Learning to Talk with God - Pt. 1

 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4–9 ESV).

 

The signs of Fall have begun to show themselves even in Texas! This is that time of the year when we begin to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both of these are times of great emphasis on our relationship with the Lord as His blessings seem to be magnified in our world. That should turn us to prayer. Prayer is a universally understood practice of communication with a sacred entity. We, who are believers in Christ, understand prayer as an act of communicating with God, our Heavenly Father. Prayer can be used to express a range of emotions from thanks and praise to supplication. It can be a private or public, formal or informal act, involving spoken words, silent thoughts, or rituals like chanting or offerings. 

 

Above all prayer is about growing closer to God by communicating with him, acknowledging our dependence on him, and listening to his voice. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he said they didn’t need any special words or invocation but could simply address their “heavenly Father” with humility, reverence, and confidence (Matthew 6:5-15). He urged his disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Therefore, prayer is also about receiving God’s power through the Holy Spirit to activate discernment and resist sin. The Holy Spirit empowers our prayers so that they may bear good fruit. We can’t pray hard enough or long enough to compel God to do anything or to gain his favor, but God does bless us as we grow in our spiritual disciplines, including our commitment to prayer.

 

In the next seven devotionals we will look into the amazing blessing and privilege that prayer provides for us. I hope they will encourage you as you seek God in prayer. Today, simply notice the changes in the air and recognize it is our heavenly Father who is giving us reason to be thankful and rejoice in His presence!