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What Does The Bible Say About Prayer And How To Pray? – Viral Believer
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What Does The Bible Say About Prayer And How To Pray?

Praying According To The Bible

What does the Bible say about prayer?

It has a lot to say about prayer.

It is filled with hundreds of Bible verses about prayer and the people who prayed them.

Many people think that prayer is some type of state of mind or exercise that has to be filled with ceremony and ritual however in all honesty, the Bible teaches that prayer is simply communication with God.

In this article, I hope to show you that prayer is meant to be the way that we build our relationship with God and develop a friendship with God that becomes one of the most treasured experiences we as believers can have in this life.

prayer strategies

The Bible and Prayer

The Bible says that prayer is relational.

Jesus, when He gave us what is commonly called the Lord’s prayer, started the prayer with these words. “Our Father”.

This statement has huge implications in our prayer life. Starting a prayer with the designation of familial connection and relationship turns prayer from something that is done to an impersonal and uncaring God to one of talking to somebody who loves us and wants to see the best for us in our lives.

It takes communication from one of formality to one of intimacy. You are no longer talking to a supreme being but instead talking to a loved and loving relative.

The Bible teaches that God wants us to have that type of close intimacy with Him. In fact, it is the whole reason that He sent Jesus to die on the cross. He wanted to make a way that people like you and I can have a one on one relationship with Him.

The father made a way for His children to come and sit on His lap and relate to Him. That relationship can only be started and continued through Jesus.

So if you have not started that real and personal relationship with God then I suggest you do so now by praying your first relational prayer and ask Jesus to come and be your savior and Lord and take up residence in your heart. You can go to Peace With God to learn more about starting that relationship with God.

The Bible says that prayer is effective.

James 5:16
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

When we pray we are not just hoping for something to happen. We are not engaged in our last-ditch effort to get something to go right, we are engaging in something that has great power to change circumstances and situations and mold our world.

God has chosen the 2-way communication between Him and us to release the power in this world to change it for the better.

Why He has chosen to partner with us in this great endeavor is beyond my comprehension but all throughout the Bible God has chosen to wait until His people pray for His intervention before He moves to change things.

When we pray and sincerely pour our hearts out to God, He moves on behalf of His people.

Prayer does things like cause people to be healed, sets them free from bondage and addictions, turns back spiritual darkness in a community, and draws people to come into a relationship with Jesus just to name a few of the things that can happen when people pray.

The Bible says that prayer changes us.

When we pray, not only does it affect what we are praying about, but it affects us.

In the same manner that when we hang around people with a foreign accent for any length of time we start to pick up that accent in our own speech, when we spend time relating to God in prayer we pick up His heart and values.

We end up being changed.

It is during our times of prayer that our own heart is changed so that those people we are enemies with no longer are enemies and those people we struggle forgiving get forgiven.

Why?

Because God turned His enemies into relatives, those that were unforgiven into the forgiven.

When we pray God changes us! We take on His nature. That is the power of true relational prayer.

It not only changes the world but it changes us!

How To Start Your First Prayer

Take a moment, right now, as you finish reading this article on what does the Bible say about prayer and put into practice what you have learned.

Stop for a moment, and just start having a conversation with your heavenly Father. Start sharing with your “Dad” what is on your heart.

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Don’t try to figure out some formula but instead have a conversation, and honest one, including the things that you think, might not please Him.

He is bigger than your fears, failures, and things you don’t want to admit. He knows them anyway so go ahead and have a real conversation with Him about it.

Take off the religious mask and get real with Him.

It will change you and change your world.

Pastor Duke Taber
Pastor Duke Taber

Pastor Duke Taber

All articles have been written or reviewed by Pastor Duke Taber.
Pastor Duke Taber is an alumnus of Life Pacific University and Multnomah Biblical Seminary.
He has been in pastoral ministry since 1988.
Today he is the owner and managing editor of 3 successful Christian websites that support missionaries around the world.
He is currently starting a brand new church in Mesquite NV called Mesquite Worship Center, a Non-Denominational Spirit Filled Christian church in Mesquite Nevada.