Make Prayer Meaningful Again
Do you desire to make prayer meaningful again? Perhaps you opened this post because prayer is a struggle for you. You know that prayer is essential, but you have yet to have a good experience, so the subject of prayer often produces guilt. And if you have approached prayer as a Christian to-do list added to everything else required to be a “good” Christian, it is no wonder you avoid prayer! It is time to reexamine your approach to God.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, you have a personal relationship with God, so talking to Him is key. Thus, rethink prayer as a “get-to,” a time to speak with your Creator. Because when human effort is removed, prayer ceases to feel like work or an obligation, and the Holy Spirit can be unleashed by faith.
That sounds fantastic, right? However, it takes practice to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than yourself. Hence, prayer may initially feel awkward, especially if you have approached prayer as a human performance or a spiritual accomplishment. For instance, it’s time to pray, but without formulas, you do not know what to say. The silence feels awkward, and your impulse is that it is up to you to fill the void.
Resist that feeling! Because blessings abound for those who wait on the Lord! So, instead of focusing on yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to pray through you and allow Him to direct your prayer. Then, wait for Him. Note that relying on the Holy Spirit will take practice, but your prayer life will soon take flight and soar.
The Holy Spirit Makes Prayer Meaningful Again
Jesus said we must worship God in Spirit and in truth. Essentially, this means to place no confidence in yourself but instead, know Jesus, who is the truth, and rely on the Holy Spirit. It also means becoming familiar with the truth of God’s Word and being genuine and honest in your interactions with Him. God transformed my prayer life by highlighting the following Bible verses.
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:26-27
When you depend on the Holy Spirit, you can be confident that you are praying according to God’s will. There is no need to plead with God or wonder if your prayer is effective. As an added benefit, when you ask the Holy Spirit to lead, He will shake off routine prayers and complacency and give you a vibrant relationship with God.
Jesus, Teach Me to Pray
Very early in Jesus’ ministry, His disciples recognized Jesus’ deep relationship and dependence on His Father. They also observed that prayer was the source of Jesus’ spiritual power, so they asked Him to teach them to pray.
Notably, the disciples admitted something few recognize: We are prone to independence, so prayer does not come naturally. However, there is good news! The Holy Spirit wants to show you how to have intimacy with God in prayer. So, like the disciples, ask Jesus to teach you to pray and believe that He will.
Jesus spent a lot of time with the disciples. He was their friend, so they had normal, everyday conversations with Him. And so should you, because Jesus calls believers His friends. At the same time, the disciples were also in awe of Him, so never lose sight that Jesus is God when you pray.
Indeed, all three members of the Trinity are involved in prayer: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three in one. The Holy Spirit helps us pray to our Heavenly Father in Jesus’ name.
Meaningful Prayer Begins by Talking to God
Meaningful prayer is talking with Jesus, your best friend.
Jesus said: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:13-15
Imagine how long you would remain friends if you stopped talking to someone or rarely wanted to be with them. Accordingly, consider prayer essential to staying connected to your heavenly Father.
It is helpful to deem your connection to God similar to your human relationships. Remember when you spent time getting to know someone, and then you fell in love? Was your relationship drudgery, or was it exciting and joyful? Did you have to be coaxed to be with the one you love? Likewise, love for Jesus must be cultivated, so understanding prayer in this light is helpful.
Making Prayer Meaningful Begins with Knowing God
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Moses said, If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Exodus 33:11, 13
It is not possible to have a meaningful prayer life without knowing God or what pleases Him. But be encouraged. God has given you His Word so that you can know Him and believe in His love, forgiveness, peace, and grace. And through your relationship with Jesus, you can experience these blessings in your life. Indeed, knowing and loving God is the foundation of your relationship with Him.
Jesus taught, ‘ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’ Matthew 22:37-38
So, recharge your prayer life by picking up a Bible with the sole purpose of wanting to know God. Because then, you will never again feel the need to be perfect or clean yourself up before you pray. Instead, you will look forward to your time together. Another benefit of becoming more familiar with God and His ways is that you will pray more often because now you are coming to someone you know and trust.
Indeed, the more frequently you pray, the more convinced you will be that God hears and answers your prayers. Therefore, it will be a blessing to keep a journal of your time with God to record and look back on where you started and how miraculously He has worked in your life.
Prayers Focused on God are Meaningful
Come near to God, and He will come near to you. James 4:8
Prayers using a formula can be rote, monotonous, and inauthentic. However, praying can also be uninspired if you continually approach God with a focus entirely on yourself. Granted, it’s good that you take the time to pray. But do you often rush into God’s throne room of grace with your heart far removed and a shopping list of demands, not requests?
To change that habit, ask the Holy Spirit to quiet you and focus your attention on Jesus. Because if you first meditate on who He is and all He has done for you, your requests will take their proper focus. Furthermore, allow the Holy Spirit to lead and expect the unexpected.
For instance, God may prompt you to read your Bible before and even during prayer because He wants to speak to you through His Word. Or He may lead you to look up lyrics to a Christian song that He brings to your mind. Regardless, when you open yourself to the Holy Spirit’s lead, you can say goodbye to meaningless prayers.
