“Then, He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1)
Prayer is one of the intimate ways of being close to God, knowing his ways, and trusting Him completely. It is simply a form of communicating with God through worshipping, thanksgiving, speaking in tongues, talking to Him on your knees, or even mediating, which is another form of silent prayer.
Prayers give you the privilege to spend time with God. It is the most crucial thing in everyone’s life, especially as a believer. It draws you closer to God through having an unbreakable covenant with Him. Christians ought to pray always, as the Bible says in (1 Thess 5:17) “pray without ceasing.”
When you are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, you will always have the urge to speak to God. You want to seek his divine directions, wisdom to discern, to know Him, to do his will, to have a stronger relationship with Him, and to do what glorifies Him.
On the other hand, prayer is also a form of spiritual bonding, communication, dealing, and transaction between man and God in which there is spiritual interaction between the two. Just like when you speak to your earthly father, that is how you speak to God, your heavenly father as well.
What Does The Bible Say About Prayers?
There are many Bible passages or verses that speak about prayers. Just like the bible verses that talk about Jesus and his life on earth, His ministries, and all the prayers he taught his disciples in the secluded places and even on the mountains.
In (Luke 5: 16), it stated that “Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed,” after performing his healing on a man full of leprosy at a certain city. (Matthew 18:20) recorded where Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Jesus prayed very well during all his time on Earth and equally taught us how to pray to “our father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-13) and also urged us to “devote ourselves to prayers and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). The scriptures affirm that prayers are the weapons of our warfare, and praying together supplies more strength and makes us one body of Christ.
There are many promises in the Bible about prayers, such as in (psalm 91:15), which states, “He shall call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” In (Matthew 7:7), ” seek and you shall find, ask to receive and knock for the door to be opened to you.”
Types of prayers
There are different forms of prayer that help us communicate with God in every situation, which are listed below:
Prayer of Adoration
This type of prayer is mostly focused on exalting the name of the Lord, worshipping him with a clean heart, expressing your love for him, and glorifying him with raised hands and lifting heads. It is always known as a genuine prayer from the heart (Psalm 90:1-2) (Timothy 1:17).
Prayer of Thanksgiving
This is the most intimate type of prayer that begins with expressing yourself to God for all he has done for you and your family. It is a prayer of thanksgiving and gratitude, which is the fastest way for God to answer our prayers. There is a bible verse that says, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”(1 Chronicles 16:34).
This prayer helps you to be grateful for a lot of things: your life, family, business, protection, provision, good health, the gift of good friends, and many other things. It can also be used as a powerful good morning prayer to start your day.
Prayer of Petition
This type of prayer is often seen as asking for God’s help or a prayer of request for good things for us and for those we care for. It is time of bring all that trouble to God for him to grant it to you. It might take time to happen, but God has given us his words that he will always care for those who bring their burdens to him. (Matthew 7:9-11) (1 John 5:15)
Prayer of Confession
Confessing our sins is another good sign of telling God you are through with them, feel sorry for what you have done, and are ready to mend your ways. This type of prayer is mostly for forgiveness of sins and telling Him you are not denying what you did. It is a powerful prayer for all sinners to be part of the promises God has for us. (James 5:16) (1 John 1:9).
Prayer for Healing
Whenever you seek divine healing for your life and the lives of your loved ones, this is the type of prayer you should make. This is the key part of prayer that Jesus used very well in his ministries by healing many people in the Bible, even today. Look for this kind of prayer in (Jeremiah 1:12) (Jeremiah 30:17).
Prayer of Intercession
Interceding for others in prayer is the most crucial part of prayers that God loves so much to hear. This time, you are not asking anything for yourself but for others. You pray for someone to be healed, to be safe, and for God to bless them and supply them with all their needs. It is the purest form of prayer that easily grants your prayer request and is also another bedtime prayer to say with your family. (1 Kings 13:6) (Hebrews 7:25).
The importance of prayers
As a believer, you ought to pray constantly because there are many beautiful things you will always receive through prayer. Prayers are very powerful, effective, and important in one’s life. Many benefits you can get from praying are:
- It encourages every believer to acknowledge the beauty and wonderful works of God and how great He is. His lovely kindness, mercy and love upon us.
- It connects you to God as if you are speaking to Him face to face
- It creates a spiritual bond between You and God.
- It encourages you to live a holy life and pray always
- It helps you to confess your sins and ask for forgiveness.
- It brings prosperity, good health and long life
- It protects you from all evil and principalities.
- It gives you peace of mind and being in God’s agenda
- It makes you want to know and worship Him more.
- It encourages you to pray for others as well.
- It unites you with a lot of believers, people and churches as part of community service.
Conclusion
Praying to God is a sign of a good relationship with him, which helps you to bond well with him and pour your heart to him as well. In this article, we have explained to you what prayer means, its importance, and the types of prayers to practice.
We also encourage you to pick verses from the Bible while praying, which helps you learn those words and frequently use them to pray.
