more about Himself (Colossians 1:9-14)
- Ask God to help you and others grow in knowledge and love (Philippians 1:9)
- Ask God to help you and others make wise decisions based on His word (Philippians 1:10)
- Bring before God all sorts of prayers and requests (Ephesians 6:18)
- Continually pray for other Christians (Ephesians 6:18)
This is only a short list! There are many more examples in Paul’s letters of what we can pray. Have a read of Philippians, Ephesians, 1 Thessalonians and some of his other writings for more ideas!