Be Yourself in Prayer

“Be Yourself”

Be yourself isn’t written in the Bible per say but it’s a title that I want to use for a particular purpose. When we pray, we aren't to copy someone's prayer because we think it’s so beautiful or we think it’s what God wants to hear. It sounds like God heard and answered their prayer when they prayed; and for them it might but for you it won’t because it’s not you or your heart. Also, along with that, we are taught to pray scripture and rightly so, however, praying our heart is what we should add.

            When I first began my journey with Christ, I didn’t know any scriptures, nor did I know to pray scriptures. I prayed what was in my heart and was still successful in prayer. My prayers were answered quickly and some took a while. When I tell people that, one person in particular said, “That was God building you up to build your faith,” and that may be but there are many who didn’t and don’t experience that right after salvation. Sometimes people want to give an answer to a question that hasn’t even been asked and can lead someone in the wrong way (if they are not strong in God). My reply to that is this, it wasn’t so much as God building my faith (because He does that daily with all of us) as it was the pureness of my heart and praying what was in my heart. He showed me that I nor my heart had not yet been tainted with grief, sorrow, unsaved church folk and hurt. I didn’t pray with a motive. I prayed with the pureness of heart.

            This is the same thing God wants today. Anyone can pray but can their prayer be heard? David’s prayers were heard, along with other ones that are in the book of Psalms. Love, fear (reverence), and believing in who God is what was in their heart and it came out in so many ways, such as, Psalm 51 where David repented. His prayer was so heartfelt that God had to add it to HIS Bible. These men understood how to reach God and all they did was bless His name, praise Him for His mighty works, repented and prayed their hearts. We can look all through the book of Psalms to prove the point; i.e. Psalm 63, 35, 115, 42, 86, 71, 29 and those are just starters. Take some time to read those Psalms and allow it to reside in you and with you. Read His word, study His word and your heart will become His and you will end up praying what His will is versus your own. – Keisha Lapsley