Can We Talk

Think back for a moment when you first met your spouse. Or when you first laid eyes on someone special in your life. Remember how you would stay up all night talking and getting to know each other. Your number one goal was to get close and personal with that special person. And it did not matter how late or how long you were at it. As long as they were giving you some feedback everything was all good. You probably even talked so much you fell to sleep with the phone on your ear. Remember those days? When I first met Nicole I could not wait to talk to her. I wanted to know all there was to learn about her. And let me tell you, my rap was strong, and I poured out my heart. And whenever the response to what I said was good, my rap became more intense. You see, the more I learned Nicole, the more confident I became. And the more confident I became, the more I wanted to learn. And I certainly could not have learned more without opening up my heart to her. There was purpose behind my method. I knew I just couldn’t wish or expect her know my heart, my desires, and my wants. Now reflect for a moment on your relationship with God. The principle works the same way. Or at least in theory it should. In order to learn more about God, we have to talk to him with that same energy, it took to get that special girl or guy in our life. God to wants to know our heart, our desires, and our passions the same way that special person did.

So How Do We Talk To God?
Simply Through Prayer. And what is prayer? Prayer is communion with God. And so I don’t confuse you, I know that some people might say that prayer is talking to God. But prayer is more than that. Prayer is really “Talking WITH God”. For example, if Nicole and I go out to dinner, it would be downright ridiculous for me monopolize the conversation without entertaining a response from her. And in essence that’s what we sometimes do to God. We get on our knees and pour out our heart, and say Amen. Then we go on with our lives like nothing significant just happended. God desires more than that when we talk with Him. He wants to talk too. Imagine you get a collect call from a best friend that you haven’t heard from in years. And when you pick up the phone all you hear is man, I need help, I need $200.00 and I’m behind on my rent and, and can you send me a plane ticket to New Orleans, and, and, and….then the phone goes dead. Some folks treat God like that. They call Him up in the form of a prayer. They pour out there heart with requests after request, then they close the prayer with an AMEN. At no point did they stop to listen what God had to say.

Prayer is the most important aspect of a Christian’s life, and yet probably the most neglected of all. “The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy…” And the most prolific means the enemy uses to accomplish this task is by hindering our prayer life. Or using distractions to keep us from talking to God. Now let’s go back to our pursuit of that special person. It did not matter who, what, when, where, why, or how. If it got in the way of that pursuit, we shut it down. Nothing else mattered…we were in love. Some of us may have even lost family members, and close friends that may have threaten that relationship. No, I’m not suggesting that you leave your family or friends. What I am saying is that in order for us to start communicating/talking with God, we will have to get the “who, what, when, where, why and how” out of our way. THE DISTRACTIONS!

Jesus is our best example of how we should talk to God. …“in the morning, before sunrise, Jesus went to a place where He could be alone to pray” (Mark 1:35). Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7 not to worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. I’ll be honest with you. There was a time when talking to God or praying was just not a priority in my life. It wasn’t that I did not want to pray, I really did not know how to pray. And I certainly did not understand the magnitude prayer, or the lack thereof, would have on my life. When I first started to take pray serious, I would leave myself strategically placed notes to remind myself to pray. I purchased tapes and cd’s. And I just opened my mouth and started talking. I realized that God wasn’t looking for a bunch of mumbo jumbo from me. He did not want a scholar or a theologian type of prayer.  He just wanted to talk to His buddy Kenney.  He just wanted to have a conversation with me.

To Whom Do We Pray
How do we know that we are praying properly. Well there are a few conditions that must be met in order for our prayers to be effective.

• First, we have to know who we are praying to. This is summed up in John 16: 23,24 where Jesus says, “..you will ask the Father directly and he will grant your request because you use my name” Jesus knew this would be out of the norm for some because in verse 24 He states it again. “Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

• Secondly, we must stay connected to the vine. My pastor, Pastor Corey eloquently spoke on this subject on many occasions. We must abide or remain in Him before we can ask for anything. (John 15:7)

• Thirdly, we must see ourselves already walking in whatever it is we are believing for. (Mark 11:24)

• And last, but certainly not least, we must be confident that God will listens to us if we ask according to his will. (1 John 5:14,15)



What Exactly Is God’s Will
- God’s Word and God’s Will are identical. His will is His word. Ensure that whatever it is you are praying for or about is clearly lined up with God’s Word or His Will for your life.

The Role of Faith in Prayer
- You’ve probably heard the phrase.”Faith begins where the will of God is known”. So basically faith is literally taking God at His word. We have to remain confident. Hebrews 10:35,36 tells us to not throw away our confidence which brings us great reward. That we need endurance so that after we’ve done the will of God we will receive our promises.

- We must speak positive confessions of faith. We can’t sit down and commune with God and then turn around and speak negative confession statements. For example..Lord, I thank you for saving my children from the hands of the enemy. And later on the phone with your best friend you say, “Girlllll, I’m going to kill that boy, he ain’t going to ever get it right. You’ve just negated your prayer with God on that subject. Hebrews 10:23 says to hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

- For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Mark 11:23. Jesus emphasized the importance of what we say in this verse. The word “say” is listed four times and yet he only states believe once.

And of course none of this will work without “LOVE”

Answered Prayers
Are your prayers being answered? If not, perhaps you might want to evaluate whether or not you are in the will of God? Perhaps you might want to pray specifically to be in the will of God in your life, your desires, your location, your job, your service, etc. Ask God to speak to you and to guide you into His will. And be prepared to wait on His answer.

MAC