Prayer is Meaningful for the Needy
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:1
Always be your authentic self when you pray. For instance, if the above verse does not describe you, tell God you recognize how seriously you need Him to teach you to pray. But be encouraged! If God could bring David to feel this way about meeting with Him, He can do the same for you. Therefore, resist focusing on what you lack. Instead, always look at what God can do.
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1
When you conclude that only God can satisfy your deepest longings, you will anticipate meeting with Him, thirsty for what only Jesus can satisfy.
Meaningful Prayer Is an Adventure
Without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
Faith takes prayer out of the box to discover the boundless riches in Christ, so your time with Him should never be tedious or boring. Indeed, praying by faith is an adventure you don’t want to miss, so ask God to help you get in the habit of meeting together. To begin, pick a time and ask God to help you keep your daily appointment with Him.
Remember, prayer is a dialogue. You talk to God, and He communicates with you through prayer and His Word, the Bible. Thus, don’t be surprised if your prayer is interrupted because God may impress a thought or Scripture on your mind. Often, these are related to the burden you carry or something you have expressed, so He shows you where to read in the Bible.
From personal experience, the Scripture God chose was perfect for what I needed that day. Sometimes, it was a Bible verse or an entire chapter, as there were other nuggets God wanted to reveal to me. Then, as I record these verses in my journal, God continues to speak to me through His Word. I then resume praying.
Be assured that your time with God will be meaningful, like manna from heaven, and your relationship with God will become more intimate and fulfilling. Indeed, relying on the Holy Spirit is an adventure!
Advice to Make Prayer Meaningful Again
Let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
- Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in prayer, and then wait for Him. It is often beneficial to begin with praise, as it lifts your eyes off yourself and onto your heavenly Father and Jesus, your constant companion. Moreover, as you praise God, you are reminded that He is powerful, and you begin to see your needs from His perspective.
- The Book of Psalms is a helpful handbook for praising and worshiping God. When you pray, believe that God exists and will respond when you seek Him in prayer. Therefore, personalize what you read in the Bible and then record it in your own words.
- Claim God’s promises for yourself.
- A journal is highly recommended to record how God speaks to you each day. Before I begin prayer, I often read what God revealed to me the day before, which helps me focus my thoughts on God.
- Whenever you get bogged down, ask God to help you pray and teach you more about prayer. He always answers!
- Resist being discouraged in prayer, especially when you don’t get the answers you want. Instead, have the same attitude Jesus had when He prayed to the Father: “Not My will, but Your will be done.” By faith, trust God’s plans when they are not yours.
- The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing. Therefore, prayer will look different every day. Sometimes, we have arrow prayers asking for help, but there’s nothing better than time dedicated to being alone with God in prayer and His Word.
Enjoy God and Have Meaningful Prayers
Seek God and love Him. Believe in Jesus with expectant faith and enjoy a meaningful prayer life through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Father God, I praise you because you are highly exalted, yet you listen attentively to my prayer because you are interested in what I have to say. I am grateful that I can come to you with confident faith because of your grace, Christ’s death on the cross, and His resurrection power.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the Holy Spirit, who strengthens my faith and enables me to pray according to your will. By your supernatural power, overcome the weakness of my flesh and make prayer the desire of my heart. So, please help me commit to a time and place to read the Bible and pray daily, so I can know You better and love You more.
Heavenly Father, in Your Holy Presence, I acknowledge that I need Your forgiveness for all my sins. I confess them now and thank you for your forgiveness in Christ Jesus, who died on the cross for my sins and rose again. Empower me to live what I know and to walk by the Spirit daily so my life is pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Know that the Lord has set apart His faithful servant for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. Psalm 4:3
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Bible study for “Make Prayer Meaningful Again”
Week 1: Exodus 33:7-21; 2 Kings 6:15-17; Psalms 3:1-6; 4:1-8; 5:1-3, 11-12; 6:4, 9; 8:1-5; 9:1-2, 9-10; 17:6-9; 18:1-36; 25:1-22; 28:6-9; 33:4, 20-22; 34:1-22; 36:5-9; 37:4-5, 7, 18; 42:1-11; 62:5-8, 63:1-8; 73:21-26; 86:6-7; 11-13, 15; 116:1-14; 121:1-8; 141:1-2
Week 2: Psalms 142:1-2; 145:1-21; Jeremiah 31:3; Daniel 2:17-23; 6:3-28; 9:20-23; 10:4-21; Zephaniah 3:17; Matthew 4:1-4, 10; 6:5-14; 7:7-12; 9:35-38; 11:27-30; 15:8-9; 21:18-22; 22:37-40; 26:36-46; Mark 1:35; Luke 11:1-13; 15:1-7; 18:1-8
Week 3: John 4:23-26; 6:28-29; 35-40, 46-51, 57-59, 63; 14:12-14; 17; 15:5-17; 17:1-26; Acts 2:42; 4:23-31; Romans 5:1-11; 8:1, 5, 9-10, 14-16, 26-32; 12:1-2, 11-12; Ephesians 3:14-21; 6:10-12, 18-20; Philippians 3:3; 4:6-7; Colossians 4:2-4
Week 4: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; Hebrews 4:12-16; 7:23–28; 11:1, 6; 12:1-3; 13:15-16, 20-21; James 4:2-3, 8; 5:13-18; 1 Peter 3:12; 5:7; 1 John 1:8-10; 5:13-15; Jude 20-21; Revelation 4:8-11; 5:8
