Pointing to Jesus

Philippians 4:6– Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Prayer is communication with God. It is talking to God and expressing yourself to Him about what is on your heart and mind. You can talk to God anytime, anywhere, about anything. You can pray out loud or silently because He also hears our silent prayers. Praying out loud may be more appropriate for some places and occasions, and there may be some places and occasions where praying out loud is not appropriate or allowed but needed, so we pray to ourselves and know that God hears those prayers as well.

Prayer also involves listening to God. It’s a two-way conversation. He wants to hear from us, but He also wants to talk to us and let us know what is on His heart. Most likely, His voice will not be audible (although I know that He has spoken audibly to some people), but it will be an impression in your heart through the Holy Spirit.

God wants a relationship with us, and one of the ways we grow in our relationship with Him is by talking to Him. We can and should talk to Him when we’re happy or sad or angry or disappointed. We can talk to Him when things are going well and when they’re not going well. The main thing is that we are talking to Him. He’s always with us, He’s waiting for us to talk to Him, and He never gets tired of hearing from us.

Prayer is a spiritual discipline that keeps us humble, dependant, and acknowledging of God. Humble, because we realize that this life is not about us and we need His help in this life; dependant, because we realize that we need God for everything; and acknowledging, because we are inviting God into our everyday life. Prayer also helps us to keep God first in our lives.

The Bible speaks a lot about prayer and is full of examples and stories of prayer – how to pray, what to pray, who to pray for, and more. Jesus teaches about prayer in Matthew 6:5-15. That’s where you’ll find The Lord’s Prayer. The book of Psalms, the longest book of the Bible, is a book of prayers and praise. The authors are pouring out their hearts in prayer and praise, thanksgiving, confession, etc. to God.

Recently, I posted on Facebook – “Before asking God for anything, thank Him for everything.” I start my morning thanking God for everything – and I am very specific when I am thanking Him. Just to name a few things I thank Him for – for waking me up, for who He is (His character and attributes)), for salvation, for all His blessings (be specific), for giving us the Bible, for leaving us the Holy Spirit. I thank Jesus and the Holy Spirit for their attributes. Then, throughout the day, I talk to Him about the things that are on my heart – whether it be praying for someone else or help or wisdom with something. I also thank Him when He answers a prayer.

One helpful guide or model to follow when praying is the acrostic ACTS-

A– Adoration – adoring God for who He is – His characteristics and attributes.

C– Confession – confessing our sins to God and asking for forgiveness.

T– Thanksgiving – thanking God for all He has done, all that He’s doing, and all that He’s going to do.

S– Supplication – asking or making our requests known to God. (Defined as: to plead humbly)

I’m so grateful that the Creator of the universe wants to have a relationship with us and wants to hear from us. I’m also grateful that He talks to us. We never have to be afraid or feel unworthy to talk to Him. He’s always listening and loves to hear from us.

I Thessolonians 5:17-pray without ceasing.

Many blessings,

Desiree