“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

You can worry. You can. No one is stopping you.

The only thing is that worrying changes nothing. Worrying about something will never make it better.

Or, you can pray. Give it God. God can change everything. God can change even you.

You can worry or you can pray. Totally up to you.

You know which one I advocate for. And, if you are going to pray, listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us about how to pray.

Do not be anxious about anything and in every situation, pray. How do we do that?

First, he says, “Give thanks as we present our requests to God.” Isn’t that interesting? He wants us to give thanks before and as we pray. He wants us to give thanks long before God starts answering our prayers. You know why? That God answers prayers is a given. God will answer every prayer. So give thanks in every situation and don’t worry because once we give it to God, it’s God’s problem.

Second, when we pray like that, we will have a peace that transcends human understanding. I love that. God will give us a peace that this world cannot give, and a peace that we do not deserve.

There you go.

You can worry or you can pray.

Totally up to you.

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).

So, what happens when you pray and God doesn’t seem to answer? What happens when you pray for healing for a loved one and the healing never comes? What happens when you are praying your children to come to saving faith and they are still far from God?

I wish I had a good answer.

But I do know this. God always answers prayers. Always. It’s just that sometimes the way God answers our prayers might not be the way we want them answered.

God answers our prayers in the following way:

• No – God can say no. Particularly if the request is wrong. God is not going to give us anything that will harm us or harm others.
• Grow up – When we are not right, when we are selfish, rebellious, and straying God answers our prayers by telling us to grow up. Grow up and mature in the faith.
• Wait – When the request is right but the timing is not, God tells us to wait.
• Yes – When the request is God-honoring, when we are walking with the Lord, and when the timing is right, God tells us, “Go!” Go for it! You have my blessing!

I am not sure where you find yourself with your prayer life. But I do know this – God always answers our prayers.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites… (Matthew 6:5)
“And when you pray, go into your room… (Matthew 6:6)
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling…” (Matthew 6:7)

When you pray….Not should you pray, or if you pray.

When you pray.

Praying. Praying is one of the things that disciples do.

One of the questions I hear from people is, “I know I need to pray, but how? How do I pray?” That is a legitimate question. As we have seen in the last few days the Bible does not give us one pattern or one way to pray. There are many ways to pray. The main thing is that we pray.

The following is how I have been organizing my prayer times for the past ten years or so.

1. I write. I don’t do well just sitting there with my eyes closed. That’s a recipe for a nap, but not very helpful for me to pray. So, I write. I write down my prayers in a journal. I find that I can concentrate and focus much better when I write than when I sit with my eyes closed.
2. I divide my prayer focus by the days of the week:
   • Mondays – I pray for friends and ministry partners around the globe. I pray for my friends and pastors in Russia, Brazil, Korea, and Uganda.
   • Tuesdays – I pray for each person in my family. My wife, each one of the kids, my mom and dad, Helen’s mom, and my sister and her family. And when there are needs in the extended family, I include them as well.
   • Wednesdays – I pray for my friends.
   • Thursdays – I pray for the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace
   • Fridays – I pray for our elders and deacons
   • Saturdays – I pray for each of our staff
   • Sundays – I pray for the weekend services

This way, when I tell someone I will pray for them, I pray for them on their particular days. Also, I find praying for different topics helpful because when I don’t organize my prayers in some fashion like this, I end up praying the same thing every day.

This is how I do it. The main thing is you find what works for you. And, most importantly, pray.