I grew up learning how to pray similarly to probably the majority of the people in this world. I learned the "Our Father" and "Now I lay me" not to mention "Bless us, oh Lord" for food (let's be honest it's the most important). I never thought much of the prayers and did it only when I was supposed to, just so that I was fulfilling my job as a Christian. What I didn't know, however, was that prayer is so much more powerful than people make it seem. I didn't know that prayers can be answered. I definitely didn't know how God called us to pray. There was a lot of my faith that I didn't know, and this year, in particular, I unveiled it through prayer. Some of you may be in the same spot I was, so here is my journey in learning how to pray.

I can’t speak for you, but I know I found myself struggling with wanting praise/approval for everything, even when it came to my prayer life. There’s a big difference between wanting to be more faithful for your heavenly benefit and wanting to be more faithful to have a different image. I was the friend in my group who always went to church. I would pray with my family before dinner. I would lead prayers at bible study and at religion classes to "show off" how faithful I was. I would make my friends pray for we ate and I would always try to make myself seem higher than them. That's when I came across Matthew Chapter 6, and let me tell you, it was a slap across the face.I started to being more concerned about looking like the “angel” of the group or the "holy " girl more than I would pray for the reason of drawing myself closer to heaven and gaining a relationship with God. I was looking for my reward from others, and that's why I felt so distant from my faith. Even with everything I was doing I still felt alone and didn't understand faith. Looking back, the reason was in black and white right in front of my face the entire time. I got praise from my peers, God needed me to come to him. When I came to him, that is when I learned what prayer is supposed to feel like and what faith is.

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." ~Matthew 6:1

My advice is this: When you pray you should do it in the privacy. Why do we treat our prayer life any different than those deep conversations with your friends that stay a secret? Mattew Chapter 6 says to lock our prayers away in our rooms. You are praying to God for these things, not your best friend Susie. Susie can't answer your prayers like God can. Another thing this passage shows is how we shouldn’t just pray these long prayers to make ourselves believe we are praying better. I know I’ve been praying and thought “maybe I should pray a little longer I said that pretty fast” and then would ramble. There are over 7 billion people in the world. God has the privilege of listening to all of them so we should make our prayers sincere and let them come from our hearts (in a kinda sorta blunt manner). Here’s a fun fact: God already knows what you are going to pray about before you even say anything. It's a test, to see if you will initiate that conversation with him? Do you believe in him? Pray for your chance of getting into heaven, don't pray so you seem like a perfect Christian in front of others.

My other advice is you should also pray on your knees. I never understood the power of falling on your knees in prayer. It's a sign of reverence one would do to a king. It's a sign of begging. It's a sign of humility. Even Jesus "fell with his face to the ground and prayed" (Matthew 26:39). You can be in the most frantic, anxious, panicked mode, and find so much peace when you give up fighting and fall to your knees. There have been times when what I was going through was so hard that all I could do was fall to the ground and pray. I prayed for God to take over fighting for me. I prayed for strength. I couldn't stand on my own. I needed him to lift me from my knees to fight the battles. It's during those times of complete surrender that God can speak to you the loudest. When you're on your knees, bowing down, you put yourself in a vulnerable position inviting his grace and mercy to come to you.

Pray. Every day. Start a prayer journal. You might think you don't know how to pray. I can promise you that if you make the effort in starting the conversation, God will guide you through the rest. He will teach you what faith really is. Praying does so much more than just strengthen your relationship with God. It will strengthen your relationship with your friends. It will strengthen your relationship with your family. It will strengthen your relationship with your significant other.

Get on your knees and invite faith into your life. Your faith is knocking and it's time to let it in.