Some things to avoid… Rehearsed prayers! (Matthew 6:7, pg. 890)

Try not to say the same things when you pray. Donald Whitney once wrote, “One prayer does not a prayer life make. Prayers without variety eventually become words without meaning.”

Empty prayers! (Matthew 6:5, pg. 890)

Hypocrites pray to be impressive, yet their words are empty. Sometimes, even if its not in front of others, we can tend to pray to be impressive, but our prayers are empty...OR...we can say things we feel we are supposed to pray but don’t really mean.

Self-Centered prayers (Romans 12:3, pg. 1045)

It’s really easy to get caught up in ourselves when we pray to God. We knows He cares for us, but we need to make sure we aren't trying to make it all about us!

Pray the Bible… Know the Word (Psalm 119:15-16, pg. 558)

For an active, Spirit-filled, Life-changing prayer life, you need to know God’s Word. His Word is filled with wisdom and hope for all of life. Remember, prayer connects us to God. It’s through God’s Word being the center of our pray that is connection is amped up and super-charged! You can’t pray what you don’t know.

Pray the Word! (Psalm 119:49-50, pg. 559)

Whatever method you use (P-R-A-Y, A-C-T-S, etc.), look up vers-es and let them become the source of your words for praying.

A great place to look for verses to pray is in Psalms. Gordon Wenham once said, “The Psalms: they are designed to be prayed.”

...What about when we don’t know what to pray...

Let us Pray

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 All about me All about God

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Never done that All the time