Day 19 - God is in the Conversation

"More important than the way you talk to someone is the way you talk to God about them." - Tom Holladay.

Back on Day 3, I mentioned that I don't consider myself a strong prayer. There are probably more reasons than I care to mention for why that is, but if I'm going to be serious about my relationships, I'm going to need to pray for them more effectively.

In Chapter 19 Tom Holladay identifies three words that describe how Jesus would teach us to pray.

1. Persistence
2. Confidence
3. Reverance

Persistence:

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of the persistent widow to emphasize why they should never give up on prayer. The story begins with a judge whose only concern was himself. He cared nothing about the law or the people in his town. There was a widow in this town who came to him daily, begging for justice against another who had taken advantage of her. Initially the judge would dismiss her and ignore her pleas, but eventually she wore him down. The judge eventually granted her request, just so that she would stop bothering him. As Jesus concluded the story, he commanded those listening to

"Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?" - Luke 18:6-7

Confidence:

In The Message Bible, we can read how Jesus instructs us to pray -

"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think God, who conceived you in love will be even better?" - Matthew 7:8-11

As Tom suggest, why pray at all if you don't expect God to answer it?

Reverence:

Dictionary.com defines reverence as:

a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe.

Prayer is not about some formula on how you should speak with God, it is about having a respectful relationship with God. When Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father in Heaven", he was showing us just how close God can be to each of us in a daily relationship with Him.

Day 20 - How to Be Truly Heard