How many times have you decided that you should take some time and pray, you bow your head, and the same words seem to flow out of your mouth or out of your mind? Why do we do that?
If you’re anything like me, there are always things on your mind. There are always things going on that concern you and you talk to your friends about these concerns. Yet when you pray, you don’t ever mention those things because you think, I don’t want to burden God with these small things.
As I showed on Tuesday, God cares more about your prayers than you do. He is intimately involved in your prayer life and He so desires to hear from you. If you haven’t yet read 3 Awesome Truths That Will Set You Free When You Pray, take a minute and read that. It will lay the groundwork for today’s article.
3 Surefire Ways to Know What to Pray About
1. Read Scripture Before You Pray
A great way to know what to pray for is to read Scripture before you pray. What this will do is share with you God’s heart on a given subject and allow you to pray about something in light of His desire.
Think about reading this before you pray:
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
If you happened to read that before you went to God in prayer, you would be prompted to turn your attention to the millions of people who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior. 
If you happened to be reading Acts 4, you would be prompted to pray for boldness in light of the apostle’s boldness before the Jewish leaders.
The idea here is to take time and read God’s word before you pray so that your prayers can be oriented to His will and His desires.
2. Think Through Your Day Before You Pray
Bowing to God in prayer is an amazing thing because you are not talking to yourself, you’re talking to the Creator of the Universe! Talk to Him about what your day holds. Maybe there is something major going on at work or at school. Maybe it’s causing you to stress and become anxious. Ask Him for strength. Ask Him for guidance.
Maybe there’s something going on with your family that you need help with. Talk to Him about that.
Simply take time before you pray to think through your day so that you know exactly what to pray about.
3. Ask People for Prayer Requests Before You Pray
You can easily do this through social media and have a number of answers in minutes. People will openly share with you things that are going on in their lives that they would like you to pray about. If you’re not much of a social media person, send a text message to some people and ask them if you can pray for them in any specific way. Or give people a call. Whatever floats your communication boat.
The Point in All This
Instead of rushing into praying, take some time to think about what to pray about. Don’t just resort to reciting some generic prayer, but actually communicate with God. If you said the same generic things to a friend or to a family member, how well would your relationship with them be? Probably not so good.
I wonder why, then, we treat our relationship with God like this. After all, Christ came bearing all your sin, emptying Himself of everything, and setting you free from your old way of life. He now lives in you, transforming you from the inside out. Surely you would want to talk to Him about more than the nourishment of that bag of skittles you’re about to destroy.
Be intentional when you pray, but don’t forget that there are some amazing truths that will set your prayer life free.
