Brennan Manning wrote a passage about prayer in his book, Ragamuffin Gospel, which I found extremely helpful. He describes when a small child draws a picture. Many times the colors don't make since. The sky is purple and the grass is blue. Us "grownups" don't reject the picture because the colors are wrong, instead we rejoice in the fact that the child is trying to express their creativity.
A little child cannot do a bad coloring, nor can a child of God do bad prayer.
So even if you don't know what to pray, its important to try! Whats cool is if we try earnestly, God will help us:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. -Ro 8:26
I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Mark Driscol, and he states that how you pray shows a lot about how you view God. Either you have a very high view of yourself and a low view of God or a very low view of yourself and a very high view of God. The former is paganism, and is exhibited by prayers trying to manipulate God. The latter of the two is repentance, and is exhibited by prayers that worship God and are honest about our nature.
Something else that I wonder about sometimes is about the posture of prayer. If you struggle falling asleep, or your mind wandering when you pray, maybe its simply your physical position when you pray. Once I prayed while stretching and it was some of the most focused prayer i ever had. I also know if i pray laying down in bed, i'm lucky to make it to amen. Sometimes I find that praying with my eyes wide open, or out loud helps me.
Give to me, O Lord My God,
understanding of You,
diligence in seeking You,
wisdom in finding You,
discourse ever pleasing to You,
perseverance in waiting for You,
and confidence in finally embracing You
Amen
-St. Thomas Aquinas
A final tool that has been incredibly helpful to me is reading the prayers of men wiser than myself, including those in the bible (throughout the new and old testament), and those of great men of the church (such as Thomas Aquinas).
So pray on brothers,
-love
mike
