To help guide our prayer times, we can think of prayer as having four parts. To remember what they are, we can use the acronym P-R-A-Y: P – Praise. David gives us a beautiful example in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13: ‘Lord, you are great and powerful. You have glory, victory, and honour…The kingdom belongs to you, Lord…You have the power and strength to make anyone great and strong. Now, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name’ (NCV). Praising God when we pray helps us focus on His unlimited goodness and power. R – Repent. During our prayer times, God will often reveal attitudes that must be changed, habits that must be broken, and barriers to blessing that must be removed. It’s important to tell God about our sins. He already knows them, so we shouldn’t try to hide them from Him. But we also need to go a step further and ask Him to help us turn away from them. A – Ask. Whether we’re praying for ourselves or for someone else, our prayers invite God into the situation, and our faith activates His power to bring change. There’s no distance in prayer, and no barrier it can’t overcome. It’s like throwing on a power switch – things begin to move when we pray. Jesus said, ‘I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven…whatever doors you open on earth shall be open in heaven!’ (Matthew 16:19 TLB). Y – Yield. We may think we know what we need, but God always knows what’s best for us, so our prayers won’t always be answered in the way we expect. Whenever we pray, we should be prepared to bend to God’s will and trust Him for the best possible outcome.

What Now?

This week, try using the P-R-A-Y acronym every time you pray.