Prayer is simply speaking to God. Prayer creates a line of communication with our Creator. By praying consistently you build a personal relationship with God, allowing Him to see our true inner self: our heart.
God wants to know what is important to us and what we care deeply about. He wants us to open our hearts to Him.
Pray, open your heart to God
The Bible is full of examples of God's people talking to Him. For example, many of the psalms were actually prayers, and many of them were by David, the great king of Israel, known as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22).
For example, consider the beginning of Psalms 4 and 5:
- “Hear me when I cry, O God of my righteousness! You have delivered me in my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1).
- “Hear my words, O LORD, and consider my thoughts. Heed my cry, O my King and my God, for I will pray to you” (Psalm 5:1-2).
There are many types of prayers mentioned in the Bible, but one common factor among prayers that helped build a relationship with God is that these effective prayers were sincere.
What are prayers from the heart?
God is not looking for nice words or even many words. He is not looking for prepackaged prayers that are mindlessly repeated. Jesus warned against praying to impress others or using “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:5-7; see our article “Do you pray like Jesus taught?”).
God wants to hear what is in our hearts and minds.
God is much more interested in what we are on the inside than what we are on the outside. As he told Samuel, “For the Lord seeth not the things that man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Although he has all the power in the universe, he looks to him “who is poor and contrite, and who trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).
The Bible contains many examples of prayer from the heart. Let's first look at a prayer prayed by Hezekiah, king of Judah, in the Old Testament.
Hezekiah's fervent prayer
The first prayer we will examine can be found in2 Kings 20:1-3.
“In those days Hezekiah was sick and almost dead. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, 'Order your house, for you will die and not live'” (verse 1).
When the prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah that he would die, Hezekiah responded to the message with a heartfelt prayer.
Then he turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘Remember now, Lord, how I have walked before you in truth and in a loyal heart and have done what was right in your sight.’ Hezekiah wept bitterly. ” (verses 2-3).
Hezekiah reminded God of his efforts to walk before Him with a loyal heart. It seems that he might have wanted to say more to God, but the emotion overcame him and he burst into tears and wept bitterly.
So before Isaiah had even left the court to go to the king's palace, God sent him back to King Hezekiah with another message, which was an answer to the king's prayer. In this second message, God said: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears" (around 5).
God hears our prayers from the heart
What did God hear? The words the king spoke were a reminder to God of his efforts to walk before Him with a sincere heart. But not all communication with God took the form of words. There was more to the king's prayer in his heart, where it came from. His prayer did not just come from his head. It reflected the deepest feelings of his heart.
So God heard the prayer in King Hezekiah's heart, and the little he managed to express before he burst into tears.
God doesn't want a mask. He wants people who seek Him with all their heart. Jesus warned that those who come only with words and not with actions (not doing what God says from the heart) will not be in the kingdom of God.
It is reasonable to conclude that the king wanted to ask God to spare his life. God answered the two-part prayer by adding another fifteen years to the king's life.
God doesn't want a mask. He wants people who seek Him with all their heart (Isaiah 29:13;Verse 119:2). Jesus warned that those who come only with words and not with deeds (do not do from the heart what God says) will not be in the kingdom of God (Matthew 7:21-23).
Hanna's prayer from the heart
In another example earlier in Israel's history, Hannah (who became the mother of the prophet Samuel) offered a heartfelt prayer. She was saddened by not being able to have a child and by the severe provocation she had received from her. competitive.
“And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept for anguish” (1 Samuel 1:10).
It was a prayer in her heart. Due to mental disorders her lips moved as if in a whispered prayer, but the priest Eli thought she was drunk and rebuked her (around 2 p.m). However, God heard the unheard prayer and responded by granting her request (around 20).
Fervent and persistent prayer in happy times
We do not always have to be in fear of death or in danger of losing our lives to pray to God from the bottom of our hearts. We can also pray fervently out of joy, love and positive emotions.
We can express our gratitude to God for wonderful things such as marriage, the birth of a child, healings, the beauty of His creation, and the way He has met our needs. We can rejoice in the knowledge of His truth and the perfection of His plan.
Heartfelt prayer every time we pray
Whether it is fear, joy, or thanksgiving, all our prayers must come from our hearts. Our prayers are more than just words. These are words that convey feelings.
Sometimes God will test us to see the sincerity of our prayers. This is evident from the parable of the unjust judge (Lukas 18:1-5). In this parable, God teaches us “that men should always pray and not lose heart” (verse 1), because God knows that it is good for us to learn to be persistent. If our prayers come from the heart, we will be persistent and steadfast.
Jesus told a parable to show God's appreciation for fervent, persistent prayers. “Then he spoke a parable to them, that men should always pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). In the next seven verses he told the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge.
If an evil judge could be deceived by perseverance, how much more will our loving God "avenge his own elect, which cry unto him day and night, though he persevere with them?" (verse 7).
God understands our groaning
Sometimes we have a prayer in our hearts, but we fail to say it properly (Romans 8:26-27). Hezekiah groaned in his heart and God heard the whole prayer. God helps us pray through the Holy Spirit when we need it and He understands what we are trying to say.
From the example of King Hezekiah, we must always remember that God respects a sincere prayer, no matter how poorly spoken because of our human imperfection. If we always come to God with a true heart—a contrite and faithful heart—words of sincerity will follow (Hebrews 10:22).
Read more about prayer in the articles "How to pray" In "This is how you talk to God."
Over by author
Harris Hlazo
Harris Hlazo is an elder in the Church of God, a global association in Zimbabwe.
