Pray, prayer, petitioning God, asking God for help, talking to God, looking for answers, when all else fails, pray. There are a lot of different words and ways people use to describe talking to God; praying or prayer tend to be the most common. Then there are the questions of how to pray, when to pray, where to pray, what to say, how to start, how long to pray, how to end… Before we know it, we can get so caught up in what we think we are supposed to do, we lose track of what we were doing in the first place — praying, talking to God.

HOW TO PRAY
There is no formula for prayer, such as start this way, end this way, say these things, spend this much time, bow your head, fold your hands, get down on your knees.… Like most everything else we’ve already presented, prayer is a matter of your heart, or your attitude, before the Lord. You can pray anytime, anywhere, any way, for any reason. You don’t have to  bow your head or fold your hands, but you can if you want to, if that is what you are comfortable with. God doesn’t care if you are sitting, standing or kneeling. It is about spending time with Him and believing in your heart that He hears your prayers and will answer them.

Let’s camp on the “believing He will answer your prayers” part for a minute. Does that mean if we believe God, He will answer our prayers for millions of dollars, nice cars, beautiful homes and many other material goods? It’s hard to say. Maybe, if that’s His will for your life. But consider this: Do you give your children everything they ask for? “Mommy, Daddy, can I have this toy, that game, money for candy, money for ice cream,” or whatever childish demand they come to you with? Hopefully not, because that could create a very difficult, spoiled
and unappreciative child. Hopefully, as a parent you carefully evaluate and consider every request made by your children and determine what is in their best interest to provide for them. 

God is the same way with us. We don’t need to go to God in prayer whining and complaining and begging “Please, please, please, please, God, give me a nice house.” Just like we would not want our kids asking us “Please, please, please, please give me a new bike and I will never ask for anything again, and I will leave you alone. I promise — pleeeeeaaaasssseeeee…” Right — until the next time!

Just like we use wisdom with our own children and don’t give them every single thing they ask for, we need to trust God and believe that He knows exactly what we, His children, need when we need it, and how to answer every single one of our prayers. He tells us in 1 John 5:14 (AMP), And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask
anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. So, we need to do our part, pray, and trust God to do His part. That means not questioning why or when God will answer our prayers, but truly trusting we have done our part in prayer, letting God be God, and trusting Him to take care of the rest.

There may be times when it looks like nothing is happening or our prayers are not being answered, but we can’t stop trusting God. He is always working behind the scenes on our behalf. It may not be how we would take care of the situation, but we have to trust and believe God has every circumstance and situation under control. He is God — there is not one thing He cannot do. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB).

Praying to God should be as simple as talking to your best friend, actually easier. Even best friends are sometimes hard to talk to. It should never be hard to talk to God. There’s nothing you can’t say to Him. Nothing! Philippians 4:6 (AMP) says, Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. He will never judge what you have to say. He will never laugh at you. He will never make fun of you. He will never use what you say against you later on. He will never tell anyone else what you tell Him. He will ALWAYS listen to you. He ALWAYS cares. He will ALWAYS be there for you any time of the day or night. You can pray about anything and everything. Nothing is so big that God cannot handle it. Nothing is so small that God does not care about it. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).

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