I Have Decided - YxYASample

KEY 3 // HOW TO PRAY Firstly, what is prayer? Prayer is simply a conversation with God. As a new Christian, or even a not so new Christian, sometimes when we go to pray, we automatically go to what we see in a film or what we think God wants to hear; giving God our wish list or saying fancy words that we don't even know the meaning of. The thing is, prayer is a conversation and a conversation is a two-way thing. God wants us to talk to him but also He wants to speak to us if we would be open to listening. Yes, at the start it can feel weird and maybe you will feel like you are crazy and talking to yourself or you can't hear Him speaking back, but He will and He hears you! Through words like these in scripture, we have an open invitation from the God of the universe: “Call to me and I will answer you.” (Jeremiah 33:3) We have a promise that He hears us: "You will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." (Jeremiah 29:12) Throughout the Bible, we see examples of people who prayed. Even Jesus, the Son of God, prayed. So, I know I should too, but I find it challenging. I suspect I’m not alone. Many Christians struggle with knowing how to pray. TAKEAWAY TIPS 1\. HOW DO I SPEAK TO GOD? Matthew 6:5 helps us to understand that prayer is not some show, that when we speak to God we can be ourselves and talk to Him in our language like we would speak to a friend. 2\. HOW DO I LISTEN? It’s is a two-way conversation. God wants to speak to us but sometimes we won't wait long enough to hear. For some people, it might be that gut feeling that they know it was God, others may hear His voice audibly, others may be led to a scripture that speaks directly to them, it looks different for everyone! 3\. ALL YOU CAN DO IS TRY It's ok if it feels weird at the beginning, it's ok if you don't know what to say and it's ok if you don't get the answer you wanted straight away. 1 John 5:14 lets us know that he hears us and He knows! So just give it a go and you might be surprised.