How To Pray
Niki Behrikis Shanahan
About Prayer In General
I have a few model prayers here, which you are welcome to use and customize to your own needs. Prayer should always be from the heart. Therefore, these have been written just to give you some guidance. As different needs arise for you and your family, you should always ask the Lord for help. No request is too great or too small or insignificant for God.
I recently wrote a book called Animal Prayer Guide that is very important, and will help you. It goes over Scriptures for praying for sick pets and much more. We are always very happy to pray along with you for any animal, but everyone needs to learn how to pray according to the Bible for themselves for the best results. You can learn more about Animal Prayer Guide by clicking on the graphic below.
God does not put sickness on anyone. He wants all of us to be well. If you look at the life of Jesus and his ministry, you will see that He spent the majority of His time healing people of their sicknesses. (Reference Matthew 4:23-24 and John 14:12-14.) He also said that if you have seen Me, you have seen The Father, meaning God The Father and God The Son, Jesus, both agree on everything that He is doing. (See John 14:9.) So that tells us very main and clear that God does not put sickness on us and He does not want any of His creatures to be sick. If you are still unclear about if God wants us all well, or if you want to learn more about healing and the Bible, I recommend the book “Healing The Sick” by T. L. Osborn. It’s the best book on the subject that I’ve ever read. (See the link at the end of this article to view it at amazon.com.
There are some things that you can do to strengthen your prayer efforts. I have outlined some suggestions here.
First, one should always ask God for forgiveness for any sins. You always want to start out with a “clean slate” so to speak. This is a daily task since we are human and make mistakes constantly.
Write a list of the things you want to pray about and add to it as you think of new requests. Prayer for your pets, family, job, anything that concerns you, will concern the Lord. Asking the Lord for help on everything is a good habit to develop. For example, to help you find the right job, spouse, car, computer, doctors and veterinarians. We all need money to live on, so there’s nothing wrong with asking God to help you financially. As long as you are not asking for something that is wrong or sinful, there is no reason why you can’t do so. My Dad once had a discussion with a lady who said “I don’t believe in asking God for money, and I would never do it.” My Dad, never at a loss for a quick comeback, said, “I’m going to ask God for the money that he would have given you, too.”
Your biggest asset is prayer! In fact, the Bible says to pray without ceasing. (See Thessalonians 5:17)
Fasting and prayer are often mentioned in the Bible as ways to strengthen your requests. You could fast one day, drinking only beverages. Then take out your list of prayer requests and pray alone or with a prayer partner. Don’t forget to thank God for all He has done and is about to do for you.
You can also have your own communion using grape juice and a cracker. However, an absolute must – you need to ask God’s forgiveness. (See I Corinthians 11:23-34.) During communion you can read the scriptures from Matthew 26:26-28. They are as follows:
On the night in which He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is My body.” And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying “Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Then you can read some other Bible scriptures for your devotional time. If you don’t know where to read, you could start with the Gospel of John found in the New Testament, which is the fourth book. Also, the whole book of Psalms is wonderful to read.
The way that we like to do this is to start with communion, then we go through our prayer list, and then we end by reading some scriptures.
Anointing with oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. You can use oil for anointing when you pray for your pets or yourself. It’s not the oil in itself that heals, but it represents the Holy Spirit. People usually put a little oil on the forehead before praying. (See reference scriptures: Mark 6:13 and James 5:14-15.)
Remember to say grace over your pet’s food and water at each feeding every day.
Here are a few Bible verses to encourage you to ask God for help.
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things. Romans 8:32
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. Psalm 103:2-3
I am the Lord that healeth thee. Exodus 15:26
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it. John 14:13-14, NIV
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
The best advice we can possibly receive is from Jesus Christ Himself. The disciples said to Jesus, teach us to pray, and this is the “Our Father” prayer from Matthew 6:9-13.
The Our Father
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Prayers For Your Animal Companions
A Prayer Of Grace Over Your Pet’s Food
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You in Jesus name and ask You to please bless this food and water for [name] to maintain perfect health, ask for healing of all current ailments, and for great blessings and soundness of mind. Bless them with a very long, very healthy and happy life with us, and we thank You in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.
Amen.
A Prayer For Your Pet
Dear Heavenly Father,
May all of your beautiful animal creatures praise your name!
We pray in the Name of Jesus that we would find great favor with you today that you would please:
Heal [name] from all sickness and disease that they may have even if we are unaware that they have it. Do not allow any sickness, disease, accidents, harm or danger to come upon [name]. Disable all the powers of enemies that would come against them.
Pour out your blessings upon them that they will have a very long, healthy, and happy life with us for the Glory of God. Let your angels watch over them, guide them, and keep them safe continually. Put a hedge of protection around them at all times.
Lead and guide us to take the best possible care of [name] and be very responsible pet parents. Direct us to the very best veterinarian that will benefit [name] the most. Show us the correct foods to give them. Help us to keep our cats indoors so they won’t get hit by cars, be exposed to diseases and attacks by raccoons, coyotes and other other animals or get lost. Protect them when they travel by car, foot, air or any other means.
We thank you that [name] will go to heaven with us when it is time to cross over to the other side, and we pray that You will bless us also to go to heaven when our time comes. Please join us together again in heaven, and let us live for eternity with [name] in a wonderful home where we will be happy together forever.
We give You the praise, thanksgiving, honor and the glory in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Prayer For All Animals
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before you with praise and honor to ask for great blessings for all animals. May all of your beautiful animal creatures praise your name! Guide and direct the hearts, minds, and spirits of good people everywhere to help animals who are in need.
