Part of what it means to be broken human beings is the realization that there’s someone greater than us at work. When we realize we’re not the author and finisher of our stories, we want to connect with the One who is. We want a relationship with the Creator. Prayer is how we do that. But often prayer is mistaken as something else.

• Prayer is not a magic formula. It’s not intended to be done and then, poof, everything we want or don’t want will magically appear or disappear.
• Prayer is not our duty to God. It’s not something that can be checked off a list. As an achiever on the Enneagram personality spectrum, this has been my greatest struggle. I want to perform my way through life (can you relate to that?). I need to be aware that I tend to do that with prayer as well.
• Prayer is not meditation. There’s nothing wrong with meditation. It can bring real peace and rest to our bodies. But prayer is much more than that. Prayer is about connecting to the Source of everlasting life, joy, and purpose. 

Prayer is communicating with God, and it doesn’t require a strategy or a set of rules to follow. I believe that often we focus on the quantity of our prayers when we should be focused on the quality. And, you know what? Jesus gave us the outline.

“This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  - Matthew 6:9-13

Think about this: God wants us to show up as our authentic selves. While He knows everything, He delights in hearing about the things in our lives that scare us and confuse us. So, pray an honest prayer full of raw emotion. He can handle it.

Scriptures for Prayer:

• Matthew 6:9-13
• Mark 11:23-25
• Philippians 4:6

For more information, go to tonijcollier.com/brave.