When You Pray, What Should You Say?

Lord, can we talk?

“When we suffer, especially physically, we do not always understand,” writes Mulholland. “Being in chronic pain can cause depression, and hopelessness. So then we can pray: Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to approach You in prayer. I feel down because of all the pain that I am in. I try to have peace and not ‘lean on my own understanding,’ (Prov 3:5-6 KJV). But I do not know why You are allowing me to hurt all the time. I know You could, in an instant, take away my physical pain. But while I am waiting for my miracle I will wait on You, Lord. Give me strength to have the right attitude, not only about life in general, but to have a good attitude toward You. I do not want to accuse You, or blame You for my health. Please help me remember that while You did not bring this pain on my body, You still will use this situation to bring me closer to You. While I am here waiting to be delivered, help me to know that You are doing a good work in me. That one day I can use my condition to serve other people, to be compassionate to someone in the same situation, who may not even have any hope at all. While I wait, please give me strength, ‘For You will never leave me nor forsake me,’ (Heb 13:5-6 LITV). Even though I don’t comprehend a lot of what is going on in my body or why, give me strength; keep my hope alive and even if my heart fails, ‘My flesh and my heart waste away; God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever,’ (Ps 73:26 LITV). ‘Who satisfies Your years with good things, so that Your Youth is renewed like the eagle,’ (Ps 103: 2-5 AMP). I am thankful for Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“We can be confident that God breaks us in all the right places,” writes Mulholland. “We are unusable to Him until we are broken of our own will and then rebuilt up by Him to be used for his will, and purposes. Being broken by God can be confusing, so we can then pray: Thank You, Jehovah, for the wonderful, mystical way You teach Your children. Thank You for the brokenness in my life. Most people think that to be broken is a bad thing, but You, God, break us in the right places, at the right time. Brokenness is to be tamed in spirit, and reduced to submission. We are an independent people, independent from You God, and we all need to know that we are incomplete without You at the reins in our lives. Being broken by You is hard for us when we look at it from the wrong point of view. We have to remember that You only have our best interest in mind, and that without You we can do nothing successfully. We can be broken from unhealthy living or unsafe actions. But in reality, we want to believe that if we try hard enough we can handle our own lives, refusing to let You in. We need You to guide us spiritually, physically, and emotionally. You protect us from harm, and without us considering Your ways, we live unfulfilled, frustrated lives. Like anything, when we are broken by You, Jehovah, it is hard to have a good attitude, because we may not understand, or we cannot figure out the how, and what You are doing in our lives. It can be frustrating because in those times, things seem to go wrong. Help me to remember that You are trying to teach us new attitudes, and new thought processes, and how, especially, to treat others well. Please help me to recognize when I am being broken in the right places, for the right reasons. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“Knowing where to go to get the answer is half the struggle,” writes Mulholland in When You Pray, What Should You Say. “When we are putting together a complex piece of machinery, we can be confident that when we follow the instructional manual we will be successful in putting it together correctly. When we understand that the Bible is our instructional manual for a successful life, we then can pray: Thank You, Lord, for all the provisions You have given to us. For allowing us to learn about Your qualities and Your ways, to change us into the image of You. Thank You, especially, for the Bible. The Bible is a history book dating back to the beginning of life on this earth, all the way though the present day and into our future. It is a history of man’s fall and Your plan of redemption for humanity, through Jesus Christ, Your son, who came through Abraham’s lineage, and who lived and died. It is how the early church got its start. It is a manual, a guide for us to follow- an example of how we can live in spiritual perfection. The Bible says that, ‘all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,’ (2 Tim 3:16 KJV). Thank You God for teaching me and showing me the way to live, to show me how to turn around, and go down Your path, when we need to change. Thank You for the provisions of the Bible. You are an awesome God, ready to redeem Your people. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“When we can recognize how Satan uses a lack of balance to interfere and hinder our spiritual growth,” writes Mulholland, “we will be willing to pray for God to help us in this area. So then we can pray: Thank You for being an awesome God. I pray today for wisdom in the area of balance. I have a habit of going from one extreme to another. When that happens I start to lose my peace. I get so excited over a new project that I forget to let You, God, have the control over my life. I do things of my own power instead of letting You lead me through Your Spirit. My heads knows this but I still try too hard doing things under my own power alone without You. Help me, Jehovah, to pray to You every day about this issue of balance. Keep me from going back, and forth, from one end of the spectrum to the other - out of balance. I know it is a sign of spiritual immaturity when we cannot practice balance in our lives. Please help me to remember the scripture in Eph 4:4 (NIV) that says, ‘Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back by the waves and blown here and there by every wind...’ I do not want to stay a spiritual infant but I want to become mature. Give me the discernment I need to see when I am out of Your will and remind me to keep a balanced life. Through Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“Being confident that God supplies all of our needs is not the easiest lesson to learn. Having faith where finances are concerned is something that has to be practiced, learned and experienced. Each time we exercise our faith on God’s provisions, we grow that faith until it reaches full maturity. So we then can pray: Dear Lord, I thank You today for Your extraordinary ways. You always go beyond what is usual and You take care of Your children in exceptional ways. I am asking You to forgive me for the way that I have been spending my money. I am not always taking advantage of the Holy Spirits’ guidance where my finances are concerned. In my early walk with You, God, I was often afraid of where I would end up if my finances failed. I am constantly reading the scripture in Matthew 6:31-34 (LITV) where Jesus is telling His disciples not to be anxious over anything, that God ‘knows that You have need of all these things.’ When I worry over my finances I am showing, ‘Little faith.’ Vs. 30. I guess I am afraid that You will not provide for my family when I have spent money incorrectly or carelessly. Please help restore our finances and help me to stay in agreement with Your Word, the Bible, and with the prompting of the Holy Spirit about how we, as Christians, need to handle our money. We need money in this day of age and we have bills to pay. Please help me to stand on the scriptures that tell us to refuse to be anxious about You providing for me. I trust You, Lord and I thank You for the wisdom and compassion that You show for me. I know I am showing weakness in my faith. I know, in my heart, that You will always provide for my family. Please help me to show that trust in my behavior. Thank You for all of Your support. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“We need God supports with big decisions and small,” writes Mulholland. “So we then can pray: Thank You, God, for all of Your support You give me. Depression is a big obstacle that we as Christians cannot bare to fall into. The dictionary defines depression as bondage, grief, suffering, sadness, gloom and rejection. It also is a depressed sunken place or part. Some of life’s situations are more troublesome than they should be and we may feel hollow inside. The secret to fighting depression is to replace the hollow feelings with something else. Some people try to fill their lives with unhealthy things, for example, addictions, but later find that the addictions seem to make depression worse. We should turn to You, God, and be filled with everything that You are; prayer and studying of Your Word, the Bible, having a godly friend or family member for association, but, most importantly, to have a close personal relationship with You, Jehovah. Meditation on Your promises can help the suffering. (See Phil 4:8) Depression is dark. Depression is spiritually illegal. You did not design us to stay in this bondage. ‘Why are You downcast, o my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put Your hope in God,’ (Psalms 4:11 KJV). God is a lamp to our darkened, depressed state. ‘O LORD, You are my lamp. The LORD lights up my darkness,’ (2 Sam 22:29 NLT). Thank You, Lord that I do not have to be broken inside. You not only understand our hurts and our sorrows but You tell us that we do not have to stay in this condition. We can turn to You and Your love will turn our sorrow into joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“Lack of unity will destroy the family. Our struggle is not with our spouse but with Satan himself. We must stay in agreement with our partner in life to thwart the plans of destruction that Satan has in mind for our lives. Where two or more are in agreement there God is. So we then can pray: Thank You, God, for my spouse. You have given me a blessing in him/her. Sometimes though we are at odds. Because of our personalities and our differences in our spiritual walk, we can bump heads, and disagree. I know that we are to be as one, always in agreement with each other. ‘Again I tell You, if two of You on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and everything] they may ask, it will come to pass {and} be done for them by My Father in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them,’ (Matt 18:19-20 AMPLIFIED). Living together can be hard, and being in agreement with one another can feel impossible at times, but I pray that my spouse and I can agree on all matters, especially on the major decisions, for I know Your Spirit is on us when we agree. We have to work together as partners, always keeping Your will in the fore front of our minds. This is pleasing to You. Of course the enemy does not want us to agree about anything, big or small. He knows that if he can get us into disagreement and arguing that it hinders the Holy Spirit on our relationship. We cannot allow that to happen. But truthfully, we will not always agree, but at those times please help us to ask You for what Your will is to be done in any given situation, and then have the spiritual maturity to follow You, Lord and not our own stubborn, fleshy ways, asking for Your will to be done in all situations, keeping us safe from the attacks of the Devil. Help us to understand the importance of agreeing about our children, our money, our family and friends. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“Jesus did not die so we can have a religion,” notes Mulholland in When You Pray, What Should You Say. “He died so we can have a close personal relationship with God though Him. So we can pray: Thank You, God, for all that You are doing in my life. Thank You for teaching me how to have a relationship with You through Jesus Christ. Jesus did not die so we could have a religion, but to have a wonderful, personal relationship with You, Jehovah. Religions are man made. They are based on peoples efforts of reaching God and being made right with Him through their own efforts. The pharisees did this. They tried, in their own power, to keep the Law perfectly, but they could not. The account in Luke 11 :39-Ch 12 talks about Jesus and he was speaking to one of the ‘Law Keepers,’ a pharisees.He told them that they were hypocrites because they followed the letter of the law, outside appearing clean and righteous, but on the inside they were full of evil. Religion is based on rule keeping while a relationship with You God is based on a close, personal, intimate relationship with You. Please help me to draw closer to You and not to a bunch of rules and regulations. I know it is good for us to gather together and worship You, but I can not stop growing in the Word, talking to You each day in prayer and asking for Your advice and correction. I fully trust in You and Your promises that are in the Word, the Bible. Help me to know the difference between a relationship with You and just having a form of religion. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Lord, can we talk?

