Learning prayer by observation is one great way to learn how to pray. At home, listen to how your parents pray. Notice the following:
Their choice of words.
What they use to pray.
Where they pray.
Do they sit or stand always, often, or once in a while?
Do they hold hands?
Do they pray in the Holy Ghost? How often?
Do they shout or mutter to themselves? When do they raise their voices? What do they do then?
Do they pray at night? How often? What time at night?
Do they pray in the morning? How often? What time in the morning?
This list is just a way for you to see how prayer is done. What you notice might not be how you would want to do yours, but it would certainly help you to pray.
At church, watch how people pray. Sure, you will see tons of differences there. Again, you are not meant to follow everything you see. The Holy Spirit can give you your own way to pray. He will supply you with the words to use. That is how unique you are to God.
Watching and listening to fellow Christians praying is meant to point out to you where you need to improve, how to improve, what to stop doing, and what to continue. You learn, unlearn and relearn.
The bible says we should not abandon the gathering of brethren. I believe this is to help us grow spiritually. Part of spiritual growth in Christianity is praying. When in the presence of other brethren regularly, we grow our prayer muscles.
Iron sharpens iron as the bible says, so, if you want to learn how to pray, one sure way to do that is to watch and listen to other believers when they pray. Be a sponge and soak what you see. Also, as a sponge get ready to be squeezed – flushing out wrong perceptions about prayer, building your prayer muscles for more spiritual growth, and learning new ways and things about prayer.
May God bless you with the grace for this; Amen.
Prayer:
Dear Father, help me to glean from your prayer life.
Action point:
Take a good look at your parents when next they pray. Note how they do so – time, words, gestures, voice intonation, et cetera.
Declaration:
I am a praying being. I am observant. I watch and learn how to pray.
Read yesterday’s article here
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