How do you talk to God?

You may have heard people tell you, “Just pray about it” and wondered, “uh, sure, if I knew how to do that!”

“Prayer is just talking to God.” But, He is the creator of the universe, the Most High God, the Supreme Being! How do you just waltz into the throne room of heaven and and start talking to the King of Kings!?!

Do you have to pray out loud? Is there a way you have to begin your prayer or end it? What exactly is a ‘prayer closet’ and do I need one?

Or, you may have heard people tell you “It is just a conversation with a friend, just talk to Him.” and think to yourself, but how does He talk back?

If you are nodding along, going “Yeah, how do I do that?” then Sister, let’s dive in and find out the answers!

In this lesson on How do you talk to God? We will look at the foundation of our faith - prayer. What is it? How do you do it? Why should you do it?

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Ok, let’s dive in and talk about all things prayer.

You see it all over social media, “I’m praying for you.” “You are in my thoughts and prayers.” But have you ever wondered if they actually stopped and said a prayer? And if they did, who were they praying to? Is it the same God that you pray to? And why is praying for someone so powerful?

What is prayer? 

It is true that prayer is simply talking to God. You cannot have a relationship with anyone without communication, and God longs to communicate with His children. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then you are a daughter of God, and He longs to talk to you and to hear what you want to say to Him. This relationship that we have as daughters of God is why we have the authority to enter into the throne room of heaven and speak to the Most High God. We are His children. Who has the ability to wake up a world leader in the middle of the night to ask for a glass of water? His child! Thus, as God’s child, we have the authority He has given us to come to Him in prayer whenever we wish. Even better - He says we should pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17)! He wants us to be talking to Him all the time. I don’t know about you, but I love to talk. People teased me that for my younger brother to learn to talk he was going to have to first learn to tell me to be quiet! The only person that ever wanted me talking to them all the time was my grandmother. When I was dating, my boyfriend loved to hear everything I had to say. Now that he is my husband, he still enjoys our conversation, but I would annoy even him if it was constant! 😄 Thank you, Lord, that you want to hear from us constantly, and talking to You is never something we can do too much!

Why should you pray?

When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you also have to accept Him as your LORD. Now that is not a term we are used to in our democratic societies, but a Lord is someone whose commands have to be followed. It is someone whom you love and want to emulate. That is why our walk with Jesus should be more than just a salvation experience, but a daily practice of learning to follow how Jesus lived and live as He did. 

What does this have to do with prayer?

Jesus prayed. Regularly. Leaving the crowds and going away alone to spend time talking to His Father. (Luke 5:16) If we want to live as Jesus did, then we too need to leave our daily hustle, get alone with God, and pray.

Of course, another important reason is that Jesus tells us to. He commands us to pray without ceasing, with thanksgiving. If our Lord tells us to do something, then we need to do it.

It is also how we build a closer relationship with Jesus. We can have a relationship with someone that we do not talk to, but we will not get to know them better. We will not be growing in our affection and understanding of who they are. Without communication, we might have the title of daughter, but we will not be close to our Father.

How do you pray?

This is not a stupid question. In fact, the disciples had the very same one and asked Jesus. (Luke 11:1) He taught them to pray by giving them a model prayer that you may have heard called The Lord’s prayer. However, it is really more of the Disciple’s prayer, as it is what Jesus gave to us, His disciples, as a model.

In this model prayer, Jesus taught us to begin our prayers with reverence for God (Hallowed be they name). He taught us to pray for God’s will, forgiveness, provision, guidance, and deliverance. He then closed the prayer with acknowledging God’s power, authority, and giving Him glory.

P.R.A.Y.

Another means of remembering what to pray for is using the acrostic PRAY. It stands for:

P - Praise

R - Repent

A - Ask

Y - Yield

Jesus began His model prayer with praise, praising God for who He is. He ended His prayer the same way.

Next, Jesus told us to repent of our sins, and to ask for God’s forgiveness.

Jesus then included things we are to ask for, such as guidance, provision, and deliverance.

Lastly, Jesus told us to surrender to God’s will for our lives and for His kingdom.

Notice how these four elements mirror the components of the Lord’s prayer.

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Should you pray silently, aloud, on your knees?

The easy answer here is that there is not a specific posture that is best for prayer. God will sometimes cause you to fall to your knees, other times you will stand and shout praise. Sometimes you will close your eyes due to the intimacy of the moment, other times you will be praying as you drive down the street, so PLEASE keep your eyes open! Prayer is not about the posture of your body, it is about the posture of your heart.

Personally, most of my dedicated prayer time (when I am not praying while I do other tasks) is spent writing my prayers in a prayer journal. I love this method as I can review what I prayed and how God answered those prayers. It contains spiritual mile markers in my walk with Jesus that I can review and use in those moments where my faith is weak.

What exactly is a prayer closet?

The concept originally comes from Jesus telling His disciples that when they pray, go into their inner room (or closet) and pray to their Father in heaven who sees what is done in secret. Then, the movie War Room showed a woman of God with a literal closet she had turned into a “War Room,” a place of prayer and time alone with God. Influencers have taken that ball and run with it, showing us their own versions of literal closets they have converted into rooms for prayer. Though this is a lovely idea, it is not actually what Jesus meant. He was correcting the Pharisees who were praying publicly for public praise and adoration about how godly they were. Jesus was saying that we should not be praying for the praise of men, but praying in secret alone with God so that men could not praise us. Jesus spent time alone with God, and we should too. If that means you need a private room or closet - do it! If you prefer to go for a walk alone and pray - also great. Being alone with our Father is the main thing. Personally, I have to get up before everyone else so that I can be alone. That is what works for me. 

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