Prayer and hearing God
How do I pray? I don't know what to say.
Short answer
Talk to God honestly, like a child to a father who loves you. Use your own words. Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer as a pattern.
Prayer isn't about the right words. God already knows what you need, and He wants you, not a performance. Jesus warned against babbling as if more words made a better prayer.
Use the Lord's Prayer as a guide: praise God, ask for His will and for today's needs, confess your sins and forgive others, and ask for help against temptation.
Pray out loud or write it down, so your mind wanders less. Pray short prayers through the day. Use a psalm when you have no words. When distracted, just come back. And when you can't pray at all, the Spirit Himself prays for you.
Tonight, take five minutes: thank God for three things, tell Him one worry, and pray for one person by name.
My verses
And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
Pray without ceasing.