Talking With God

Prayer is a foundational element to our relationship with God. Sometimes, I believe that Christians fall into the mindset of “transactional” prayer. Almost as if God is a genie that will grant all our wishes–or at least one that we hope will. We present our needs and desires to God, and then walk away without a second thought. When our prayer is transactional, we miss the point of prayer entirely. We are created for a relationship with God, and to pray to him in that relationship. Paying lip service to God in order to receive the things we want, is like agreeing to go out to eat with someone because you assume they will always pay. If God doesn’t answer our prayer the way we want, we become angry–he’s supposed to pay after all, right? And we absolutely miss the God of heaven who wants a relationship with us, and his will for our lives. Church, we have to approach prayer differently.

When Daniel opened his window to pray to God, and was then sentenced to a night in the lion’s den–it wasn’t by accident. Daniel didn’t catch wind of what was happening around King Darius’ court and then decided to pray to God for the first time in months. No, his adversaries knew when to catch him because he prayed consistently. Daniel wasn’t praying to God for a transaction from him, he was praying to God because that’s simply what he had always done. He had a relationship with God where he talked to him often. There is a reason that Paul told the church in Thessalonica to pray without ceasing (1 Th. 5:17), and to the church in Philippi to pray to God for everything with thanksgiving (Ph. 4:6). It was because he knew the importance of consistent open communication with the Lord–it draws us closer to God, it aligns our heart to his, it provides peace in trials, and it allows for us to hear from God.

So how can we pray better? Start by establishing a consistent prayer time: in the morning and at night is a wonderful place to start. Begin and end your day by talking to the Lord. Talk to him often about everything. There is nothing too great or too small to talk with God about. Pray to God not as someone who is completely out of reach with him, but as someone who is in close relationship with him.

-Bro Corey McKinney