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

Day 3 – Love God with All Your Heart

Let me start with a quote. “God’s principles don’t change our lives.”

Yes, that caught my attention as well. How could Tom Holladay suggest that? Well, he's right.

It is FAITH in God’s principles that changes our lives. We must believe and have faith that God’s principles can change us and then we need to act on that faith.

Back on day one we were reminded of the most important command

- Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.

To see real change in our relationship with God, we must recognize or feel that something needs to improve, we need to decide to do something about it, we need to think about what we are going to do, and then we must do something. Ignore any one of these, and you will fail to realize change.

A good suggestion for a place to start:

Talk To God Out Loud and With Emotion.

1. Talk to God about your feelings.
2. Talk to God about your weaknesses.
3. Talk to God about his strengths.
4. Tell God your fears.
5. Pour out to God the desires of your heart.
6. Openly and emotionally admit your sins to God.
7. Say out loud what you know to be true.

I’ll be the first to admit I am a terrible prayer. When I pray, lesser things filter in and cause my thoughts and mind to wander. Many nights, as I find time to finally pray, I often drift off to sleep. How awful is it that I take that time with God for granted to the point that I can’t even stay awake? I can’t even imagine how annoyed my wife would be if I fell asleep every time I sat down to talk to her.

As my first action of faith, I am going to make an effort to follow Tom’s suggestions when I pray. I’m also going to make time to pray throughout the day, just as I would with my wife. I always look forward to that midday call at work from my wife, how much more should I desire the same time with God. So the next time it appears that I am talking to myself, give me the benefit of the doubt - I just might be praying.

Day 4 - Love God with All Your Soul