What do you pray about? Do you ever worry you might not be praying the “right” way? Does prayer actually do anything? Can prayer really unite us? How does prayer even work?

All of these are great questions to ask yourself today, the National Day of Prayer. We’ve prepared three posts this week to help you think through what prayer could mean in your life, and even to “practice” with a sample prayer. Just tap any one of the following that you’d like to try.

	How to ask God to speak to you. What’s on God’s mind? What does he want for you? What does he want from you? Here’s how you can find out.
	How to ask God to guide you. Let’s say that you sense that God is “speaking” to your heart. Then what? How do you act on what you feel he’s telling you?
	How to ask God for something really big. Once you start getting real in your prayers, what can you expect to happen? Can your prayers actually move the heart of God?

All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.

Isaiah 60:3

Prayer is one of the most personal ways that you can connect with God. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, if you follow Christ, you have the privilege of talking directly with your heavenly Father. You can ask God to meet your needs, share with him whatever you’re feeling, and even ask him to show you the best path for your life.

God may respond to you through his Holy Spirit, or he may reveal wisdom to you through his Word, the Bible. As you draw closer to God, you’ll begin to feel the love and compassion he has for all people… growing inside of you. You’ll also begin looking for ways that you can connect with others, including how you can share with them all that God has given you.

For many believers, this is the point in their journey where they first discover that billions of people still don’t have the Bible in their language. And, although YouVersion partner illumiNations is making great progress toward giving all people the same opportunity to experience God’s Word that we already enjoy, there’s still a long way to go.

illumiNations wrote this prayer for all of their partners. Will you pray it with us now?

God, Your Word is more precious than all I possess.
Your Scripture gives light to my path and directs my steps.
Through Your will alone, lives are transformed and minds made new.
So I now pray for all people that do not know You.
For You’ve promised that Your voice by every tribe and nation will be heard.
So equip us by Your breath to provide every heart language with Your Word.
Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Learn More

This is the third post in a 3-part series on prayer. Read the first one here and the second one here.