Today was good. I was able to go to a new church with my friend, Elaine. (I am looking for a church to attend after my friend Kelly leaves so I am starting to check out different churches in the area. I do like the church I attend now but I want to see what else is out there. I never ventured out explored the other churches because I didn't feel comfortable doing it, but now I do.) After church, Elaine and I went out to lunch and then traveled to meet up with a team from her home church in the states.
While talking and waiting for a cab, she reminded me of something that I would like to share today. It has been over a year since I have wrote about prayer so I would like to explore this topic with you again.
Prayer is something that should be apart of our daily lives. It should be almost like breathing. In Scripture, we are told to pray continually and in the Spirit. In Ephesians 6:18, Paul tells the church to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, and to pray for all the saints (God's people).
I believe God wants us to share with Him everything that is in our hearts, even our complaints. God knows everything that is in our minds anyways so why not just share everything with Him in prayer? I pray in private like God is sitting right next to me. I even pray out loud like I am having a conversation with God, if someone were to see or hear this they might think I am crazy. When I am not in the privacy of my room, I talk to God in my head or sometimes out loud as long as no one else can hear me. I like to say I have conversations with God because it helps me to see prayer as a two way street, this involves not only talking but also waiting for a response. Sometimes we can get so caught up in talking to God that we forget to or don't stop talking long enough to hear His response.
I share with God everything that is on my heart, but then I also listen, look, and wait for His response. They don't always come right away and sometimes I don't feel or see a response at all, but it is okay. God is in control and I know He is good. His response may not always be what you want but you have to trust in Him.
One of my favorite examples of prayer comes from the book "God is Closer than You Think" by John Ortberg. In this book, the author talks about a man named Brother Lawrence and how even though his job to wash dishes he would wash those dishes and talk with God. Brother Lawrence took an every day task and instead made it about God.
There are all different kinds of ways to pray but I think the most important thing to do is just pray. God wants you to share what is on your heart, even though He already knows. Isn't always better to hear what is going on in your friends' life directly from them instead of someone else? This is kind of how I feel when it comes to praying to God. He wants to talk with me, but He wants me to want to talk to Him. He doesn't force me to say anything to Him, but because I love Him I want to share everything with Him (the good and the bad, my ups and my downs).
I could go on forever about prayer but the point is to remember to just pray, talk with God. Talk about even the silly little things that you don't think matter, because it does matter to God. Then listen for His response to your prayers or requests. This is about having a deep personal relationship with God. You don't develop deep relationships by not talking or listening. You need to be willing to share with God what was on your heart and mind and listen for His response.
