Prayer - Communicating with God
Ah! the cell phone. What a marvelous tool for keeping in touch with friends and family all the time. No matter where you are you can dial up as well as receive all those important calls. Sometimes people talk on their phones for hours at a time, not wanting to stop because the conversation is so sweet. But what about your calls to God? How many of you spend hours at a time talking to God? How many times a day do you ‘dial Him up?’ You know God does want to hear from you. Prayer is communicating with God. He wants to hear from us. He is available anytime – day or night. Pray Regularly
During Jesus’ Ministry he always made time to pray to his Father. A lot of God’s servants in the Bible, like David and Daniel prayed as much as three times a day.
”But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with it’s windows opened toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.” Daniel 6:10
Praying is not hard. It is just like talking with your parents or friends, of course with a little more respect. The Psalms are perfect examples of prayers. Most of them were from King David. Reading the Psalms regularly will give you an idea of how to pray and give thanks to God. Jesus gave an example of how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. This is commonly called the ‘Lord’s Prayer’. What Jesus outlined here are the things we should pray for on a daily basis – the coming of his Kingdom, our daily needs, forgiveness of sins, etc. But he does not want us to just repeat the same words by rote all the time. He looks forward to an actual conversation. Our prayers must be genuine and sincere and specific. When we speak to our friends we don’t repeat words over and over without making any sense.
Love and Obey God
If we are to pray to God effectively, we must learn to love Him, just as He loves us.
“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect… Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that His love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of him loving us first.” I John 4:16-19
When we truly love God, there is no fear and we are able to go to Him bravely and boldly.
God Answers Prayers
God answers prayers. Once we are sincere and believe, we can expect our prayers to be answered.
“Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks”. Matthew 7:7-9.
We must keep in mind that the answer we receive may not always be in the way we expect. Sometimes it may even be slow in coming. Remember, as our Heavenly Father, He knows what is best for us. Another point to remember when communicating with God, is that we must obey Him. God will not always give us something for nothing. We cannot expect Him to listen and answer our prayers if we don’t obey his commands. This is also part of showing our love for Him.
“Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult.” I John 5:3
“And we will receive whatever we request because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.” I John 3:22
Give Thanks and Pray for Forgiveness and Guidance
Prayer is much more than asking God for things. Prayer is giving God thanks – for everything – food, shelter, family, life, and even trials and tests. Prayer is asking God for forgiveness. We are not perfect. We make mistakes and God expects that. The difference is, if we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, we will always have a good relationship with Him, as well as others. Prayer is asking God for Guidance. Whenever we have important decisions to make we should ask God for guidance, and we are sure to always make the right decisions. Constant and continued prayer means a fulfilling and happy life. But how does God communicate with us? Through the Bible. Bible study helps us to know and understand what God is saying to us.
