Now I lay me down to sleep
I ask the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I ask the Lord my soul to take.

Many people all over the world pray this prayer night after night.But is there more to prayer than this?Is praying just repeating the same words over and over?Look in Matthew 6:7, 8, TLB to find out.“Don’t recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again.Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!” Can talking to God be more personal than this?Let’s learn from the Bible how to make our prayer time into a time of talking with God.

Why should I pray to God?You’ll find the answer in Psalm 65:2, TLB.“And because You answer prayer, all mankind will come to You with their requests.”

Does God really pay attention when I pray?Look in Psalm 4:3, TLB to find out.“Mark this well: The Lord has set apart the redeemed for Himself.Therefore He will listen to me and answer when I call to Him.”

Does God want me to come to Him in prayer?The answer is in Hebrews 4:1’6, TLB.“So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive His mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need.”

Will I always get what I want when I pray to God?God wants to give us GOOD gifts.That means that some of the things we ask for could not really be good for us as God sees, so He uses His love and wise judgment to answer your prayers carefully.Sometimes the answer is “yes”.Sometimes the answer is “no”.Sometimes the answer is “wait”.But every answer is the best gift God could give!It’s in the Bible.Matthew 7:7,8. NIV. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Are my prayers always answered?There are some things that get in the way of our prayers being answered. It’s in the Bible in Psalm 66:18,19, TLB.“He would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins. But he listened! He heard my prayer!He paid attention to it!” So the first thing that stands in the way is unconfessed sins.Make sure you tell God what you have done and ask forgiveness first! The second condition of answered prayer is believing that God will do what is best.It’s in the Bible in Matthew 21:22, NIV."If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” The third condition is to ask with the right motives. It’s in the Bible in James 4:3, TLB.“And even when you do ask you don’t get it because your whole aim is wrong –- you want only what will give you pleasure.” The fourth condition is to ask for God’s will to be done. That means you are willing for God to choose the best answer to your prayer and you will be satisfied with it. You’ll find it in the Bible in Luke 11:2, NKJ. “So He said to them, "When you pray, say: our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Did Jesus teach us to pray a certain way?You will find an example of the kind of prayer Jesus wants us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, TLB.“Pray along these lines:‘Our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name.We ask that your kingdom will come now.May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven.Give us our food again today, as usual, and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Don’t bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One. Amen.’ ” An easy way to remember to include all the important things in prayer could be with a PATCH PRAYER.P=Praise to God.A=Ask for the things you need.T=Thanking God for what He has done for you and how He has answered you.C=Confess to God the things you have done wrong. H=Help for others.

What if I have a hard time knowing how to express my prayer to God? You’ll find comfort in these verses in Romans 8:26-28, TLB. “And in the same way -- by our faith -- the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying.For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how to pray as we should; but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying as He pleads for us in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into His plans.”

Would I pray in Jesus’ name?Find out by looking in John 14:13,14, TLB.“You can ask Him (the Father) for anything, using my name, and I will do it, for this will bring praise to the Father because of what I, the Son, will do for you.”