7 Elements of Prayer that Connects with God

prayer hands

Prayer that Connects

We recently completed an election cycle in our area, and our phone rang often with recorded messages from candidates and endorsers of candidates soliciting our vote.  While the recording featured the voice of the candidate, and even though the candidate did at one time speak the message to which I listened, it would be misnomer for me to say I “spoke” with that candidate or the candidate with me.  The call provided me the “opportunity” to hear a message from the candidate.

Often, our prayers amount to little more than a recording that we replay with God so that we can claim we have spoken with Him  Unfortunately, I can think of too many times when I spent the time I allotted for prayer merely reading off a menu of things I wanted to say to God and that I wanted Him to do for me.  I want a more meaningful conversation and fellowship with God than some impersonal “pre-recorded” prayer that I offer Him; and He deserves much more respect and attention than that also. 

There is a difference in saying a prayer and praying.  Today, I want to share with you some elements of prayer that I believe will help you connect with God in a meaningful way and focus on God’s presence in your prayer time.

Seven Elements of Prayer that Connects with God

1.  Praise

Praise focuses on the character and nature of God.  When we praise God, we declare our recognition of His attributes and qualities that make him worthy of worship.  We do well to begin our times of prayer focused not on our prayer needs, but instead on the ONE to whom we pray and His value in our lives. Psalm 150:6

2.  Thanksgiving.

While praise declares our recognition of who God is, thanksgiving expresses our gratitude for what God has done, is doing, and will do.  Thanksgiving takes the time to admit that every good and perfect thing we have has come from the Father.  We teach our kids to say “please” and “thank you,” and we would be careful to say thank you to God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

3.  Confession.

Prayers should include two kinds of confessions.  First, we should confess our sins.  While the blood of Jesus has provided forgiveness for our sin, the Bible instructs us to continually confess – simply admit – when we sin, knowing the He has already provided our forgiveness.  This confession removes barriers that develop when we presumptuously approach Holy God when we are keenly aware of sinful actions and attitudes we have harbored. 1 John 1:9

In prayer, we should also confess our dependence on God.  At it’s core, prayer is a declaration that we cannot succeed on our own, and that we need God to guide and nourish our lives.  Prayer admits, “I need help.  I cannot do this alone.”  God loves it when we realize that obvious truth.

4.  Intercession.

Intercession takes place when we bring the needs of others to God and addressing them before we bring our own needs is an act of unselfish love for others.  We pray that God would make His presence known in their circumstance, that He would do what He deems best, and that the one FOR who we pray would better come to know the One TO whom we pray. 1 Timothy 2:1

5.  Supplication.

Supplication involves our petition to God for our own needs and burdens.  God delights that we bring our concerns to Him, because in doing so we recognize His worth and value and our lack of self-sufficiency.  Just as we pray for others, we pray that in our circumstances, God would help us see Him more clearly and grow closer to Him.  James 1:2-11 gives us a good understanding of how we should pray about our circumstances.

6.  Submission.

After we have prayed, it is important that we declare our surrender to God’s answers.  He may choose to answer our prayers quickly just as we prayed them, delay an answer, or answer differently than we expected – maybe even denying a request.  Submission declares that God’s way is best and is a promise to accept God’s answers and walk in obedience to Him, and is an essential element to praying. Matthew 6:10

7.  Listening.

I have often wondered how many times I prayed and asked God for something, quickly said “amen” and closed out my prayer, then got up and went my merry way JUST AS God was about to answer me.  Prayer is not a monologue or an occasion for me spill my guts before God and then move on.  Prayer can instead be a dialogue in which God and I communicate with each other.  Jeremiah 33:3

As you pray the next several days, enjoy these elements in your prayer time and focus on communicating with God.


