He Speaks!

Sometimes our prayer life is like a young adult coming home to visit mom and dad. They waltz into the front door where they find dad on his easy chair and mom on hers. They enter the throne room and begin to speak. They tell of all the woe experienced since their last meeting. They sing an all too familiar refrain of “woe is me” and the chorus of “I deserve better”. They wrap it up with a reprise of “give me …”. Sometimes they bring friends with them. When this happens it seems like they are speaking to their friends even though they have directed the communication to the mom and dad. When all is complete the young adult with friends in toe, picks up and leaves with the same swiftness that they arrived. When the dust settles, dad looks over at mom and mom looks over at dad and dad says “who was that?” “I don’t know” mom says, “but they are quite amusing!”

When did prayer become like sitting on Santa’s lap? Prayer is communication to the creator of the universe. He wants to communicate to you. God speaks to us in various ways. He speaks through circumstances, He speaks through the mouths of others, He speaks through His word and He speaks to our hearts in words that cannot be heard, but rather felt. But the important point is this … He speaks!

Where do we get the idea that a God that knows the hearts and motives of all men better than they know their own hearts and motives really needs to hear from you what your needs are? The bible does encourage us to ask God for what we need or want. But, why does the God who knows all want me to ask? Because by asking God, we acknowledge that we are helpless to provide for ourselves and that we are dependant on God’s provision. God does not want to be your last stop. God does not want to be the route one travels only when all other avenues are exhausted. God wants to know that you know that He is the source of everything. Deuteronomy 8 tells us that God wants us to remember that everything we have comes from Him. He wants us to remember Him and not forget His sovereign provision for us. When we pray we should not be informing God of our need as much as we are acknowledging to ourselves and God that we are in need and the He is the fulfiller of all needs.

When you go to God in prayer, acknowledge your need for Him and then wait and listen. What God has to say to you is far more important than what you have to tell Him. He wants to hear from you, but you need to hear from Him even more. Communication is a two way street. Prayer is communication. Listen! He Speaks!