“The abuse of freedom of choice can cause human suffering. It is our choices, and the choices of others that cause us to suffer. God does not cause human suffering, but His promises in the Bible tell us that one day God will do away with all suffering. So we then can pray: Thank You, God, for the way You teach us Your word, the Bible. Human Suffering is hard to accept and understand. You often hear people say that God is a God of love. (See 1 John 4:8) Then why does He allow suffering. Lord, I know that You have given us the freedom of choice and that sin entered the world with the first sin of Adam and Eve. Adam represented the head of the created order, so when he fell, sin entered into theworld. It’s as if You had a cake pan, the cake comes out and is perfectly round. It is an exact copy of the cake pan. This perfect cake pan represents the perfect condition of man before Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and bad. However, if You dent the cake pan (represents man’s first sin) all of the cakes baked in that pan will have the same dent in them. This is the same with man, because when Adam sinned, now we all have the sin nature and we are dented or imperfect now. ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,’ (Romans 5:12 KJV). The suffering that comes from that first sin is expressed in emotional, mental, and/or physical suffering. Evil is anything contrary to Your perfect and Holy will. Because we have free will to make our own choices, we can and do bring on our own human suffering. I want to always remember that You are a God of love and that You have promised us, Your followers, eternal life and all of our suffering due to our imperfection will pass away. ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions {and} the former order of things have passed away,’ (Rev 21:4 AMPLIFIED). Thank You, Jehovah for the provision of one day removing all human suffering from this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”