We pray in the Name of Jesus that we would find great favor with you today that you would please:
Heal all animals from sickness and disease.
Pour out your blessings upon them that they will have long, healthy, and happy lives for the Glory of God. Let your angels watch over them, guide them, and keep them safe continually.
Shelter and hide them from evildoers and keep them out of harms way. Make them unavailable to any offenders and to those who would exploit, injure, harm and bring danger to them in any way.
Let all testing, studies, and experiments be done through computer technology, and in other ways rather than through any animal testing.
Remove all animals from the grasps of all individuals who are currently abusing, neglecting, or harming them in any way. Disable all the powers of enemies that would come against them. Provide them with new homes and new caretakers that will shower them with love and affection and take wonderful care of them.
For all the animals (wild) that live outdoors, keep them away from the roads when vehicles are approaching thus preventing them from being hit. May all people drive responsibly, especially when an animal or person is nearby.
Let all the animals find favor with you that every town, state, and community in the United States, as well as the whole world will become “no-kill” animal communities. May all spay and neuter programs be very successful and save every animal. We especially ask You to help all the feral cats that are not as fortunate as our own pets to have a good home. Please bless and help these cats and all the good people who are working on the spay, neuter and release programs for feral cats. Protect these little ones and don’t let anyone harm as much as a hair on their heads!
May every human being discover the truth from Your Word that there is eternal life for all animals in heaven. Put a great fear into evildoers everywhere that they will realize that they are accountable to You for any and all harm inflicted upon all of Your animals.
Teach people everywhere to value and respect all Your creatures. Help us to appreciate the wonderful gift of fellowship with our animal friends that You have given to us.
Bless each one with fresh food and water daily, and may their angels direct and guide them to safe places to stay. Put a hedge of safety around them at all times.
Put a spirit of compassion and a desire to help and assist animals in need within the hearts of people everywhere. When we hear about any animal abuse, please remind us to pray for the rescue, safety and protection of those animals. May You intercede on their behalf, Lord, and bring swift justice. Let us help out in any way that we can, such as signing petitions and letters that will help to enforce proper treatment of animals and punishment on the offenders.
Please reunite all lost animals with their owners safe and sound, unless their owners were cruel to them. If they were mistreated, please help them find a wonderful new home where they will be loved and cared for. Help people to keep their cats indoors so they won’t get hit by cars, be exposed to diseases and attacks by raccoons, coyotes and other other animals or get lost.
We give You the praise, thanksgiving, honor and the glory in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer For Your Family of People
Dear Lord,
We pray in the Name of Jesus that we would find great favor with you today that you would please:
Heal our family of all sickness and disease that they may have even if we are unaware that they have it. Do not allow any sickness, disease, accidents, harm or danger to come upon us.
Pour out your blessings upon them that they will have very long, healthy, and happy lives with us for the Glory of God. Let your angels watch over us, guide us, and keep us all safe continually. Put a hedge of protection around us at all times.
Lead and guide us to take the best possible care of ourselves and direct us to the very best doctors that will benefit us the most. Show us the best foods to eat and help us to live a healthy life.
Protect us as we travel by car, foot, air or any other means. Disable all the powers of enemies that would come against us.
Help us to be ready to make heaven our home where we will be together for eternity. We give You the praise, the thanksgiving, the honor and the glory in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Prayer For Other Things
It is discouraging to see and hear many terrible things that go on in our world today, but we can do more than shake our heads. We can pray for as many people and situations as we can. Some ideas are:
When you hear a siren for an ambulance, fire engine, or police car, say a prayer, such as, Lord whoever is in need, whoever is the recipient of that ambulance or the people in a location in need of the fire truck, help them now and heal them. Pray that the Lord will help people in trouble that you hear about in the news and newspapers.
Bless and watch over our people in the armed forces and protect them. Keep them out of harms way. May their angels watch over them and guide them continually. Let the enemy fail in their attempts to kill, harm or destroy our people.
Bless our President and lead and guide him in all matters that the name of the Lord would be glorified. Bless and direct all people in authority to do Your will.
Prevent a devious plan from happening, such as those who plan to murder or commit a crime. Let them be found out before they can do it. Bring justice to all the situations in courtrooms everywhere according to your fairness.
Eternal Life For People
If you are not sure that you are ready to go to heaven, you can commit your life to Jesus Christ today. Also, by doing so you will be able to spend eternity with your beloved pet!
A commitment to Christ requires a step of faith, an acceptance of the sacrifice, which He made for you. In dying on the Cross for us Jesus has washed our sins clean with His blood.
The Bible says:
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. Isaiah 1:18-19, NIV
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10, NIV
If you are ready to make that commitment, and if you want to say “Yes” to Jesus then say the following prayer out loud:
Dear Jesus. Thank you for the sacrifice You made for me. I am sorry for my past sins and will try my best not to repeat them. I ask Your help to keep this pledge. I know I am not worthy but I willingly accept You as my Lord and Savior, and I thank You for Your blessing over my family and me. Amen.
You should buy yourself a Bible. The New International Version is an easy to understand version and the King James Version is one of the best and oldest versions. Try to get a “Red Letter Edition,” which means that all of the words spoken by Jesus are in red so you can easily see what He said.
Copyright 2018 Niki Behrikis Shanahan All rights reserved. Not to be used without author’s explicit written authorization. To reprint this article, please contact the author at eternalanimals@comcast.net.
Here are some websites where you can go to find additional information about being a Christian:
Billy Graham website:
http://www.billygrahamlibrary.org/PGView.aspx?pid=13
The Southern Baptist Convention website:
www.sbc.net/knowjesus/theplan.asp