Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shauna: I'm Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thank you for joining us.

We're back again for another session with Joni answering your questions. This has become a real favorite with you, our listeners, so be sure to send your questions to joniradio.org. I know our friend sitting here next to me at the microphone will be happy to answer.

Joni Eareckson Tada: I'm always happy, but whether I can answer is left to be seen.

Shauna: Alright. Today Sophie writes in with a question I'm certain you can answer. She writes: "Can you share tips on how to pray, Joni? How do we get better at praying? And what words or tones should we use?"

Joni Eareckson Tada: Oh, Sophie, I love your question. We could take the next hour just talking about how to pray. So let me just shorten it to a couple of tips. First, always appeal to God on the basis of His word. His word says that if we cherish iniquity or sin in our heart, God won't hear us.

When you go before the Lord, humble yourself before Him. Consider first how great He is and how small you are. I always picture myself approaching God in His great throne room, first thanking Him that He's giving me access through His wonderful Son, Jesus. I picture myself kneeling, spreading my hands before Him.

Then I just use the Bible as my prayer book. I spend time adoring God, remembering that before the foundation of the world, He was planning my salvation. Just recently, I memorized Psalm 63 so that I could just echo it back to God in prayer, using His own words. I think God delights in hearing His children speak His own language.

I will praise Him using Psalm 63, saying with all my heart: "Oh Father, my wonderful God, and Jesus, my Savior, and Holy Spirit who resides within me. Lord, You, God, are my God. Earnestly I seek You. I thirst for You. My whole being longs for You as in a dry and parched land where there is no water."

I think you can see how just echoing God His words or even singing the praises of God can be part of prayer. I will sometimes pray a hymn. I'll say: "Oh immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible, You are hid from our eyes. Most blessed, most glorious, You are the Ancient of Days, almighty, victorious, Your great name we praise."

I could just go on here, but to sum it up: First, approach God with humility. If you don't know how to do that, ask the Spirit to show you, and I know He will. Be sure you don't coddle any hidden sins. Picture yourself in His throne room; it's a perfect chance to thank Jesus for giving you access through His blood.

Finally, focus on praise and worship, whether using the Bible for words and phrases or using the stanzas of favorite hymns or worship songs. One more quick thing: I kind of follow that acronym ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and at the close, Supplication. Sophie, we've just barely gotten started here.

Shauna: That's true, Joni. We barely have any time left. Here's what we can do. I have a couple of other questions here from other listeners, and I want you to have time to answer them. So let's just plan another "Dear Joni" edition later this week.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Oh, Shauna, I'd love that.

Shauna: And Sophie, if you'd like to keep Joni's answer to your questions about prayer, just visit joniradio.org. Follow the prompts and download the transcript of today's edition. Again, that's joniradio.org. Thanks for listening today to Joni Eareckson Tada as she shares lots of hope.