First and foremost, there’s no exact formula on how to convince God to give something to you. He’s not a vending machine where you put a dollar in and receive something sweet back. 😉 God’s rather interested in having a vibrant relationship with you.
That’s why I’m sharing with you some tips and attitudes on how I pray for the things I want God to do in my life and where you can start. In the end it all comes down to having a loving relationship with God while approaching him in prayer. That’s why my first point is very important:
1. Attitude: Come boldly before the throne
Let us then 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
Thanks to what Jesus Christ did on the cross we can come boldly before the throne of God. This means we can stand firm on God’s promise that he meets us in our prayer time. Even Jesus himself tells us to pray and ask for the things we want and need:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-9
The Bible tells us that it’s God’s will for us to pray.
2. Pray for direction and wisdom
Ask God how you should pray for a particular issue or person. Also, listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance on the specific things you want to pray for. What exactly should you pray for and how? Here’s an example: Maybe a friend of yours approaches you and asks you to pray for healing. Ask God for more instructions on what you should focus your prayers on. Maybe besides healing the Holy Spirit leads you to pray for hope, trust and wisdom during this person’s season.
3. Have a list
Maybe it’s just me but I love having lists. 🙂 It gives me a feeling of being on top of everything. Therefore, having my concern written down, I’m sure to pray for every person and issue concerning my life and the lives of those around me. I highly encourage you to write down different topics or persons, too. Beneath these topics, name the situations and requests you’re praying for. Then take out the list once a day or once a week to pray over all these concerns.
4. Be persistent
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Luke 18:1
You may have heard about the story in Luke 18:1-8 that Jesus told his disciples. It’s about a widow that kept going to the local judge to plead for justice. She didn’t give up asking and thus the judge granted her justice.
This story always encourages me to keep on praying, keep on asking and knocking at God’s door. I highly encourage you to read it!
5. Give thanks
Thank God for the person or the issue you’re praying for. Also, give thanks for the things your praying for as if you’ve already received them. I know this takes faith, but faith is the substance our walk with God is built on, isn’t it? It helps getting into an attitude of trust, hope and peace.
6. Pray for Gods’ will to happen
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39
Sometimes prayers don’t get answered the way we want them to. Even Jesus didn’t want to go through with God’s plan but he kept the right attitude and prayed for God’s will to be done. In his case, it was absolutely necessary because God’s will was 100% beneficial for the whole world. Many times, the Lord doesn’t answer a prayer because he has something even better in store for us. At other times, things happen that we can’t find an explanation for. These are the moments where we need to trust God completely and surrender everything to him.
7. Give it completely to God
Yes, this is a tough one, but sometimes it’s necessary to just let something sit with God and wait. There are things to pray about that we can get so caught up with that we make it our idol. We want it to happen so badly that our focus shifts more and more away from God and onto our problem. When this happens, I highly encourage you to give it 100% to God. I know this isn’t easy but with God’s help you can do it!
I hope these suggestions help you to connect deeper with God!
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