Prayer is a weapon that few of us remember we have. It is relational, not transactional. It is our direct connection to the Father, which was only made possible through Jesus.

Prayer is a personal relationship with God, not a group relationship. If the only time you pray is in front of people, you are not engaging in the personal aspects of prayer.

If you find prayer daunting and don’t know where to start, Jesus gave us the blueprint.

Jesus followed four steps (Matthew 6:9-13):

The first step is praise. We want to enter into His throne room with shouts of praise, declaring the might of His name rather than praising ourselves.

The second step is repentance. When we focus on who God is we can’t help but recognize our own sinfulness and confess it to Him.

Thirdly, we ask. We bring everything before Him (Ephesians 6:8). We bring our hurts, our excitement, our shame, and joy. We lay it all at the feet of Jesus and ask for His heavenly counsel and intervention.

Lastly, we yield. We simply say that His will is better than anything we desire. If the things we want are not His will, we surrender them and seek the things He has for us.

Prayer is powerful, and we have to use it. God hears our prayers (Psalm 66:19) and knows us (John 10:14). If you never speak to God in prayer, do you expect Him to recognize your voice?