“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” – Jeremiah 29:12
Prayer is sometimes one of the hardest things to do. How do you do it? When?
The easiest way to approach prayer is to see it as a conversation. Prayer is a dialogue between you and God, not a monologue you have all alone.
If you were in a relationship with someone, it would be only natural to want to talk to them, right? Well, in Psalm 27:8, David says that he heard God asking him to go and talk to Him. God wants a relationship with us!
Think about the most valuable relationship in your life. It can be with your parents, your best friend, a family member- anyone. Now, imagine if you only talked to them once a day, every day repeating the same sentence over and over again. Naturally, the relationship wouldn’t survive for much longer.
The sad reality is that we often treat our relationship with God the same way. We have a quick, absent-minded prayer in the morning or the evening, and nothing further during the day. Then the next day, the same thing all over again. And the day after, again! And we still wonder why our relationship with God is not growing.
I want to encourage you to start having conversations with God in your prayer time, instead of reciting the same sentence over and over again. It may be difficult at first, but Jeremiah 29:11 says that those who seek the Lord with all their heart, will indeed find Him. So, start making a little extra time during your day where you can just sit and have a conversation with God. It can be about your day, something you’re looking forward to, your struggles…anything, really. The big thing is just to start talking with God. I guarantee you, after a week, you will be having longer and deeper conversations every day.
To Pray Is To Talk to God
Prayer: God, thank you that You’re always listening to what I have to say. Give me the courage and patience to sit down and talk with You more, so our relationship can grow. Amen.
Challenge: Get a prayer journal and write down what you hear when God talks to you. You can then reflect on it when life is getting hard. It also serves as a reminder to not just talk, but to listen as well.
