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Episode 10 - How to Pray, Part 1: Hit Pause First
34 Plays3 months ago
What should you do first when you pray? How do you get started? The next few episodes give some ideas on how to have a quality prayer time by yourself, or with someone else. An often over-looked part of it, is slowing down or "hitting pause" on your mind and the rest of life.
This podcast is a ministry of Central Ohio Youth for Christ.
Email: pray@coyfc.org with content suggestions, thoughts, or if you would like to be a part of a prayer group.
Central Ohio Youth for Christ: www.coyfc.org
Gracehaven: www.gracehavenohio.org
WellSpring Counseling: www.wellspringcolumbus.org
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Purpose
00:00:10
Speaker
Hey there, I'm Brian Brooks. And if you are just joining us, great. Super glad that you're here. Go back and listen to episode one to find out why we launched the podcast.
Organizing Prayer Events
00:00:21
Speaker
We want to invite as many followers of Jesus to pray for our teams serving young people in Central Ohio and across the country. We're launching prayer groups and beginning to plan a few back-to-school prayer events to meet together in real life, have some great food, and pray for students here in Central Ohio coming up in August 2025. It's going to be awesome.
Inspiration Through Prayer Stories
00:00:42
Speaker
I'll send out more information about that and mention it in future episodes. I want to inspire you through real stories of God changing people through prayer. because that's how we learn who God is and what he's like.
00:00:55
Speaker
This is one of my favorite things to talk about and to share. And we want to look at the Bible and understand how praying to God works. And I want to invite you to journey with us.
00:01:08
Speaker
It might mean you could join a prayer group praying for one of our ministries here in Youth for Christ.
Invitation to Join Prayer Groups
00:01:15
Speaker
It might mean that the next step for you is hearing that God wants to offer you eternal life, forgiveness through Jesus, and a real relationship with him.
00:01:27
Speaker
Maybe you haven't actually heard this before. Now, the Bible says in 1 John 4, verse 8, that God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only son into the world so we might have eternal life through him.
00:01:43
Speaker
This is real love. Not that we loved God, but he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Our sin shows up in all the things that are broken about us, what's broken about our relationships, our attitudes, destructive behaviors.
00:02:00
Speaker
That's why Jesus came, as a sacrifice to take those things away. God wants a relationship with you. He wants to be involved in your life.
How to Pray Beyond Rote Phrases
00:02:08
Speaker
Well, we're also here because we've looked at how to think differently about prayer, because if our thinking changes, then our actions will change too.
00:02:19
Speaker
And most followers of Jesus think, I should probably pray more, and they feel bad about that. If how we think about it changes, you might end up praying more. It might become more of a natural practice. And we looked at the last episode in number nine, that God helps us when we pray through the Holy Spirit.
00:02:38
Speaker
Now, we want to look over the next few episodes at how do we actually pray? Not a prescription or a rote phrase going into the air or a mindless chant. We want a simple approach that you can do anywhere.
00:02:52
Speaker
If you have 20 seconds, 20 minutes, you're stuck in traffic, on a commute, you're going for a run, you're up in the middle of the night, doesn't matter.
Prayer as a Conversation
00:03:01
Speaker
How do you actually pray?
00:03:02
Speaker
So let's pray and see what God does. Pray along with me. God, me and everyone else, we have too many things trying to gain our attention. You don't normally shout to get mine, but I know you're eager to hear from me and have me connect with you.
00:03:18
Speaker
Recently, it's been a real challenge to be still and know that you are God, to hit the pause button on life in order to focus on and connect with you. Thank you for moments of peace and quiet to pray to you.
00:03:31
Speaker
Would you give me another one? Lord, would you speak and show something about yourself to the people listening to this episode?
Personal Story: Pausing Before Prayer
00:03:39
Speaker
Amen. Today's point is hit pause first.
00:03:45
Speaker
I have a toddler son and he'll often talk while walking away or playing with something. He's distracted. He'll drop off mid-sentence. It's hard to understand what he's saying.
00:03:56
Speaker
But when I ask him to come on over and I stoop down and I say, hey, look at me and say that again. He slows down, speaks more clearly, focuses more, and we can communicate that.
00:04:08
Speaker
We can be like that with prayer, like praying in a distracted way. That's why we need a reminder to hit pause first when we pray to get us ready to connect with God.
00:04:20
Speaker
This isn't a mystical thing, but something that is often overlooked. It helps us to learn something about God if we slow down. Hitting pause reminds us prayer is a conversation.
00:04:32
Speaker
What does God want to say to me? About what? And he wants me to think about him and who he is, but what does he want to bring to
Kyle's Story: Finding Faith Through Prayer
00:04:39
Speaker
my mind? Hitting pause helps you to ask those questions.