5 Questions that Probe Scripture More Deeply

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it enlightens and educates the person.  When we question, examine, and probe, we mine truth that is lying just beneath the surface of understanding. A casual reading of scripture may produce a smattering of “head knowledge” of Biblical content, but probing the Scripture yields truth that can change our lives.

probe God's word

Dig Deeper into God’s Word

In last Wednesday’s blog, I shared with you 7 Practices to Help You Meditate on Scripture.  Today, I want to share an effective probing tool I learned from my pastor during my teen years, Jimmy Corbitt.  Jimmy is now the pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Bolingbroke, Georgia and continues to lead believers to grow in their faith.

Probe Scripture SPECK-tacularly

One effective way to probe a Scripture passage involves using the letters of the word “speck” to ask five questions about what we read.  A Bible passage may answer one, two, or any number of these questions, though very seldom would you find an answer to 4 or all 5 of them.  Consider these 5 SPECK questions as you read your study passage.

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Whose Name Is on the Front of Your Jersey?

name on the front of the jerseyThe name New York Yankees is one of the most recognized sports franchises in history.  Even those who are not baseball fans probably know the team of Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Yogi Berra.  The famous Yankee pin stripe uniform has not changed much since 1912.  It remains one of the most recognizable uniforms in the sports world.  There is another feature to the uniform you may have never noticed, and this feature has a spiritual significance for our lives.

While the Yankees were the first team to place numbers on the back of jerseys, they have never put the players names on the back of the jerseys like other teams have.  Some speculate that the reason they refused to put names on the back of the jerseys was to encourage the fans to buy a game program so they can identify the players by their numbers.  This was probably true when other teams began the practice of putting names on the jerseys, but the continued tradition points to an even more compelling reason – to emphasize that the Yankees are a team.

For the Jesus-follower, the Yankee jersey can teach us a few things about our Christian walk. 

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3 Tips for an Effective Personal Prayer Time

One of the most importantpersonal prayer time things we can do to strengthen our walk with Jesus is to engage in an intentional regular time of personal prayer, but it is often one of the most difficult challenges in our Christian experience.  We WANT a consistent personal prayer time, we know we NEED a consistent personal prayer, but HAVING a more consistent personal prayer time is a more difficult matter.

I’ve been a Jesus-follower for well over 40 years now, and sadly I must admit maintaining a consistent personal prayer time has not become automatic.  My greatest challenge is not a lack of desire, but rather distractions both before I start and during my prayer time.   

Helps for Your Personal Prayer Time

Today, I want to share with you, from the example of Jesus, three ways you can put yourself in a better position to have a more consistent and effective time of personal prayer.  We find Jesus’ model in Mark 1:35-39.

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7 Practices to Help You Meditate on Scripture

I enjoy a tasty meal.  In fact, I think I may enjoy tasty meals too much.  God wonderfully designed our bodies to break down and use the nutrients in the food we eat to sustain our bodies and give us energy.  Before our bodies can use that tasty meal, we have to chew it up and digest it; then our digestive system distributes the nutrients throughout our bodies.  When we meditate on the Bible passages we read, we carry out the spiritual equivalent of our body’s digestive process.

meditate on God's Word for insight into truth

Meditate on God’s Word

I owe much of what I share with you today to my friend, pastor of Highlands Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida, founder of FishForMen.Net and blogger Chris Gilliam.  You can find his links at the end of this article.

Seven Ways to Meditate On Scripture.

Taking the time to digest the meaning and application of Scripture is not that difficult if you are willing to take a little time, give the passage some intentional attention, and meditate on it.  Here are seven practices that help you meditate on a passage of Scripture. Read More


Remember the Ultimate Sacrifice

Today we celebrate what we call Memorial Day. This is the day we set aside to remember the most heroic of men and women – those who sacrificed their lives in the defense of and spread of the freedoms that all to often we take for granted. We do well to pause and reflect on the cost at which our liberty was won and is maintained. Life is precious, and life is the currency used to purchase our freedom.

remember the bread, the cup, the cross

Remembering the Ultimate Sacrifice

As Christians, we also can use this day to remember the One who sacrificed His life to gain our most precious freedom: the freedom from sin. Jesus’ death on the cross makes all other freedoms worthwhile. What good does it do us to have freedom of religion if that religion cannot free us from the eternal chains of sin and death? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples, He gave the Seder a new meaning. As broke the bread, He taught them to remember His body which would be broken – beaten beyond recognition – to appease the wrath of God on the sin of mankind. As He passed the cup, He taught them to remember that His blood would be drained from His body; His life would be given, as the substitute atoning sacrifice for our sin to pay our debt to sin. Jesus encouraged His followers to commemorate the meal often.

