Prayer is simply talking with God. It can be out loud or within your heart/mind. You can pray at church or at home or out in God’s creation. You can sit or stand, but the Bible also talks about kneeling to pray or falling prostrate before God. (See Psalm 95:6, Ephesians 3:14, and Deut. 9:18)

At any time, about anything! James 5:13, Phil. 4:6, and Ephesians 6:18 teach about when to pray.

There is nothing wrong with written or liturgical prayers, unless we say them simply by rote (mechanically or without thinking). As well as formal prayers, God wants us to express our hearts to Him. Reading the Psalms will let you know that you can say anything to God – anger, fear, despair, joy and hope, all these emotions are expressed to God in the Psalms. Jesus taught His disciples to pray in Mat. 6:9-13. We should pray with humility (2 Chronicles 7:14, Mat. 6:5-8, Daniel 9:18). We should pray constantly (Acts 1:14, Romans 12:12, 1 Thes. 5:16-18). Paul’s prayers for believers are great examples of prayers that we can pray: Ephesians 1:15–23 and 3:14–19, Philippians 1:9–11, Colossians 1:9–14.

Read James 5:16, Mat. 21:22, and 1 Peter 3:12. Remember, that we are righteous not because of anything we have done but by God’s grace when we accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. In many other verses, Jesus commands us to ask and says we will receive: Matthew 5:7, 8; John 14:14 and 15:16

Part of learning to listen is stillness and solitude. We live such frenetic lives these days, always going places and doing things. We are bombarded with sounds and sights (radio, billboards) everywhere we turn. In order to hear God, we must first become quiet and find solitude (Psalm 37:7 and 46:10). We need to follow Jesus’ example of finding a quiet, solitary place to pray: Matthew 14:13, Luke 4:42, Mark 1:35 and 6:31-32.