Just Talk to God!

ENCOURAGEMENTS: June 22, 2023

Is praying something you struggle with? Maybe you haven't done it in awhile? Maybe it's something you do quickly before bed each night? I know that one was me for most of my life.

Prayer is something so easy to do, but man has really overcomplicated it. Put simply, prayer is a conversation with God. You don't have to only be at church to pray, you don't have to recite something pre-written, you don't have to be in a special outfit, you don't have to have a pastor be the one that prays on your behalf -- none of that stuff! Prayer is just you and your heart talking to God. Simple as that.

"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them." - Psalm 145:18-19

The best way to begin each day is in prayer by thanking God for putting air in your lungs and surrendering your day to Him. That's something I'm trying to remember to do: give the day in its entirety to Him, trusting that He will go before me and prepare my path (Proverbs 3:5-6). If you don't really know what to say, I remember learning an acronym for things to do when we pray:

A - Adoration

C - Confession

T - Thankfulness

S - Supplication

Adoration - This means we praise God for who He is: our Heavenly Father, the Beginning and the End, our Rock, our Refuge, a Good Listener, Faithful, Loving, Merciful, Almighty, the list goes on. Psalms is a great book to find different attributes of who God is!

Confession - This means we are confessing our sins, admitting our imperfections, and asking for forgiveness. God knows every sin we ever commit, so nothing goes hidden. Believer or non-believer, every person sins. The difference is, are you comfortable in that sin? Are you living a sinful life and choosing to stay in it? As a follower of Jesus, your sin should disgust you. There should be conviction in it. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Thankfulness - This means we are giving glory and praise where it's due. We all have something to be thankful for. Nothing you have on this earth came from anything you did. Your house, your family, your money -- it all came from the Lord. Give Him the praise for it! A prayer gets answered? Thank Him! You're going through a difficult time? Matthew 5 calls you blessed! Give thanks to the Lord!

Supplication - This is one we tend to focus most on when we pray: presenting our needs and requests to the Lord. My life verse is Philippians 4:6-7 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." If you're up at night and your mind is racing over a situation, talk to God about it. Tell Him the specific need, and ask for His will to be done. Prayer has the power to give you the peace that doesn't make any sense when you're going through a hard time.

Prayer isn't an eloquent speech with flowery, rehearsed language. In fact, God doesn't want anything to do with that: “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." - Matthew 6:7. Sometimes, I'll do "shotgun prayers." They are just quick prayers for safety, deliverance, help, etc.

Prayer isn't meant only for when you need help. Prayer is every day, multiple times a day. You have personal access to the One who spoke this world into existence. Doesn't that blow your mind?! With any relationship, there needs to be conversation. Can you imagine if you never spoke to your spouse? Or you never spoke to your friend? How would you be able to maintain a relationship? That's the same way it is with our relationship to Christ -- we have to talk to Him! The keyword there is relationship. This isn't religion with rituals, creeds and codes. This is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Finally, we pray because there is power in prayer: "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." - Mark 11:24. God answers every single prayer...it's just not always "yes." He can answer with "no" or "wait." We just have to have faith that we serve a God who knows what's best for us and will answer our prayer in how He feels it should be answered.

Today, I charge you to talk to God. Give praise to His name. Confess your sins before Him and ask for forgiveness. Thank Him for all He's blessed you with. Ask for specific needs to be met. Psalms 121 tells us that He never slumbers. He is always there to hear our prayers. Talk to Him today and never stop talking to Him! :)