Thank you for reading the post today! Often times, when we are involved in conversations, we spend more time figuring out what we are going to say next, rather than really listening. Are we that way with God? May the Lord give you a new appreciation and understanding of what it means to pray and communicate with Him! Eric

God’s plan in sending His Son Jesus into the world was to redeem His creation from sin and darkness and translate us into His Kingdom of life and light. When we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we become children, or sons and daughters of God Almighty. We become part of the family of God. (John 1: 12). One of the most vital parts of our saving relationship with God, and as a part of His family, is our level of communication with Him.

Prayer or communicating with God need not be a mysterious, perplexing, or bewildering thing. Prayer with God is simply having a conversation with Him.

I believe, for most of us, the easiest part of that conversation is our speaking to God.

The Scripture actually has a lot to say concerning what all should be a part of our ‘conversation’ with God.

Jesus, Himself, gave the disciples an example of how to pray in Matthew 6:9 (NASB20), “Pray then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

“Using the word ’Father’ indicates a note of personal intimacy with Yahweh that originated with Jesus. God is the Father of all rational and intelligent beings, whether angels or men because He is their Creator, Preserver, Guardian, and Protector.” (Textural notes on Matthew 6:9 in the NSFLB).

The best way to begin our conversation with the Lord then, is with praise and worship. “Hallowed be” in Jesus’s example is the Greek word, hagiazo meaning: to recognize God as holy. To recognize God as holy and to declare it, is a form or expression of reverence.

In prayer, we:

1). Bring other’s and our needs to our Creator. Hebrews 4:16 (BSB), “ Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.” We can have total confidence in receiving the help, grace, and mercy we need when we approach the ‘throne of grace!.’ According to Benson Commentary, “The ‘throne of grace’ is the throne of our reconciled Father, which grace created, and where it reigns and dispenses all blessings in a way of unmerited favors. ‘A time of need’ includes seasons of afflictons, persecution, temptation, or when God chastises us for our lukewarmness, hypocrisy, pride, self-will, discontent, or any other fault.”

In prayer, we:

2). Seek wisdom. God is the source of wisdom and gives it to His children. James 1:5 (NKJV), “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Wisdom (sophia) means: broad and full intelligence, varied knowledge of things human and divine: the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living. It is the right application of knowledge and insight into the true nature of a thing.

In prayer, we:

Give thanks! Psalm 136:26 (Amplified Bible), “Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever.”’Thanks’ means laud and praise, therefore, to give thanks is to worship.

Then, in prayer, we:

4). Listen! I believe the more difficult and yet vital aspect of our prayer and communication with God is our hearing, or listening during that conversation!

How can we receive wisdom, direction, and encouragement if we do not listen?

I need to insert a word of warning here. You must guard against the ploys and plots of the enemy of God and yourself in regard to your listening and hearing. 2 Corinthians 11:3 reveals that the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety and 2 Corinthians 11:14 and 15 warns that satan disguises himself as a angel of light and that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

We must be absolutely positive that we are listening to God’s voice! How do we do that? The only way, is to recognize and know His voice; which occurs through prayer and reading the Scripture, or the Word of God! Just as you learned to recognize another person’s voice by spending time with and communicating with them, becoming familiar with God’s voice will occur in the same way.

Look at what 2 Timothy 3:16 (CSB) teaches us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,” His Word is profitable (advantageous or helpful for: ‘instruction’ (our learning): ‘rebuking’ (conviction i.e. convicting one of his sinfulness); ‘correction’ (restoration to an upright or a right state); ‘training’ (in righteousness or instruction aiming at the increase of virtue).

Romans 10:17 (NKJV) reads, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Textural notes in NSFLB state, “The Holy Bible uses the Word of God to awaken a response of faith within us. The words of Scripture are the words of eternal life (James 1:18 and 1 Peter 1:23).”

Be aware that God speaks in various ways using different methods.

