We are often told that God wants to hear from us and engage us in conversation as frequently as possible. God wants us to communicate with Him, so we must learn to pray. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always,pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Philippians 4:6 states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The Bible Foundation tells us that in the old days, the men of God prayed three times a day, and many priests and Holy Men prayed numerous times each day and evening. But ironically, the Bible does not demand that we pray at any particular time. We should probably pray whenever we have a chance, have time, and have a need. In other words, we should always be in some form of prayer.
We need to pray to fulfill the need to be communicating with God. We need to know our wants, needs, and desires, and to do so, we need to organize our thoughts so that God will enjoy hearing from us. God wants to know us, and he wants us to know him. To get to know each other (us and God), we must communicate and be honest in our thoughts and words. 1 John helps explain this communication and learning to be acquainted with God. The first step is found in 1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 3:6 then reminds us, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 1 John 4:6-7 “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this, we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” Following 1 John’s instructions will allow more peace in your life, give you and your family a blessing that would otherwise be missed, and teach you more about the path God has laid for you.
So, how do we start this communication with God? Like every other conversation, we must address the person we talk to by calling their name. We can start a prayer by saying “Dear God,” “Dear Lord,” “Father in Heaven,” or “Heavenly Father.” Whatever your comfort level is, your prayer’s circumstances determine your beginning. The next logical step would be to thank God for listening to you and tell Him about what you are thankful for in your life. During this prayer portion, you should be honest, appreciative, and sincere in describing your many blessings. After expressing your thanks, you should tell God why you are praying. This part of your prayer can be done by asking for guidance, healing, peace, and generally conversing about the things you ask God for help. We need to remember that we will probably have better answers to our prayers if we ask God to show us a way and not ask Him to do it for us, such as asking for strength to endure a challenge instead of asking for the challenge to be removed. When we have successfully talked to God about the topics that we want him to be involved with, we need to thank Him for listening, re-enforce the fact that we are praying to the one and only God, and let it be recognized that Jesus is our Savior and the Mediator between God and us. We can recognize Jesus by saying we are “praying in the name of Jesus.” We must then end the prayer with the word “Amen.” “Amen” is a Hebrew word that means agreed to, indeed, truth, and verily. We close with “Amen” because we want it understood that we agree with what has been said and will agree with God’s answers. Everyone who has been called upon to pray has been anxious and nervous. We have to calm ourselves with the knowledge that God already knows what we are about to say, and He will not let us mess up a prayer to Him. As long as God knows and agrees, it does not matter what you sound like to those around you. Feel good about your conversation with God and talk to Him regularly and often.