Onramps to Prayer

This is Robbie Gilmore from a Christian car guy and kingdom pursuit where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it and share it but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the truth network you're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com encouraging prayer, God offers an open invitation for his people to talk with him at any time about anything, and encouraging prayer Dr. James Banks, author of the best-selling prayer for product and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight help you learn to love and now James today on her is prayer styles.

So James, what is a prayer style and why does it matter earlier per style is nothing more and nothing less than our preferred ways to pray and wheel of certain approaches and in will talk about that today, but the most important thing to realize is we start out one approach is not better than another. Each has their own advantages and I hesitate to say weaknesses because the important thing is that we just pray and in this matters because if you haven't found the prayer style that works best for you and you may find prayer harder than it should be. So you might even think of these as on ramps to prayer ways to to really help you go places, as you pray. So you're saying that you may be able to pray better when some approaches.

Essentially, the mother's absolutely. I was stunned to a friend the other day who's a journal or and she loves to write when she prays that it helps her gather her thoughts and as a writer I really understand that but she broke a couple of fingers on writing hand and she hasn't been able to journal for a few months and that's been difficult for her because she doesn't feel as close to God. God is right there for her as he always has been but but a tried and true way that he has given her to spend time in his presence has been taken away for little while. She notices the difference that shows you something doesn't make so much sense because I think of certain things I do that are helpful for me when I pray like just as I lay back I like to look up with my eyes closed but had a bit of vertigo and I couldn't get my head on straight and I just couldn't feel closed because I was spinning around and so I'm just thinking wow this this exactly what I was experiencing this morning.

You know, I really miss. I miss that time and be challenge for me to find other ways of staying close to God of grace my head you know couldn't be that we are sometimes confusing enjoying the way we pray, rather than really, you know, enjoying God's presence. I appreciate… I'm glad you asked that because that challenge is always there. For example, I love praise music in it often helps me pray, but sometimes I have to ask myself. We better put, sometimes I think it's God's Spirit asking me in my being moved by my emotions where musics often reaches us, or am I truly being moved by the spirit of God when I pray I'm just being moved by my emotions and in doing what I like that. Actually, my eyes aren't really on the Lord myself so so this is where we really have to let him guide us and and to listen carefully to his leading into a spirit sometimes I will purposefully shut the music off so that my heart is quiet before him have no interruptions. Nothing else in the way in and God will lead us in. This is were sensitive to him in our spirits but sometimes we learn by trial and error that means some of the ways that I pray now some of things that I do and I pray they took me a really long time to learn as God worked with me and showed me what was best.

So what are some of the other prayer styles that you can think of one of them is praying with a list and this is actually one of my preferred ways to pray for a while if a little self-conscious about it because I once heard a good friend of mine. Another offer on prayer say that it wasn't the best way to pray. Hey, I get that because we don't want to rush into the throne room of heaven, saying, I want you to do this and do that, you know I got my left ear.

I totally get that.

But I'm a different person from my friend.

God made us all unique.

For example, I have ADD and he doesn't talk before you know how you live in a constant state of squirrel.

What were you talking about just the point. Praying with a list helps me stay focused actually helping pray better. I know this because for just about a year after my friend said that I tried other ways of praying, I found that my relationship with God, suffered somewhat as a result, but there are also other things that I do to make sure that I'm not just bringing God or to do list. For example, praises at the top of my list now and and so is the Lord's prayer, but when I pray the Lord's prayer.

I don't just pray through the words of it. I use it as a pattern to guide the ways that I pray so I'm praying it in spirit if you will talk about that because that's another prayer style is. I mean, crying. The word of God, and I seem to remember a few books about this. It is such a great way to pray because the spirit moves through God's word in the special way and really helps us to your approach may be to go to the Psalms and let them speak what's on your hard work to take a passage of Scripture reading that day and used God speaking to you.

There's a promise that's on your heart and mind you list that God all of those are wonderful ways to pray have the more we talk about this the more clear it is that no one person can actually have seven several different styles and approaches to prayer. Can you think of others absolutely well, but we do with our bodies when we pray, think of David dancing before the Lord is great to know that you can't dance you know.

But God isn't judging me if I'm dancing with joy before the beautiful bad hello I would like to pray with them running or walking on a treadmill because it helps me pray with opiates.

It helps me to pray with more energy into sort of give myself physically to my praying as well.

We talked about other ways to use our bodies like leaning into the Lord or kneeling. When praying or lying on our faces before you that that's frightening. This can all be really helpful for someone who is physically expensive but you know some people are. For example, some people like to touch you when they talk you in in their other styles praying aloud is is really helpful for some reason singing your prayers. God made us all different and that's the point.

It helps us to try different ways that we find the ways that are the most helpful rise to simply be with him and to spend time in his presence, loving sets of beautiful thing is that he will meet us as we do, and help us get there.

I mean, I love this James, let's wrap things up in prayer. Jesus, thank you that you made us all individuals and in my love. What James said that some people touch and some people hug and some people relate in different ways. Help us to learn ways that we truly can connect with you and be ourselves so that we can now totally have the close relationship that you long for that. We long for. Gives the freedom to to step out and try things, we have before, that we might find placing it a special place with our relationship with you, ask this in Jesus name, amen and amen hear more from Pastor James by visiting the website James Banks.org or by visiting these church in Durham, North Carolina.

May God bless you and encourage you as you pray