This article deals with a foundation of Christianity: how to pray to God properly? What do you need to keep in mind? Is there anything you can do wrong? We sat down and summarized the topic.
Basically, you can’t do anything wrong when you pray. Jesus invites us to come to God as a child and that prayer is a private matter between you and God. How you and God shape this prayer is entirely up to you.
Table of Contents
How do you pray to God properly?
How you pray to God consists of three things: The posture, the words, and the inner attitude toward God. No matter what these three things are, one concept remains: There are no things you have to do.
In very concrete terms, this means the following for a Christian prayer:
- Your posture doesn’t matter.
- You can choose your own words when praying
- There is no need to pray in a particular direction.
- It is not necessary to have certain objects in order to pray (e.g. prayer rug).
- No specific time is necessary to pray (Christians do not have fixed prayer times!)
- The length of your prayer does not matter.
- It doesn’t matter if you pray alone or in a group (Jesus recommends the former, though).
What do you need to do for a proper prayer to God?
So, now that we know what you don’t need to do or pay attention to, we’ll tell you what you do need to pay attention to. The most important thing first:
Trust that God will hear your prayer.
If you heed this principle, you will automatically pray to God correctly. You can ask God for anything you want. It is no problem for you to present all your problems to God and ask Him to solve them. Just imagine that God is your Father, whom you can ask and request anything. Not all prayers will be useful in the future and maybe you will stop asking for certain things, but God has forgiven you for that.
How can I make sure that God will answer my prayer?
Often the question of the right prayer is also asked when prayer does not have the desired effect. One is still sick. One still has financial problems. You’re still in a broken marriage – surely that can’t work!?
Yes, it can. In the previous section we described that proper Christian prayer is like talking to a father. Would your father give you anything you asked him to give you? If he is a good father, he will not do this. (For example, it is unhealthy to live on sugar alone every day).
Then how can I make sure that I have prayed to God correctly?
You can be sure that you have prayed correctly by believing in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Through the death of Jesus Christ, the distance from man to God was reduced, and anyone can pray to God at any time without any preconceived notions. So if you want to be sure that God will answer your prayer, trust in Jesus Christ! This is the “assurance” that God has given to us human beings.
Does this mean that I will get everything I pray for?
It doesn’t mean that. Jesus has bridged the distance from man to God and we have direct access to God. As people in the 21st century, we have become accustomed to this concept. However, if you were to ask a Jew 2500 years ago (forerunner of Christianity), a sacrifice in the temple would be mandatory for God to even hear you.
This “being heard” does not correspond to “I get everything I want”.
How can I pray correctly so that my prayer is heard and fulfilled?
We hope that at this point you have understood that your inner attitude toward God and toward Jesus is decisive in whether you pray correctly or not. If you believe that, you can say anything you want. Choose your words as you wish.
But it does not ensure the fulfillment of your prayer. Is there anything you can do “right” to have your prayer answered? Well, one thing is important to understand: God always has the last word. Always.
But: As Christians, we are considered children of God before God. To these God has given some promises. So Christians can rely on these promises from God for their prayer to be answered (if it has been promised by God).
