P- Praise
R- Repent
A- Ask
Y- Yield
The most difficult part of prayer for me is listening. I get busy and sometimes my prayers are quick and I don’t really expect God to tell me something. That is what makes this aspect of prayer so difficult, we have to first start with changing our expectation of God! For more on expecting more from God go here or here!
The most important part of prayer is listening! This is how we know when we are doing God’s will, this is how we grow in faith, this is how we know our purpose. When we listen to God our lives change! Two primary ways that God speaks that we will touch on are through His Word and through the Holy Spirit!
Through His Word
God gave us His Word to instruct us on how to live a godly life that honors Him! We can go to the Bible to find direction, purpose, hope, strength, love, promises from God and much more. His Word is a message from Him, for us. In this way, God tells us how to live, love and do life with other people.
Through The Holy Spirit
God also speaks through the Holy Spirit. The most important thing to remember about hearing from the Holy Spirit is that you will never be told anything that contradicts God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity and is therefore God inside of us. The Holy Spirit speaks sometimes as a voice in your heart sounding like a flow of spontaneous thoughts. This could be God telling you to talk to or encourage someone by bringing their names to your mind or it could be God tugging at you to do or say something. It could be the Holy Spirit convicting you of a sin that you need to repent of. There are lots of ways the Holy Spirit speaks to Christians. For more on the Holy Spirit click here!
The important thing about Yielding or Listening to God is taking the time to do it. Here are a few ways you can prepare your heart and focus your mind on hearing from God:
Go somewhere quiet
Spend time singing to God in worship
Journal your prayers
Close your eyes
Clear your mind of your busy schedule
