Lord’s Library contributor Jared Helms offers commentary on learning to pray to God according to the Bible, with key Scriptures. Check out Jared’s YouTube channel and two blogs: A Light in the Darkness and Blind Faith Examples, or send him a reader response email. Lord’s Library’s Ministry Leaders Series is a collection of contributed articles written by ministry leaders on key Christian topics.
Psalms 32:8-11: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”
When we ask how we can grow in prayer we are essentially asking how we grow in our relationship with God. You see, prayer is not some art form, some variety of craft, or a science; it is an expression and means of relationship. How do grow in prayer? How do you grow in communicating with any loved one? Keeping that relational focus is the key to success.
Learning to Pray to God
Relationships can be complicated, but with, God half of those complications are non-existent, and the rest are greatly reduced because God knows you perfectly. God will understand what you really meant to say, and where it was coming from. God will always forgive as we confess. God already knows all our secrets, all our failures, and our flaws and Christ came and died for us anyway so that we might be redeemed and delivered. The obstacles to overcome are all with us.
Of the comprehensive treatments on prayer, Andrew Murray’s With Christ in the School of Prayer is the most widely regarded, and for good reason. Donald S. Whitney has also treated the subject in several different volumes, and wherever he has written about the discipline we are sure to find helpful instruction. While reading about prayer is certainly a reasonable step, I do not think it is sufficient in itself.
The best thing for prayer is to know the One you are praying to, better. God has taken the first step in communication by making Himself known through the sixty-six books of the Bible. Many have poured over those pages, and have left behind their insights into God’s identity.
There are libraries worth of books on every aspect of who God is from Arthur W. Pink’s excellent overview in The Attributes of God, to R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God. There are simply too many worthy books on the topic to list them all. However, a good starting place is found in a confession such as the London Baptist 1689, or the Westminster Confession which preceded it. Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, or another worthy systematic theology text is a good second step.
When it comes to encouragement for prayer I have found the greatest help in the biographies of prayerful saints. Of these, The Autobiography of George Muller stands out for its emphasis on prayer. The recorded prayers of our forerunners in the faith can also be very helpful to us, so much so that God includes numerous recorded prayers throughout the Scriptures from the Psalms to the Pauline Epistles. The best-known collection of recorded prayer is The Valley of Vision which contains many prayers from the Puritans and is very worthy of attention.
It is good to pray the Scriptures, as this helps conform our prayers to the revealed will of God. Now, this is not to endorse the dry recitation of formulas, but rather to allow the Scriptures to give voice to inner life, and also to speak into our life as we pray. There are books that offer further guidance in this practice, of which I would recommend Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney.
What I cannot in good conscience recommend to anyone is studying prayer without practicing prayer. In fact, I would rather have you spend your time praying than reading about prayer. You can read all you want, and learn a lot of truths, but it is nothing until you put it to practical use.
Look, I can read everything ever written by or about George Whitefield until I know more about Mr. Whitefield than anyone else, but that is very different from knowing George Whitefield. To know George, I would need to communicate with him directly and build a relationship. That is precisely the way with God. I do not want you to know about God, knowing about God does not save you. I want you to know God personally. Knowing about God helps with that, but only communicating with Him directly accomplishes it.
Just start praying. Just talk with God about the cares of your heart, and keep talking to Him and listening for Him through Scripture. Keep at it, and see what happens. If you have trouble, ask him for help. Does it feel awkward to tell Him about it? Distracted? Keep trying to focus. Do not give up.
Give prayer what time you have as you have it. Please understand this one simple thing: the desire to grow in communication with God is the key to growing in communication with God. We have seen already the abundant evidence that God wants to communicate with you, the obstacle that can keep that from happening is our own lack of desire to converse with Him.
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