Are You Confused About Prayer?

I was very confused about prayer when I first started to follow Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew that I was supposed to pray but I wasn’t sure how … or even to whom I should address my prayer. I knew there were three persons of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but I wondered Which one do I pray to? I sure didn’t want to offend one person of God or bring down God’s wrath on myself for doing it wrong!

How could I get the answers I needed?

I was in a small Bible study group with some pillars of our church. When they prayed it sounded like they were reading from a hymnal! I wanted to pray like they did! However, I didn’t want anyone to know how ignorant I was! 

In the end, I had to ask for help. I screwed up my courage and asked the oldest and grayest of them to teach me about prayer.

She explained, “What one person of God knows, they all know. It doesn’t matter which person of God you address your prayers to.”

She suggested I start with a memorized prayer like the one in Matthew 6. I still pray the Lord’s prayer frequently, but since then I also developed a prayer model to help me keep my prayers fresh and fervent.

I call it the T.R.U.S.T. Prayer Model.

Here is a quick summary of my T.R.U.S.T. Prayer model.

 

 

T reminds me to Tell God he’s awesome.

I praise him by name or characteristic.
God, I praise you because you are Jehovah Jirah.
God, I praise you as Elohim.

If you don’t know any of the Greek names, use the ones you do know.

God, I praise you because you are my Savior.
God, I praise you because you are my Redeemer.
God, I praise you because you are my Healer.

I often praise God’s characteristics in alphabetical order to keep me focused and on track.

God, I praise you because you are awesome.
God, I praise you because you are benevolent.
God, I praise you because you are caring.
God, I praise you because you are dependable.
And, so on.

R reminds me to Remember to keep a clean slate.

Don’t let anything create a barrier between you and God. The longer you harbor a known or willful sin, the more difficult it is to approach him. You start to think, I’ll just clean that up myself before I talk to God.

Girl! God is the one who can help you clean it up! 

Confess your mess, tell God you’re done with it, and ask him to forgive you so your slate is clean. Then, tell him you need his help to stay clear of that stuff. 

U is to remind you to Uplift your requests to him.

Whatever it is that’s on your mind, put in at his feet.

S is to help you remember to Stop and listen.

Stop, sit and listen to see if God gives you a response to your praise, confession or request(s). This might be a thought or picture or memory or song. He’s pretty creative.
Give him some time. Start with 2 minutes and work up to more listening time.

T is to remind you to Thank God.

Thank God for all he has already done and provided.

When you use my T.R.U.S.T. prayer model,
I promise your confidence and connection with God will grow!

What keeps you from being the woman of prayer you want to me?
Leave a comment below.

 

Prayer: God Almighty, you are my King, my Advocate, my Defender and my Savior. I praise that you are always for me and with me. I am so thankful that you love me more than I love myself. Help me to trust you more!  In Jesus Name. Amen

Scripture: My children, you are a part of God’s family. You have stood against these false preachers and had power over them. You had power over them because the One Who lives in you is stronger than the one who is in the world  1 John 4:4 (NLV)