State of Constant Prayer and How to Pray

[Kenyon]

Jesus said to pray constantly. I know this doesn't mean to quit work, hole up in a cave and pray without ceasing.

Ben Courson put it like this: "It's like when you're young and on the phone with your girlfriend and you're both

saying 'you hang up, no, YOU hang up' and neither of you hang up, you just stay on the phone not speaking but listening,

and that's enough, just having that connection..."

 

He also mentioned the Mother Theresa quote when asked what she says to God when she prays: "Nothing. I listen."

Well what does God say? "Nothing. He listens."

 

SOOOO... the dumb question

I've been taught to start a prayer with "Dear Father in Heaven" and end it with "In Jesus' name, amen."

 

So over the years if I pray a bunch of little prayers over the day I start and end each one like that, or I have a fear

it will tumble off to the side of the road like a hubcap coming loose.

 

If I stay in a constant state of ceasless prayer would I start the day with "Dear Father in Heaven" and then just 'stay connected'

over the course of the day and end the day with "In Jesus' name, Amen."?

 

This sounds almost stupid enough to be a troll question, but it's sincere.

Is there a hard rule for prayer salutations? God will only hear or listen if you start and end each prayer a certain way?

 

I guess that's it, thanks

 

 

[Neighbor]

Hi, Hard rule? Don't think so, but there is admonition given, from which I find that I  think I should be praising God and acknowledging His authority, requesting His presence, as well as seeking my need for this day as I ask for forgiveness of my sins while forgiving others and hoping to not be a trespasser upon the needs of others, and requesting guidance that I not be tempted. I do not do this as a step by step rote thing, but more as an attitude from which to work out my conversation with my God my master my creator, while giving thanks for, and in, all things

To say "in Jesus' name"- I do that,  but not always. It is just a reminder of whom I have as my constant intercessor before God the Father. I also give my thanks to God the Holy Spirit as well as my creator Jesus.

From Luke 11 -“When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name. ( Praise and respect)
Your kingdom come. ( Desire for return of Christ and the kingdom to soon  come)
 Give us each day our daily bread, ( acknowledgement of who feeds my need)
 and forgive us our sins,( acknowledgement of my sin and my need of continuing sanctification)
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. ( Releasing my concerns to God for his judgement not mine)
And lead us not into temptation. ( request for guidance in all things i do )”

[Who me]

42 minutes ago, Kenyon said:

Jesus said to pray constantly. I know this doesn't mean to quit work, hole up in a cave and pray without ceasing.

If I stay in a constant state of ceasless prayer would I start the day with "Dear Father in Heaven" and then just 'stay connected'

over the course of the day and end the day with "In Jesus' name, Amen."?

 

This sounds almost stupid enough to be a troll question, but it's sincere.

Is there a hard rule for prayer salutations? God will only hear or listen if you start and end each prayer a certain way?

 

An old Christian called Billy Bray was once asked about prayer, he replied,' See that brass pot the wife's been polishing. If you give that a bit of a rub ever now and then it'll stay nice and bright, but if you let it go, you'll have a real job to get it bright again.'

Do what you have been doing, quick short prayers about now issues.

When you've more time spend more time in dedicated prayer. Try following ACTs where,

A= Adoration

C=Confession

T=Thanksgiving

S= Supplication

About what you say, pray intelligently never use the 'God bless xxxx' say why you want God to act in that life/situation.

[Kenyon]

That's interesting about never saying "God bless..." but to ask Him to act.

I always ask Him to bless someone. Blessings are something I would like. Could you explain that

a little deeper?

 

I think you're saying it's lazy to just throw "oh, and bless so and so" out there. Huh. It may be,

but blessings are a pretty big part of the Bible.

[AnOrangeCat]

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

Hi, Hard rule? Don't think so, but there is admonition given, from which I find that I  think I should be praising God and acknowledging His authority, requesting His presence, as well as seeking my need for this day as I ask for forgiveness of my sins while forgiving others and hoping to not be a trespasser upon the needs of others, and requesting guidance that I not be tempted. I do not do this as a step by step rote thing, but more as an attitude from which to work out my conversation with my God my master my creator, while giving thanks for, and in, all things

To say "in Jesus' name"- I do that,  but not always. It is just a reminder of whom I have as my constant intercessor before God the Father. I also give my thanks to God the Holy Spirit as well as my creator Jesus.

