A "How-To" Guide For Prayer

It has become surprisingly apparent that many feel they do not know how to pray or are uncomfortable with praying aloud.  Some also have feelings that they are not worthy to pray or raise their petition to Heaven. If you count yourself one among these many, then I first want to let you know that your Father in Heaven loves you and needs to hear from you daily!

No matter who you are, what circumstance or situation you may be in, whether in happiness and joy or in misery and distress, God wants to hear from you.  There is no distraction, loud overtone, or sound that can drown out His ears - a prayer to Him will always receive attention and notice; your prayer will be heard.  Now before we get ahead of ourselves, we have to come to terms that there foremost is a catch in this process.  What, a catch?  Yes there is a catch, a "small print" to the matter ( I suppose that might depend on your scriptural text size though, it says it right in there).  You might begin to say "Wait a second, I thought God was a loving God!  Why is there a catch?".  Don't stop here because I will tell you what that catch is.  Ready?

 Here it is (and don't over-complicate this for yourself): you have to begin praying!  That's it folks.  There's the catch, nothing more to it until you have first begun.  How do you begin?  Its as easy as 1-2-3!  I guess you could say its a guide for dummies, but that's not a nice word.  Let's say a guide that a child can understand. Here is your "How-To" guide of how to pray.

1. Address your Heavenly Father (for example, start by saying "Dear Heavenly Father, or Dear Father in Heaven, or however you see fit in addressing God) 

2. Express the feelings of your heart (gratitude and thanks, questions for any truth, comfort, guidance, help, support, etc)

3. To close the prayer, say "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Now remember, there is no wrong prayer - all are alike unto God and all are children of Him.  Every prayer is heard and answered by Him.  I hope these steps can help you feel more confident in praying to him, both day and night and all throughout the day.  If you are struggling with your prayers, I promise you that following these simple steps will help you out!