Prayer is our intimate connection with God — the God who has all of the answers to all of life’s questions.
Prayer as Petition
God wants you to know Him so well that you will always feel like talking to Him … even when you sin. Prayer is one of the most incredible privileges we have. We actually are invited to come directly into God’s presence and talk with Him about whatever is on our hearts. And He promises to listen!
Transparency and quietness are the keys to deeper communication with God. There is nothing that you can say to God that will surprise Him. There is nothing that you can hide from God. He knows our words, our deeds, our thoughts, and our motives.
When we become transparent in our communication, it will help us move to a deeper relational level with God. God will work through issues with us and we will learn to recognize His voice. Knowing His voice comes from spending time alone with Him each day and learning His Word.
Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other. It is a means God uses to give you what He wants for you. God does not just respond to your prayers, He responds to you as a person.
Prayer as Fellowship
Many believers view prayer as a one-sided conversation. We talk. God listens. Then hopefully God acts. But can you imagine what your relation with your spouse, children or friends would be like if you approached your communication with them the same way?
We assume that because we can’t see God, He can’t communicate with us. But he does. Just not audibly. He speaks to us through passages in the Bible. He speaks to us through the inner voice and promptings of the Holy Spirit. At times the Holy Spirit confirms the words spoken by others to us as coming from God. On occasions the Holy Spirit will help us see God orchestrating events and circumstances as His message to us.
So when you pray, don’t feel like you need to do all the talking. Prayer as fellowship is knowing how to quiet our hearts so we may hear Him as He speaks to us. Listen for God in the silence.
Jesus’ death for you on the cross made it possible for you to talk directly with your Father in heaven. Your Father wants you to seek his guidance, comfort, peace, and intimate companionship at all times … not just when you want things. He actually desires your companionship!
Prayer as Worship
Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God.
(Philippians 4:6)
Prayer is asking God for help with our needs (petition). It is our fellowship with the heavenly Father. It is also an act of worship as you declare who God is and what He has done and give Him thanks. When you read the recorded prayers in the Bible, you find that prayers often begin by simply telling Him who He is (e.g. 1 Kings 8:22-24).
For example, the disciples gathered together to pray after Peter and John had been released from the religious authority. They started simply by declaring who God was.
When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “Master of all, you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather.”
(Acts 4:24-25)
Declaration and thanksgiving are acts of worship.
As you become more spiritually mature, you will spend more time in prayer as worship and fellowship than in petition.
JOY
As you mature in Christ, you will also spend more time asking on behalf of others (intercession) than for yourself. It is not that you don’t have needs. In fact, you increasingly become more dependent on God.
It is a sign of maturity when you can take care of others as well as yourself. When you are a child, you think only about yourself. When you are an adult, especially when you become a parent, you think of others (children) first.
Joy comes when you put Jesus first, Others second, then Yourself. This “love others as yourself” principle applies to prayer.