What has happened to prayer? Pt.2
I miss my family. This house is too quiet, even with the new fur ball running around and playing. Since I have the house to myself, I have been able to listen to a few great sermons, do some reading, and just have a little quiet time. Tonight, I listen t a message by Johnny Hunt, Pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock, GA. It’s amazing what you stumble upon when you are seeking answers. I just love it when God uses others to speak to me, even if it is a recording that is months old!
Back to the subject at hand…prayer.
I’m not going to go into the full sermon mode here, but think about this: what do we lose when we are not praying correctly? I believe, based on the scripture, God desires a relationship with His favorite creation: you! Let me illustrate: if you wanted to build a relationship with me, there are a few ways you could go about it. You could see what others had to say about me. Talking to my friends, family, and even enemies (which I hope I have none) will reveal many things about my personality and character. However, this is second-hand information; another person’s perspective; what they think they know, etc. You could study my writings (not that anything I say would make a good study). You could follow me around and watch from the shadows to see how I interact with others…but that may get you arrested. I do work in a public school, you know.
Let’s go further: I have a best friend. His name is Brandon and I think of him as the brother I never had. Now he is not my only best friend (I could use my dad or my beautiful wife who have known me much longer than Brandon), but for this illustration, I want to make a specific point. Brandon and I met about 6 years ago when I started serving on the ministry team at his girlfriend’s church. As best as I can remember, we hit it off immediately. Thankfully, we all became friends; however, we did remain casual friends. We started playing golf together…at least two times a week during the summer (you know BEFORE I had kids!). Before long, there was nothing we did not know about each other. We shared our concerns, burdens, joys, fears, secrets, the whole nine yards. It is an amazing feeling to know that you have a friend you can trust. There was only one thing we did to strengthen our relationship as friends: we spent the time talking and learning about each other. There is something else i gained from getting to know Brandon very well, I learned to trust him and depend on him.
I believe prayer is the key to building a relationship with God. We can ask people about Him, read about Him, even watch how He interacts with the people around us, but until we meet Him through salvation in Christ, and develop a relationship with Him through prayer and study. Not only will be learn more about God, we will learn to trust and depend on Him:
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7
Don’t give up your peace or let you your relationship with God suffer…talk to Him! He’s waiting to hear from you!