He gave the Old Testament prophet’s messages by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 1:1). The Spirit also gave Words to holy men of God such as the apostles in the New Testament. (2 Peter 1:21).

Then, we read in Acts 3:21 that God spoke by the mouth of the prophets. He still uses prophets to speak to us today.

God gives spiritual gifts as He wills to anointed people and will speak through them, the ‘word of wisdom’ is a spiritual utterance at a given moment through the Spirit, supernaturally disclosing the mind, purpose, and will of God. The ‘word of knowledge’ is a supernatural revelation of information pertaining to a person or an event, given for a specific purpose, usually having to do with an immediate need. Then, the spiritual gift of ‘prophecy’ is a divine disclosure on behalf of the Spirit, an edifying revelation of the Spirit for the moment for exhortation or comfort.

Also, for further clarification, “Paul identifies a ‘spiritual gift’ as a supernatural ability bestowed on an individual by the Holy Spirit - not as a heightened natural ability.” ( Textural notes in the NSFLB).

God speaks to us through angels (angelos) meaning messengers from God. We see examples in Acts 8: 26, Luke 1:11 and Luke 11:26 and 27.

God also speaks to mankind through dreams and visions. We are told in Acts 2:17 that in the last days young men will see visions (an appearance divinely granted) and old men will dream dreams (a vision which presents itself to one in sleep).

When I was younger and living with my parents, my father and I went fishing. About a week before that, my mother had ‘lost’ her set of car keys. When we finished fishing, my father inadvertently locked his keys, which he had put in his tackle box, in the trunk of the car, As we were praying about what we were going to do, the Spirit of the Lord gave me a vision of a set of keys in the crack between the back of the seat and the bench seat in the car. That is where my mother’s keys had disappeared to the week before! The car door was not locked, so I reached in, pulled the keys out of that space, and we drove home!

The Holy Spirit also speaks to us in our inner man. (John 16:13 and 1 Corinthians 2:10-12).

Then, we read a number of accounts in the Scriptures where the Lord spoke audibly to some, such as : Moses, Eli, the priest, and Samuel.

Years ago in Pennsylvania, when an elder of our church and I were going to minister deliverance to someone, my wife’s and my son was thrown to the floor by a demon. My wife took authority over it and it left. Donna felt she should call the elder’s wife (who also had two young sons) so they could pray together for protection from the enemy. During the call, they heard the sound of ‘dialing’ as on a rotary telephone. Suddenly, the voice of God was speaking to them! He ended His message by saying, “Have faith my children, I love you,” Donna said she could hear the authority in the words which were spoken. It was an astounding experience and immediately, as He was speaking, Scriptures which confirmed the message came to their minds.

Having shared all these ways in which God speaks to us, leads me to share this very important truth with you. Everything we ‘hear’ must be aligned with the Word of God, or it should be rejected. God will never go against His will, which is what he Scripture is, the written ‘Word’ of the Lord (logos).

If you have a shallow relationship with the Lord and His Word, now is the time to make some changes in your life.

God speaks all the time and as we approach the last days, it is absolutely vital that we know His voice and listen when He speaks. I believe our very existence will depend on it.

We cannot turn our prayer time into a one-sided conversation. We must intentionally be quiet, and give Him opportunity to speak to us!

I will close with these two quotes.

“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” (Mother Teresa).

“Contemplative (listening) prayer is being with God, empty-handed, waiting attentively for whatever He wants to say. It is the discipline of being still and knowing that He is God. (Psalm 46:10). In this posture of stillness, we can more keenly hear Him speak. We honor God by expressing our willingness to be still in His presence.” (Stacy Padrick, The Listening Side of Prayer” quoted from Navigators.org

May you grow more intimate in your relationship, strengthen your ability to communicate, and increase your ability to hear God daily!

NASB20 New American Standard Bible 2020

NSFLB New Spirit Filled Life Bible

BSB Berean Standard Bible

NKJV New King James Version

CSB Christian Standard Bible