I don't fully understand the mystery of prayer and why we're asked to do it. I do know, however, that praying is good. It helps align me with God's purposes. It places me on the shop floor of my heart where I am in need transformation to look more like Jesus. It gets me in agreement with the prayers already going on within the community of the Trinity. It allows me to participate in God's heart for our world. It was something Jesus regularly did. And hey, if He is God in the flesh and still prayed, how much more does this fleshly being need to practice it?
How do I pray?
The pages I've attached here are some helpful ways I've been learning to pray. They're tried and tested ways of praying throughout the centuries of surrendered followers of Jesus. It's in no way an exhaustive list, but a starting point to give you some practical tools, especially if you're feeling stuck in how to pray.
Influential reading that has helped craft my understanding of all the attached pages of different ways of praying, include, but is not limited to: Basil Pennington Lectio Divina, Peter Scazzero Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Ruth Haley Barton Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Richard Foster Prayer, Adele Calhoun Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Numerous authors have been extremely influential in forming my understanding of prayer and have been like spiritual directors for me; Leighton Ford, Henri Nouwen, Janette Bakke, Margaret Silf, Macrina Wiederkehr, Gary Thomas, David Benner.