The Basics of Prayer and How God Answers Prayer from CBN.com
What Is Prayer?
Prayer is a two-way conversation with God. It is the most intimate relationship with the Creator you can have. In prayer, the depths of your spirit are in communion with the depths of the Spirit of God. Out of this can come instruction, guidance, healing, deliverance and wisdom.
Often when we pray, we make use of our rational minds. But there are times when we can only pray in the Spirit, such as when we don’t know how to pray about a specific situation. At times like these, the Apostle Paul says,
“The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).
How Should I Pray?
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him how to pray, He gave them what we know as the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9-13 KJV). As you meditate on each phrase, you’ll see how the Lord’s Prayer touches on each facet of our lives and God’s character. It is a wonderfully complete outline for our prayers and is a good model to build on.
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As we pray The Lord’s Prayer, we begin by acknowledging God’s sovereign fatherhood when we say,
“Our Father, who art in Heaven.”
Then we adore His name. Because His name represents His nature, we praise His very being when we say the next phrase,
“Hallowed be thy name.”
Next, we must be concerned about the extension of His kingdom. We must desire that people should come to know Him and submit to Him, so we say,
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Then we turn to our personal concerns and ask God for our daily bread — not only literal bread, but whatever we need to carry out His work. This prayer is for His daily provision for our immediate needs, and so we pray,
