Entry
Prayer / Praying
What did Jesus mean
To pray means to talk to Jesus.
What Jesus did not mean
Praying or prayer does not mean the following.
Asking for specific outcomes (transactional or wish-based)
This would be like asking Jesus to help your favorite sports team win or to heal a sick family member. These prayers are closed. What does that mean? You’re telling Jesus what outcome you require and leaving the door closed to real solutions. You should probably never pray to Jesus about your favorite sports team, but a sick child is another thing. Instead of praying to Jesus to heal your sick child, ask him how to do it. “Jesus, guide me. Tell me how to heal my child. I need your help.”
However, Jesus enjoys conversation. So by all means, talk to him about your favorite sports team.
Saying thank you for no real reason
Jesus does want you to be thankful, but not if you don’t mean it. You should never pray and thank Jesus for things you aren’t thankful for. He knows. That’s why it’s important to be honest with yourself during prayer.
We all have things to be thankful for. Prayer gives you the opportunity to look for those things in your life.
That’s the beauty of prayer.
Chanting scriptures you don’t understand
Scripture is confusing. And that’s okay. Jesus doesn’t expect you to understand it all, remember it all, or repeat it all. He just wants to talk to you.
Talk to Jesus how you would talk to a good friend (maybe the PG version of it, though).
Revenge
Jesus loves everyone, even the people you don’t. You can’t ask him to hurt others in order to help yourself. You can ask for guidance on how to handle the situation, but never at the expense of another person.
Where to start
Just start talking. In your head. Out loud. It doesn’t matter. (Although, some people might be a little weirded out if you start having a conversation out loud with Jesus in the middle of the grocery store.)
But what does it mean to talk?
Say full sentences inside your mind. Talk-think through your day. Think about what you did, why you did it, and what you liked and didn’t like about it.
This is not a venting session, however.
This is where you are honest with yourself (because Jesus already knows). The more honest you can be with your thoughts and how you moved throughout the day, the more you’ll get to know who you are in the present moment. When you find that version of yourself, that’s when Jesus will offer guidance.
You see, Jesus is already inside of you. But your thoughts sometimes act like tar. Imagine Jesus is covered in that tar. The more you think through those thoughts, the looser that tar becomes and the easier it becomes for Jesus to access you and offer guidance.
But how do you know what this guidance feels like, sounds like, or even is?
Guidance from Jesus presents itself differently for everyone.
It could be a thought you never had before.
It could be a feeling you’ve never experienced before.
It could be a sign in the middle of the freeway (you never know).
The point is — you have to be receptive. Receive his signal in the way that your body and mind can.
Benefits
Jesus wants to transform you through guidance.
But most of all, he wants to heal you.
Jesus is a healer.
And healing looks different for everyone.
Also said as: how to pray · the Lord's Prayer · teach us to pray · pray in secret · Our Father