Fall in Love with Jesus through Prayer

My grandfather suffered from dementia. Before he passed away, the moments of clarity he experienced were far and few between. He didn’t recognize my grandmother or his children most of the time. He did, however, always remember Jesus. As a devout Catholic, my grandfather never missed Sunday Mass. When he was unable to attend services due to his declining health, the parish would send a nun over to sit with him once a week. He always remembered Jesus and his prayers. That is something the illness never took away from him.

For a period of my life, I overcomplicated prayer to the point I simply didn’t talk to God. I succumbed to the lie that I had to say the right words for God to hear me. I believed that if I asked for something more than once, God would think I didn’t trust Him. Likewise, I later believed if I stopped asking God for something, He would think I no longer wanted it. It led me to a place of separation from God because I didn’t understand the simplicity of prayer.

Prayer really is simple, after all. It’s a conversation between us and God. Prayer can be communal, such as in certain churches where the congregation recites a prayer in unison. But prayer is also so very personal. Yes, God is omniscient and knows what we need. We don’t have to tell Him what is going on. He’s never surprised by our admissions! God desires this connection with us, though. And truly, that’s what prayer does! It connects us to our loving, Heavenly Father.

The first thing I did when I began to prioritize prayer was to recite the “Our Father” before getting out of bed and before going to sleep. This is the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). This is a beautiful and important prayer that covers everything! It glorifies God for who He is (Our Father, in heaven, hallowed by your name). We request that His will be done (Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven). We ask for what we need for the day (Give us this day our daily bread,). We repent of our sins (and forgive us our debts,) and forgive those around us (as we have also forgiven our debtors). We ask God to lead us and protect us (And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil).

One way to remember the gist of this prayer is by using the P-R-A-Y acronym:

P – Praise
Praise God for who He is and what He has done! This is the part that glorifies God for who He is.

R – Repent

Reflect on your sins and ask for forgiveness, while also forgiving others.

A – Ask

God wants to hear your needs and desires. Bring your requests to Him. Request that His will be done.

Y – Yield

This is silence and reflection time. Spend time at the end of each prayer to listen to His response and feel His presence.

I love using the P-R-A-Y acronym because it encourages reflection time that we so often skip over. I find that I tend to squeeze prayer time in the short, open time slots of my day – such as during a shower, on my drive to work, or as I’m cooking dinner. If I’m not careful, I’m quick to move on as soon as my prayer is over. It was only when I was doing a Bible study that focused on this acronym that I realized what I was missing in my prayer time: time to “yield”. I realized that I spent my whole time talking to Him, but I never stopped long enough to listen, reflect, and feel his pure presence.

If Jesus told his disciples to pray in the way that is modeled in Matthew 6:9-13, shouldn’t we all? If you are struggling in prayer, I would encourage you to go back to the basics. Memorize this prayer and the acronym to help you. Make a habit of praying in the morning and at night. But don’t do it just to check a list, really put your heart into the words and let God begin to change you!