“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways.” Isaiah 55:8

One of the most common ways God speaks is through prayer.  We make prayer hard as we feel insecure or worry too much about what words to use.  Others talk too much and don’t listen to God’s voice at all. 

In the simplest terms, prayer is communication with God. It’s an honest two-way conversation where love, security, vulnerability, and confidence flow.  It’s a place of surrender, petition, thanksgiving, growth, confirmation, lament, joy,  and freedom. Prayer is a relationship with God where we adjust to His purposes.  Often it’s the place we hear God speak most clearly. 

Morning Prayers 

I roll out of bed usually before the alarm goes off.  I’m not super “chipper” like my hubby, but I’m not grumpy either. I don’t need immediate interaction.  I make a bee-line downstairs for my Gigi mug and fill it with rich Caribou coffee and a splash of half and half. 

 I climb the stairs in our quiet home and head to my office/prayer room. The walls are a soft grey with white sheers over the abundant windows.  It’s my favorite room in the house because it’s serene and welcoming. I plop into my cozy chair and drape a fuzzy blanket over my legs. My Bible, notebook, and pen are ready to record my conversation with Papa. 

The mood is relaxed and my heart is expectant. I calm my thoughts and focus on what I’m feeling.  Am I anxious, upset, fearful, frustrated, joyful, or at peace? Is there a pressing matter weighing on my heart and thoughts? 

  I reach for my Bible and turn to today’s passage in my reading plan. I’m certain the Word will address what I’m feeling. I ponder the passage and think about context and the attributes of God’s character and I ask how this truth applies to my life today. 

 I don’t use fancy words or wonder how to talk to God.  I’m just myself as I pour out my honest emotions and process the adjustments I need to make. Is there an attitude that needs correction?  Is there someone I need to forgive? What revelation do I need to understand about God and His activity in my life?

 I record these observations, and then I ask God to help me. I talk to God by recording my thoughts in a journal. After I’m done writing, I stop and listen. I expect Him to speak because He says He will.  He speaks in my thoughts. His tone is tender, compassionate, and filled with love; this gentle tone helps me recognize it’s Him. Hearing His voice reassures me of His presence and is a soothing balm to my frayed emotions.

 Once I hear, I adjust my attitude, perception, and heart to God. This may be the most important part of prayer.  Prayer helps me adjust to God, not God adjust to me.  I pen the words because when I need a reminder, I can go back and reread it. Oh, how quickly we forget God’s word’s to us as the cares of the world overwhelm us.  Referring back to what God speaks brings me comfort and peace.

Henry Blackaby says this about prayer:

“Prayer is two-way fellowship and communication with God.  You speak to God and He speaks to you. It is not one-way communication.  Prayer is a relationship, not a religious activity. Prayer is designed more to adjust you to God than to adjust God to you. God doesn’t need your prayers, but He wants you to pray. You need to pray because of what God wants to do in and through your life during your praying.”

Prayer is connection and intimacy which leads to personal change and growth.  Left to our desires, we tend to be selfish and want to remain the same.  But because of our relationship with God, He uses prayer to shape and mold us.  Through prayer, God lovingly instructs, consoles, teaches, rebukes, and comforts us. 

God shows us His perspective through the Word and speaks to us about how we need to adjust to Him.  Prayer is not designed for God to adjust to us, though I’ve acted like it a lot of times with my bossy prayers, and my demands for what I think is best.

Intimacy with God, through prayer, changes us.  Prayer softens our hard edges and strengthens our feeble knees.  It helps us stand when we want to quit. It fills us with hope and expectation in a waiting season and it allows us to pour out our broken hearts before our compassionate King. 

Most importantly, prayer is a relationship with speaking and listening, where we connect to God and adjust to His purposes for us. 

Let’s pray.

Dear Papa, Help me desire this relationship with you where both of us are free to speak and listen. Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you. I want to adjust my life to your plans and purposes and I’m thankful for the opportunity to talk and listen to you while I pray.  Open my heart and fill me with the expectation that you want to speak to me too.  Give me a tender heart to adjust to You and help me not force You to adjust to me. Amen.

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