From Luke 11 -“When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name. ( Praise and respect)
Your kingdom come. ( Desire for return of Christ and the kingdom to soon  come)
 Give us each day our daily bread, ( acknowledgement of who feeds my need)
 and forgive us our sins,( acknowledgement of my sin and my need of continuing sanctification)
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. ( Releasing my concerns to God for his judgement not mine)
And lead us not into temptation. ( request for guidance in all things i do )”

I'm glad you mentioned this. The Lord's Prayer has often been called a model prayer, giving us a structure for our own prayers. Jesus also told us to avoid "vain repetitions" in our prayers. What does that mean? Above all else I'd say it means to be sincere in your prayers. Certainly you can copy a prayer, word for word, but without sincerity it's just a parroting. I remember reading a study on the topic once where it said that in the time of Jesus model prayers were quite common. You had religious leaders of the day who prayed very visibly in public places to use and promote the models they used and draw attention to themselves but were spiritually bankrupt hypocrites. It's worth bearing in mind that this stuff is mentioned right before the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6.

[Debp]

All good replies to you already.

Also, I think being in prayer can also be when our hearts are directed towards the Lord.   For example, sometimes when one is walking, this might occur....not having any words but just our hearts towards Him.   To me this is part of the praying without ceasing.

About closing "in Jesus' name," although usually I say that, sometimes I just say amen.   Because praying in Jesus' name actually means we realize He is the only reason our prayers are heard.   We realize we are not being heard because of our own merits but because of Christ.

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Paul says to “pray without ceasing”...... I never set a time for prayer.I never put any time limits on it. Since being saved, prayer is an all day, ongoing conversation with Him.Its like having a good friend,right by your side and you talk back and forth all day.I really have nothing to do with it , it just came naturally with the Salvation package, to put it poorly.

[JustPassingThru]

What is prayer? Prayer is communication between God and myself, it's a dialog, not a monologue, what has been said before me is all correct, ...Jesus said He would never leave me our forsake me, ...that's means He is always by my side, I thank Him for what He has done in my life, I thank Him for what He is doing in my life today, I thank Him for what He will do in my life, from the very next second to through out all of Eternity.

The Psalmist tells us He is present with us in times of trouble Psa 46:1, ...so, that means we can count on Him being with us when there isn't a time of trouble, many times when I'm working He will counsel me on what to do next, or how to do it, ...He brings back to my mind a verse to ruminate on and while doing so will deepen my understanding of it, ...He is always with me. 

The problem I see with many in the Church is they think He is far away from them in Heaven, which is true, ...but Heaven is right next to us in another dimension, ...so yes, He is in Heaven, and right next to us at the same time!

God is love, ...not that He has lots of love to give, ...He IS Love, ...that means it's not conditional on how we act, ...when we love someone do we not want to spend as much time with them as we can, ...how can we possibly think we can love more than God can?

So, like I said, prayer is communication with Him who is right beside us, whether it be personal requests, intercessory, ...but also like talking with our Best Friend.

Also "in the name of Jesus" is not a magic postscript, ...it's praying in the character of Jesus, that is, are the intention of our prayers to bless others, ...or, for our own selfish desires (which is rampant in the church today).

Lord bless

 

[Kenyon]

4 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

 

Paul says to “pray without ceasing”...... I never set a time for prayer.I never put any time limits on it. Since being saved, prayer is an all day, ongoing conversation with Him.Its like having a good friend,right by your side and you talk back and forth all day.I really have nothing to do with it , it just came naturally with the Salvation package, to put it poorly.

But do you bookend it with "Dear Father in Heaven" and "In Jesus' name..." and leave it open all day?

OR

Do you make a lot of mini prayers all day?

[Kenyon]

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

3 hours ago, JustPassingThru said:

What is prayer? Prayer is communication between God and myself, it's a dialog, not a monologue, what has been said before me is all correct, ...Jesus said He would never leave me our forsake me, ...that's means He is always by my side, I thank Him for what He has done in my life, I thank Him for what He is doing in my life today, I thank Him for what He will do in my life, from the very next second to through out all of Eternity.

The Psalmist tells us He is present with us in times of trouble Psa 46:1, ...so, that means we can count on Him being with us when there isn't a time of trouble, many times when I'm working He will counsel me on what to do next, or how to do it, ...He brings back to my mind a verse to ruminate on and while doing so will deepen my understanding of it, ...He is always with me. 

The problem I see with many in the Church is they think He is far away from them in Heaven, which is true, ...but Heaven is right next to us in another dimension, ...so yes, He is in Heaven, and right next to us at the same time!

God is love, ...not that He has lots of love to give, ...He IS Love, ...that means it's not conditional on how we act, ...when we love someone do we not want to spend as much time with them as we can, ...how can we possibly think we can love more than God can?

So, like I said, prayer is communication with Him who is right beside us, whether it be personal requests, intercessory, ...but also like talking with our Best Friend.

Also "in the name of Jesus" is not a magic postscript, ...it's praying in the character of Jesus, that is, are the intention of our prayers to bless others, ...or, for our own selfish desires (which is rampant in the church today).

Lord bless

 

We should not, however, be shy in asking for ourselves. I have been guilty in praying to impress God with my unselfishness. God wants us to ask for things for ourselves as well.