00:04:42
Speaker
I want to share a story about one of our ministries about a student named Kyle. We first started praying for Kyle in early March, 2024. Our staff team met him while providing coaching support at a middle school track team here in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
00:04:59
Speaker
And coaching naturally leads to character and life conversations Kyle got invited to come to a winter middle school camp we were running with Campus Life. I was there, got to say hey to him.
00:05:12
Speaker
He was eager to jump in, play basketball, mix it up with students and leaders. Over the next four or five weeks, Kyle began talking more about his home life with our staff person.
00:05:24
Speaker
He had an obstacle to believing in God and accepting Jesus's gift of forgiveness. That was, why do bad things happen? not in general in the world, but to me.
00:05:35
Speaker
Why is my family going through difficulty? Does God exist because these things are happening? These are real questions. You might even have them yourself. Our staff member told him,
00:05:47
Speaker
How about flip the question around? The real question is, where does anything good come from? Why is there good? Good friendships, positive things in your life, those are all from God. He is the source of good.
00:06:01
Speaker
The same God that offers you forgiveness, eternal life, spiritual life now, and ah he wants to change your life.
Biblical Verses on God's Attentiveness
00:06:10
Speaker
Kyle decided that week to put his faith in Jesus and begin a relationship with God. I think he did that because he heard God wanted to offer that to him, but he understood God's posture toward him and understood something about who God is.
00:06:27
Speaker
In order for us to do that, we need to hit pause first when we pray to God. Pause leads to praise, like talking to God about who he is. Who are you dealing with? Who are you talking to?
00:06:40
Speaker
Isaiah 55 says that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. What is God's posture toward you when you pray?
00:06:53
Speaker
Psalm 17 6, I'm praying to you, God, because I know you will answer. Bend down and listen as I pray. Psalm 116, verse 2.
00:07:06
Speaker
Because he bends down to listen, i will pray as long as I have breath. Psalm 138, verse 3. As soon as I pray, you answer me, you encourage me by giving me strength.
00:07:19
Speaker
God's posture is he bends down. He wants to hear from us. He wants to strengthen us, to encourage us. Another verse I've been remembering recently in prayer comes from Isaiah.
00:07:32
Speaker
um chapter 40, verse 22. God is the one who sits above the circle of the earth. Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.
00:07:48
Speaker
He is above everything, and that imagery helps me to connect with God and who He is. 1 John 4, God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only son into the world so we might have eternal life through him.
00:08:03
Speaker
This is real love. Not that we loved God, but he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. So we've come to know and believe the love God has for us.
00:08:14
Speaker
God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. This is God's posture toward us. How do you connect with that? You need to hit pause first.
Techniques for Pausing Before Prayer
00:08:27
Speaker
this is very practical. Here's the challenge. Find what helps you to hit pause, to stop the movie of your life, to pause on the noise and to reflect on God.
00:08:42
Speaker
The next time you pray, do something to hit pause. Maybe find a quiet place, distraction-free. Maybe it's a good idea not to have video games on or to be scrolling on your phone.
00:08:56
Speaker
You could sit outside. You could go for a walk. You could have a quiet place in your office at work. Turn off the radio or podcast when you're driving. Dial down the RPMs in your mind.
00:09:09
Speaker
The offer of peace from God starts with prayer, and it's good to do some simple practices to get our mind right. It could even be something physical, like some people pray first thing in the morning.
00:09:20
Speaker
Some people work out first, then sit down to pray, or they get a good cup of coffee. Find out what works for you to pause. Try something.
00:09:31
Speaker
There's even a benefit of praying with someone else that you can dial in to prayer together at the same time and there's a friend component. And praying out loud, like saying your thoughts out loud to God can help you focus.
00:09:47
Speaker
Or even sitting down to write prayers out in a journal. Some of the time it's something as simple as opening a journal and flipping the page and taking a moment to hit pause.
00:10:00
Speaker
So when we talk about how to pray, we want to hit pause first. Remind ourselves, who are we talking to? What does prayer even mean? It means the God of the universe who sent his son to offer you eternal life and spiritual life. He knows everything about you, who spreads the heavens out like a tent.
00:10:22
Speaker
He wants to hear from you.
Future Episodes and Listener Engagement
00:10:24
Speaker
And sitting with that thought, and hitting pause can unlock your heart and your mind to pray to him. We're going to talk over the next few episodes more about how to pray.
00:10:36
Speaker
Listen back for that, and I hope it's helpful for you. If you want to connect and learn more about starting a prayer group to support one of our ministries and to experience God answering prayer and moving, send an email to pray, P-R-A-Y, at C-O-Y-F-C dot org.
00:10:55
Speaker
I'll be answering it on the other end.