How To Talk With God
by Brandon Jubar
It
goes without saying that an essential part of being a Christian is prayer.
But what exactly does that mean? And with so much going on in our lives
today, how do we find the time to pray? If you follow a simple three-step
process, you will truly come to know our Father!
Step 1: Believe that prayer is important.
"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished,
one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John
taught his disciples.' He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Father, hallowed
be your name, your kingdom come.' " (Luke 11:1)
The early disciples of Christ believed prayer was so important that they
asked Jesus to teach them how to do it properly. And when I say "prayer,"
I'm not talking about those whispered pleadings that cross our lips just
before the start of a big test. I'm talking about meaningful, one-on-one
conversation with the Lord.
Prayer is a way for us to experience the presence of God. It's a chance
for us to thank Him for all of our blessings, to reflect on the important
things in our lives and to listen for His reply. When we do this, we'll
begin to truly know our Father. And that's why prayer is important.
You can read my articles. You can read about my life and the things I've
done. You can talk to my family and friends. But until you talk to me
and create a personal relationship with me, you cannot say you truly "know"
me. The same is true with God.
Step 2: Go someplace special to pray.
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got
up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."
(Mark 1:35)
If anyone has a direct line to the Father, Jesus certainly does. In the
Gospels, He acknowledges how special prayer is by getting off the beaten
path to talk to His Father. He doesn't just mutter some requests under
his breath, either. He makes an effort to go someplace quiet and spend
time alone with his Father.
Have you ever started to pray and then found that, a minute later, your
mind had wandered to other things? Instead of talking to God, you end
up planning the rest of your day, thinking about things that just happened,
or simply daydreaming. It's hard enough to concentrate on prayer without
all the distractions around us.
When we want to chat with a friend, we often go someplace quiet. That
way we can focus our attention on enjoying the company of the other person.
It becomes "quality" time, and getting closer with our friend
becomes far easier. The same is true with God.
Step 3: Do it every day.
"They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the
women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." (Acts
1:14)
Prayer has always been an important part of the Christian life. The apostles
and other early Christians prayed all the time, and the Lord answered
their prayers. The power of prayer is one of the things that helped the
early Church grow and thrive, especially during times of persecution.
With so much going on in our lives, it's far too easy to make prayer a
low priority. But in order to build a relationship with our Savior, we
need to talk to Him every day. That's why steps one and two are so important.
For if we believe that prayer is important, and we make the effort to
go someplace special when we pray, then we will get in the habit of doing
it every day.
Did you pray yesterday? If you didn't, but you watched TV, then perhaps
television is more important to you than Jesus. Did you play a video game?
IM with friends online? Hang out at the mall? Our actions tend to show
what's truly important to us. So let's show how much Christ means to us.
Wrapping It Up
Communicating with God through prayer has been central Christianity from
the beginning. Reading about Him -- learning about Him from others --
is important, but simply not enough. To truly know God, we must spend
time with Him. If we believe that it's important, set aside a special
place to do it and then do it every day, we will truly come to know our
Creator -- and His blessings on us will multiply!
Life Applications:
What are the most important things in your life?
How hard is it to focus when you pray? Why?
How often do you pray? What do you pray about?
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