Three Truths to Remember

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Who Moved My Pulpit – A book review

book cover

New book from Dr. Thom Rainer

Who Moved My Pulpit is the latest offering from Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources.  This book follows the same practical and easily read format as Dr. Rainer’s last four books to churches – Autopsy of a Deceased Church, I Am a Church Member, and I Will.

Motivated by an email he received from a frustrated pastor asking for help in learning how to lead his church through some much-needed change, Dr. Rainer tackles the issue by offering church leaders a pathway of hope through the necessary changes needed in most churches.

Dr. Rainer’s approach, as he readily admits, is not a “plug-and-play” program that a church leader can use that will guarantee results, but rather a Biblically based process that is at once theological, ecclesiological, and foremost practical.  The title emerges from an event in the ministry of a midwestern pastor who, in trying to make the church more relevant to a growing millennial presence, replaced the pulpit which had stood on the platform of his church for decades and replaced it with a smaller, more modern version.  The move, thought insignificant by the pastor, turned out to be more than the church was prepared to handle.

In consultation with the pastor, Dr. Rainer and his team developed an eight-step “roadmap” that will enable a church leader to better navigate through the dangerous journey of necessary church change.  Read More


5 Reasons To Take Church Attendance Seriously

Church attendance is in critical condition in the 21st Century Church.  The 4th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” The principle of the commandment is to reserve and revere one day out of the week as a time to focus intentionally and intently on our relationship with God. The Christian church, perpetually celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus, recognizes Sunday as that day.

empty church pews and attendance

A seat is waiting for you

An alarming trend among church members is that we are attending church less often.  Them Rainer has identified the decrease in attendance frequency as the number one reason for the overall decline in church attendance figures.

Let me share with you five reasons I believe we should take church attendance more seriously than many of us do. Read More


New is Not a 4 Letter Word

Nineteenth Century French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr famously wrote (as popularly translated), “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  Without a doubt, life is changing all around us, and many people fear the new realities change brings and fail to make adjustments and embrace the wonderful opportunities those changes offer.

Change or Stay the Same

An amazing truth about God, is that although HE never changes, everything He touches changes for the better. God is all about bringing newness into the lives of His people.  His Word says much about things that being fresh: Read More


Updates to the Blog Format Next Week

Continual updates are the big story on the blog.  Earlier this week, I transferred the blog to a new host that will allow me more flexibility to give you more information and inspiration to help you in your walk with the Lord.

updates to the site

The blog design is still a bit of a work in progress with each day bringing slight updates that make navigation easier.  Here are a few of the updates that you will see beginning next week.

        • The posting schedule will change from 5 days to 3 – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 
        • Sermons will no longer post on the main page on Monday, but will have their own page with a link to the sermon page in the menu at the top of the main page.  Sermons will now post a little later in the week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday on most weeks.
        • Wednesday will still future the “How to Study Your Bible” series at least for the next several weeks.  Monday and Friday posts will be various devotional thoughts and ideas like Tuesday and Thursday blogs were in the previous format.

I always welcome your comments for ideas about the way this blog can serve you and help you grow in faith, knowledge, and life, so feel free to share comments on the various pages. Your comments will influence future updates and your ideas will help make the site more useful for all.

I would also like to ask you to subscribe to the blog by using the Subscribe box in the upper right hand of the main page.  As a free gift for your subscription, I will send you a link to a resource that I believe will help you as you study God’s Word, my short e-book Top Ten Resources for Bible Study

I look forward to continuing serving you and helping you along in your journey with the Lord.