Episode #35: Pray Continually: A Practical Guide to Communicating with God

Prayer is a powerful conversation with God that invites His intervention in our daily lives, transforming anxiety into peace and fear into confidence. The Bible offers us clear guidance on how to pray effectively and continuously.

• Scripture instructs us to "rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
• Prayer isn't talking to the sky but communicating directly with God who is listening and wants to hear from us
• Make prayer a daily habit, asking for guidance even when the day seems straightforward
• Pray not only for yourself but also for family members, coworkers, friends, and others—you might be the only one praying for them
• Use Scripture as your prayer template—Psalm 91 for protection, Proverbs for wisdom, Philippians 4:6-7 for anxiety, Isaiah 41:10 for fear
• When we pray according to God's Word, we align our requests with His will
• Regular prayer paired with Bible reading creates a lifestyle where God's peace guards our hearts and minds

If you haven't accepted Jesus into your life, pray the salvation prayer with me and connect with a spirit-filled church to continue your faith journey.

Transcript

Introduction to Prayer's Purpose

Speaker 1 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Welcome to episode 35.

Speaker 1 0:23

Have you wondered how you should pray, or when you should pray, or if your prayers are being heard? In this episode, we will discuss the power of prayer and how to include it in your daily life. Let's dive in. Let's turn on over to our Bibles, to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 16 through 18. This scripture reads Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. So right there, god is already telling us what to do about prayer. So first to rejoice always, be happy. It doesn't even say anything about complaining. Complaining doesn't help anything at all. But rejoice always and pray continually. Pray always, don't stop. Pray when things are bad, pray when things are good. Pray all the time, pray on a daily basis. Then he says give thanks in all circumstances. After you, pray after every day. Thank you, god for today. Thank you, god that you're bringing me out of this situation. Thank you, god that you're making everything good.

Prayer as Communication with God

Speaker 1 1:36

Now, when you pray? What do you pray for? When should you pray? Well, prayer is a conversation with God, and when we pray, we're not praying just to anyone. We're not praying to the sky or someone imaginary. We are praying to God. And when we pray to God, we are seeking Him. We need His help, we need His guidance. So he's listening to us. So when we're praying, we're talking to him, we're communicating with him. We may not see him face to face, but when we pray, he is listening to us, he is hearing us, he wants to hear from us, and so, to include God in our lives, in every situation, it's important that we ask Him to come in every day in the morning. Make it a habit to pray, not only to read the Word of God, but to pray. Ask Him for guidance for the day. Even if you think that it's so easy, still ask Him for guidance. Ask Him for guidance for the day. Even if you think that it's so easy, still ask Him for guidance. Ask Him for wisdom. You don't know what you're going to face. There could be a new situation or just something new and different that you may not know of. But that's why, when we seek God's wisdom and we seek God's understanding, then he can lead us down into the right paths. If you're at a job that you don't know if you should be at, or you don't like it, you know that you should be somewhere else ask God for that. Seek His face and he will lead you into the right direction, into the right place, where you need to go.

Speaker 1 3:20

When we pray, we are allowing God to intervene into our lives. We are giving Him permission to come in and change whatever it is that we need help with. We are letting Him come in. We are saying the door is open. Come in. I need healing in my body. Come in and heal me. I need guidance at work. Come in and guide me at work. I need help with dealing with co-workers or employees at my job. Come in and help me. That's what prayer is. You're inviting God, you're communicating with Him. He is our helper.

Who to Pray For

Speaker 1 3:58

We can also pray for people. Pray for your parents. Pray for your siblings. If you are married, pray for your parents. Pray for your siblings. If you are married, pray for your spouse. If you're not married, you're single and desire a spouse, pray for your future spouse. If you don't have any children but desire children, pray for your future children.

Speaker 1 4:19

Pray for the people that you work with.

Speaker 1 4:21

Pray for the people at your church.

Speaker 1 4:23

Pray for your aunts, your uncles, your cousins, anyone that you encounter, your friends, your neighbors. Pray for these people. Always be in communication with God. And if you also look at it this way, what if no one is praying for those co-workers? What if no one is praying for that cousin? What if you were the only one that's praying and you don't think that your prayers are doing anything?

Speaker 1 4:48

Never have that mindset that your prayers are not being answered or not doing anything, or God has greater things to handle. God is bigger and greater than we can ever imagine. He doesn't get stressed like we do, he doesn't have anxiety, he's not troubled, he's not bothered one bit. He can handle all of our prayers, no matter how big, no matter how small they are. But it is better for us to communicate with Him more on a continual basis, and that is what he requires in His Word, because I have even found it for myself. Even if the day looks easy, I know that nothing crazy is going to happen, but still including Him every day in my life, I see a difference. When I include Him, the day is even better. He leads me and guides me. God gives us wisdom, he guides us. He leads us.

Using Scripture as Prayer

Speaker 1 5:47

Something else that you could pray for is protection, and if you get stuck on, how do I pray for that? The Bible is full of prayers. Find out what you need and use that as a prayer. As an example, let's go to Psalm 91, and that Psalm is a prayer of protection. So let's go there and I will read a few scriptures. So on Psalm 91, and so you can pray it in this manner he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. And then you can put yourself into that spot, or your family. I will say of the Lord, god is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In Him I will trust. Surely he shall deliver me and my family from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover us with his feathers and under his wings we shall take refuge. So that's only part of it, but you get the idea. That is a prayer right there. But keep reading the rest of Psalm 91, and that is a prayer of protection. When you do that, you pray that over yourself, over your family. That right, there is a prayer of protection. So the Bible is full of prayers.

