Prayer: Communicating with God

Prayer is a powerful weapon and resource in the kingdom of God. It enhances our fellowship with God while destroying the works of the enemy. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. In other words, never stop praying. If you can breathe and talk, you can pray. So, how does one continually pray? I couldn't understand, as a child and new believer in Christ, how a person could pray while sleeping or pray while being attentive to the traffic as they drive. Today, I want to talk about unending prayers. Material things will decay, but the Word of God and our prayers will remain.

Prayer is communicating with God. Talking is just one form of communicating. My Sophomore year in college, I took a Communications and Group Dynamics course. I'll never forget a group exercise we did in the classroom one day. Our professor handed the group leader one word and everyone in the group had to guess the word without talking. We were studying nonverbal types of communication and the exercise was meant to help us apply what we had learnt. God is the same way when we commune with Him. We can get God's attention without even speaking.

Praying is serving and serving is obedience. When we love others as ourselves, forgive our offenders and those whom we've offended, heal the sick, take care of the widow, visit the prisoner and forgotten, and value others above ourselves, we are serving on behalf of God. He sees everything we do and we get His attention when we serve Him wholeheartedly in this area.

Prayer is worship and worship is a lifestyle. Worship means to honor and give reference to something significant. God is significant because He uniquely created us and breathed purpose and passion into us all. So, in return, we worship Him as our Creator. We worship God because of His mighty works. We worship God because of the redemptive power which came through His Son Jesus Christ. When we turn on the TV or radio and quietly listen to worship music,we are praying. Prayer is a lifestyle. We get God's attention by the way we live and treat others. Sometimes, I don't know what words to pray to God, so I rely on my worship to Him and my acts of service in the way I live before Him to speak on behalf of me.

Prayer is also allowing God to speak. Recently, I finished a class at my local church dealing with the Holy Spirit. The class was taught by our discipleship pastor. One thing the pastor made abundantly clear to me and other attendees is the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf in moanings and groanings we cannot understand. God understands Heavenly language and the Holy Spirit is God underneath the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is our prayer pal and prayer mate when we don't know the words to say.

In closing, prayer is more than what we verbally say to God. It's also what we hear from God, how we live before God, how we love and treat others, our lifestyle, and when we worship God. Prayer comes in many forms and all forms are effective in getting God's attention; as He desires daily to commune with us. God is our Abba, our Heavenly Father, who unconditionally loves us and sets time aside for us to commune with Him.