Prayer

Talking to God through prayer is easy, as well as being a great way to connect with Him.

It’s often said that God knows us better than we know ourselves. If that is the case, what is the point of prayer? But just imagine what would happen if you stopped talking to your friends—how long would the relationship last?
Living as a Christian is about being in a relationship with Jesus, and the only way to keep any relationship growing and healthy is to communicate. In the Bible we find lots of God’s communication with us, but it is important for us to communicate with Him too.
Prayer is one of the ways that we do this.
The Bible has hundreds of references to prayer. Some of these simply mention that someone prayed (for example, Genesis 20:17). Other passages record the words people prayed (like Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the temple in 2 Chronicles 6:12-42 ). The book of Psalms is like a song book, but is also like a prayer book recording the thoughts and feelings people expressed to God. Walking through the Bible along this trail of prayers we can see something quite amazing: the prayers are real. They are honest, they state things like they are, and it’s not long before you encounter real emotion, real hurt and real situations that people brought before God.
Jesus affirms this realness during prayer in Matthew 6:6: “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace” (The Message). Right after this, Jesus teaches the “Lord’s Prayer,” which emphasises honesty with God.
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:14, 15 that being in a relationship with God, an active relationship where there is communication, places demands on us: “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part” (The Message).
When you pray, remember to be real with God, and don’t be surprised if He is real with you!

To find the references to prayer, open up a concordance or point your web browser to www.biblegateway.com/keyword and type in “prayer” or “pray”