Speaker 1 7:01

So, whatever you need, find that scripture or chapter and pray it over yourself or whoever may need it. If you need wisdom, proverbs is a book of wisdom. So let's start out by going to Proverbs, chapter three. So in Proverbs, chapter three, this is a prayer too. This is just an example, but there's so many wisdom scriptures in the book of Proverbs. You can pick any one, use all of them whatever suits you. So I am going to use here Proverbs chapter 3, verse 1, and I'm going to put myself in these scriptures. I will not forget your law, but I will let my heart keep your commands For length of days and long life and peace they will add to me. Let not mercy and truth forsake me. I will bind them. But do you see, when I read that, I included myself. That is a prayer right there. So you can use that for your children too. My children will trust in the Lord with all of their heart. They will lean not on their own understanding, and you can even put their name right there. So that is how we pray. Pray these prayers over your children, over your family, every single day and you will see the changes in your lives.

Speaker 1 8:32

Another one is anxiety. So let's turn over to our Bibles, to Philippians, chapter 4, verses 6 through 7. Be anxious for nothing. So if you're a person that is anxious, say this prayer I will be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus. So right there, this scripture here tells you what prayer does. So if you're anxious, it says what do you do? You pray, but in everything, by prayer, give everything to God, cast all your cares on him. And it says do it with thanksgiving. And when you do this, it says in verse 7, the peace of God will come upon you and it will surpass all understanding, which means it looks like you should be going crazy because of the situation, but when you pray and you're thanking God for it, that peace of God just covers your heart and mind.

Speaker 1 9:39

That is another prayer to say be anxious for nothing. Thank you, god, that I am anxious for nothing. Thank you, god, that nothing bothers me. Thank you, god, that you're working in my life. Thank you, god, that I am anxious for nothing. Thank you, god, that nothing bothers me. Thank you, god, that you're working in my life. Thank you, god, that you're leading me. Thank you, god, that I do not get anxious for anything at all, no matter how big or small it is, and watch the peace of God just flood your heart, and things that used to get you filled with anxiety, worry and fear it doesn't bother you anymore when you cast your cares onto God. You don't have to hold on to that anymore. He takes it for you and you're able to live in peace.

Praying Against Anxiety and Fear

Speaker 1 10:18

Another one we could go to is for fear. So let's turn over to Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 10, and it reads fear not, for I am with you. So, just like anxiety, if you're someone who always gets fearful, or if you're facing a situation and fear starting to creep up on you, say this prayer fear not, for I am with you. Thank you, god, that I am not afraid because you are with me. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isn't that amazing what God will do for us? So if you look in these scriptures things that we're struggling with, things that aren't helping us out. When we pray, god takes those away from us. He gives us strength and peace and we're able to go through our day with joy. So I wanna read that again. You can say thank you, god, that I don't have fear because you are with me. I will not be dismayed, for you are my God. You will strengthen me, yes, you will help me, you will uphold me with your righteous right hand.

Speaker 1 11:25

Amen and healing. Let's Amen and healing. Let's go to scripture for healing. Let's go to 1 Peter, 2, 24. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but committed himself to him. Who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body, on the tree that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes I am healed. Thank you, jesus, for healing me. Thank you, god. By the blood of Jesus' stripes I am healed. And that's only one example of a healing scripture, but there's more throughout the Bible. So I only gave you just a few examples, but there are so many.

Speaker 1 12:07

The Bible is full of protection scriptures, wisdom scriptures, anxiety scriptures, healing scriptures, scriptures for fear and anything else. That's an example of a way to pray. Include God in your life. If you were stuck on how to pray, use the Bible as your prayer tool. That's what it's for, because you're speaking God's word. You're not just speaking something crazy, it's lining up with the word of God and anything that lines up with the word of God and we believe it, god can act and he can intervene.

Prayer for Healing and Daily Practice

Speaker 1 12:41

So when we're praying another thing we don't want to just only pray and we don't read the word of God, because then we're forgetting. What do we need to include? How are we even praying? So we need to fill our spirits with the word of God. We need to feed our spirit, man. When you do that, then your prayers will come out according to the will of God. They'll come out the way that they need to come out and you'll pray according to the word of God. So what I would recommend is for you to begin praying every day, if you haven't done so, and do it on a consistent basis, and do it throughout the day, even if it's to say thank you God for this beautiful day, thank you God for this job that you've given me, or thank you God that you're leading me to greater places. Thank you for giving me wisdom, but praying every day, including him in your life. And then, whatever you need in your life, find those scriptures and pray them over yourself, pray them over your family, pray them over people that you know.

Speaker 1 13:48

So if this episode helped you in any way, share it with a friend or family member and stay tuned for the next episode. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say the salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart. You raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth. Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Come into my life. I am saved In Jesus' name, amen. I'm glad you prayed that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit-filled church and read the word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.