What is Prayer?

With the start of 2023 comes our churchwide emphasis, or theme, for the year: prayer. Our main desire with this emphasis is for you to develop a habit of prayer in 2023.

What exactly does that mean to you? Let’s start with some basic definitions.

The word habit is defined as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up,” and prayer is spiritual communion with God, or more simply, talking to God.

Therefore, we want to equip you and guide you in developing a regular practice of talking to God. Our desire is for you to start this habit in 2023, making it part of your daily rhythms so that you can continue in this habit in the years ahead.

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We all know habits are difficult to break. At the same time, they are even more difficult to start. It takes multiple repetitions of the same behavior before that behavior becomes a habit.

So, where do you even begin to have prayer become a daily habit?

A great place to start is the book “ Everyday Prayers” by Scotty Smith . This book is highly recommended by Pastor Ron and is a collection of 365 Scripture-centered prayers that allow you to dive into God’s word and develop a more intimate relationship with God.

Not a book reader? That’s okay. Another option is to sign up to receive a daily text with a prayer prompt from January 9 through January 31.
Text DAILY  to 97891 to opt-in to receive this daily prayer prompt to jump-start your prayer life.

Not a fan of either of those options? Then, visit rpc.fm/pray for additional resources to help you get started.

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Now that you know where to start, you may be asking, how do I pray? Even Jesus’ disciples asked the Lord to teach them how to pray in Luke 11:1.

Jesus’ response to their question is known as the “The Lord’s Prayer.” Praying this prayer to our God daily will help you get into a rhythm of talking to Him.

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)

⁹  Pray then like this:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread,
¹²  and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³  And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

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In addition to equipping you to have daily conversations with God, we also would love to pray for you. You can submit any prayer requests at rpc.fm/prayer . It would be our joy and honor to pray over your requests.

Prayer is one of the primary ways that our spiritual life is nourished. When we cease to pray, we start to shrivel spiritually.

Let’s start 2023 by praying to our Almighty Father.