Do you communicate with anyone in your life? Of course, you do? Your spouse, your children, siblings, people you meet at the store and others, just to name a few. How do you communicate with them? Do you duck your head, avert your eyes, cross the street and keep on going? Of course not! That is not the definition of communication in any society that I know of. You communicate by thinking of words and then saying them. (Hopefully, you think before you speak.)

When we pray, we are communicating with God. Some people think that in order to pray, they have to be in a certain posture, like prostrate or kneeling. I used to kneel frequently to pray, but my current age and the condition of my knees won’t allow that. So, I don’t worry about the position of my body. I am more concerned about talking with God, with reverence, awe and love.

Many years ago one of my Sunday school students asked why we pray when God already knows everything. I had to tell her that I would get back to her with an answer. The short answer to her was that we pray in order to just talk to God. We aren’t doing it for Him, but in order to establish communication with our Creator. To use today’s lingo, we cannot “ghost” God and then expect Him to follow us around begging us to communicate with Him. Think about it. He created everyone in the world and if you are the one remaining silent before Him, He doesn’t like it but He won’t force you to talk to Him.

Some of my best times of reflection about myself happen when I am taking with God. Prayer helps me to be honest with God and with myself, even when I think that I am hiding things well.

I have learned through decades of knowing God as my Father that when I start my day with prayer, I don’t just stop there with a hearty “amen” and move on. I open the door to communicate all day. I talk to God as we travel down the road to another medical appointment, as I work on making dinner or even when I am in the shower. He is always right there with me, ready and willing to listen if I will just speak to Him.

I like what Nicky and Pippa Gumbel had in their One Year Bible devotional today about prayer. Here is the quotation:

Prayer is the most important activity of your life. It is the main way in which you develop a relationship with your Father in heaven. If you love someone, naturally you will want to spend time in their presence communicating with them. Like any relationship, communication can take many different forms. Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626), was one of the great theologians and preachers of his day. After he died, his private notebook on prayer was discovered and published. In it he had written two lists: First, he wrote a list of *times* of prayer in the Bible: ‘Always… Without ceasing… At all times… Three times a day… Evening, and morning, and at noon… Seven times a day… In the morning, a great while before day… At daybreak… The third hour of the day… About the sixth hour… The hour of prayer, the ninth… The evening… By night… At midnight…’ Next, he wrote a list of *places* of prayer in the Bible: ‘In the assembly… and in the congregation… Your closet… An upper room… A housetop… The temple… On the shore… A garden… On their beds… A desert place… In every place…’ There is no limit to the times, places and different ways in which you can pray.

Read that last sentence again. There is NO LIMIT to the times, places and ways you can pray. Don’t limit yourself to a certain time, a certain place or a certain way you have to pray. Just talk to your Heavenly Father.

I use ACTS when I pray, which means I start with Adoration for who God is, not what He has done for me. Then I confess my sins to Him. He already knows them, but I need to tell Him what I have done and ask for forgiveness. I know that if I omit anything or forget something, He forgives regardless, but confession is good for me and releases me to get closer to the Father. Then, I thank God for all He has done in my life and the lives of those I love or have been praying for. Finally, I lay my requests before God. The “s” is for supplication. I tell God honestly what I need and ask that His will be done in the situation(s). You don’t have to use this formula but it is helpful to me to make sure that I don’t jump right in and start with a list of demands that I want God to meet. I have found that if I do things in this order, by the time I get to my supplications, I am calm and at peace with whatever God wants to do, so my list is not a “wish list” that I want Him to fulfill but rather a heartfelt cry for His help in various challenges I am facing.

So, that’s it. Prayer is communication with God, just talking to Him as if He is seated next to you on a bench or a sofa or wherever you find yourself. It is a necessary part of our relationship with God, not because He needs it, but because we do. When you pray, don’t forget to listen. Don’t spend so much time rushing through your talk with God that you don’t give Him time to talk to you. Communication is always a two-way street. You don’t monopolize the conversation. It’s not all about you! It’s all about a relationship with God, so stop and be quiet and listen. That’s the hardest part for me, but I have to take the time to listen in order to let my heart know that God is right there with me throughout the day.

I am going to ask you a question, but I don’t expect you to answer me. I just want to know: Do you pray daily? Reflect on the answer to that as you read this blog post again. And think seriously about how important prayer is to your relationship with God.

Sweet Hour of Prayer-The Vagle Brothers