In need of tips on How To Pray For Yourself? Here are a few that can help.
Sometimes when it comes to answering the question of how, we have to start by asking why? Why is it important to pray for ourselves?
Does prayer for oneself reflect selfishness, or is it a necessary part of our prayer lives and lives as Christians as a whole?
If you’re wondering how to pray for yourself, I would like to share with you a few reasons why it is important that you do so.
- We are still a work in progress.
We’re told in Philippians that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
In other words, though we are being sanctified while we are here on earth.
It is only when Christ returns that we will be made perfect, without sin, and receive our new bodies that are not corrupted by sin.
While we are here, God is working in our hearts and minds, and one of the ways that happens is through prayer.
- We still sin.
This goes hand in hand with the first point. We need prayer for ourselves because we still sin. Sin is the thing that separated us from God to begin with.
When we sin, we can come to God in true repentance and not only ask for forgiveness, but ask that He help us to overcome our sin, and to change our desires.
- Most importantly, we need God, as much as others do.
We pray for ourselves because we need God. Prayer is how we can communicate with God, and spend time with Him.
Our prayer lives often reflect our dependence on God.
When we pray to God about things in our lives, whether those are decisions that need to be made, struggles we are facing, the issues of our hearts and so forth, we are relying on Him and showing our dependence on Him.
How to Pray for Yourself
Now that we’ve looked at a few reasons why it is important to pray for ourselves, the next question is how can you pray for yourself?
One of the easiest ways to see how and really, what you can pray about when it comes to praying for yourself is by looking at scripture.
The Bible is filled with things that God commands us to do, and things He commands us not to do.
It is also full of the kind of character that He calls us to put on, and the kind of character that He calls us to put off.
Reading our Bibles and prayer always go hand in hand.
So one of the ways that you can get into the habit of praying for yourself is through personal Bible study.
Whenever you study through scripture, you can ask a few questions.
Some examples are, what is this teaching me about God, the world, or people (which includes yourself)?
You can also ask whether there is a command that you should follow, or something that you should do, or not do.
As you study the Bible, you will find that there are many applications that God has set out for our daily lives.
This means that there are many things that you can pray for yourself about.
Another way that you can pray for yourself is by being observant about your own thoughts, attitudes, words and actions.
Do you see yourself being easily irritated? Do you become vengeful or do you complain a lot?
Is there unforgiveness in your heart, or do you struggle with patience? Is there a certain sin that you have seemed to just accept as a part of who you are?
When you become honest with yourself about the areas where you struggle, you can bring those topics to God in prayer, and find His grace.
His grace enables us to work through those struggles in our lives, and His Holy Spirit does the work in our hearts.
3 ways you can pray for yourself
Ask God for the forgiveness of your sin
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
When we first come to Christ, we receive forgiveness for our sins, and we become born again.
This means that God has given us a new heart that can now respond to His word, and that His Holy Spirit now lives in us.
However, while we have the Spirit, we are still in our earthly bodies, which we know are fallible.
Romans 7 speaks of this battle between our flesh and the Spirit. That is why confessing our sin and repenting is not a one and done situation.
As we turn to God in repentance daily, He is molding our hearts and sanctifying us.
We don’t have to fear that God will turn us away when we ask for forgiveness.
We can trust that He is faithful and just not only to forgive us, but to cleanse us from our sin.
Ask God to help you become more like Christ
Ephesians 5:1-2
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
We are called to become imitators of Christ. One of the ways in which we can do that is by asking God to make us more like Christ in prayer.
There are so many examples of Christ, the life He lived here on earth, and the character He displayed.
As we read the scriptures it will become more and more clear what it means to look like Christ.
That means we can find ways to ask God to make us like Him.
We can pray for selflessness, servanthood, unconditional love, obedience and so much more.
Ask God to give you the strength to endure a tough situation
James 1:2-4
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
When we come to faith in Christ, there is no magic pill to make all the hardship go away.
The reality is that we still live in a fallen world and we are broken people.
However, when we are in Christ and He is in us, our hardships serve a much greater purpose.
Not only that, but we learn to depend on God’s strength when we are weak, and trials not only test our faith but it gives us an opportunity to cling to Him.
So one of the ways you can pray for yourself is by asking God to strengthen you through your trial.
Ask Him to grow your faith, and to help you to lean on Him.
These are just a few ways that you can learn how and what to pray for yourself.
I hope as you dig into the word, you will find even more ways to pray for yourself and that you will see God’s work in your life.