Drawing Closer to God II

Communicate to God through prayer:

Life as I mentioned yesterday is all about relationships. The relationship that we build between us and our friends depicts so much of who we are. Relationships are all about commitments and you cannot build a steady and a strong relationship if you are not committed to the person you are building the relationship with. If we sacrifice so much time and resources building earthly relationships which at some point break up and leave us devastated and confused on what next to do, how much should we input or invest into building and maintaining our relationship with God who is our maker and creator? Remember He cares for you and me and there is not a point when He will disown us or break our hearts.

God is so keen into building and maintaining a relationship with us who are his creation. James reminds us in James 4:8 that “Come close to God and He will come close to you.” In other words, James is reminding us that it is not the other way round. Many of us take it the other way round and we go away from God thinking that He will come searching for us – imagine He won’t. He gave his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you and that was more than a sacrifice that He gave for you and me.  Thus, the ball remains on our court to build our relationship with him daily by drawing close and closer to him. How we can build and maintain a right relationship with God?

1)       We must COMMUNICATE with God through prayer. – We must SPEND TIME with God. When we talk on a telephone we can’t see the individual on the other end but we know that they are there. We talk and they listen. Then they talk and we listen. Our relationship with God is similar. We talk to God through PRAYER and we listen to God speak through Bible Study and through sermons, by having the Word of God expounded to us. James 5:16 says: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We need to ask ourselves: Are our prayers fervent and effective? One way to be more effective in prayer is to spend more time on our knees. One way to be more fervent is to realize that God is our friend. He is not out to get us. He only wants what is best for us. God wants to be our friend. John 15:14-15 says “You are my friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do. I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer; for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you my friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]”

One trait of a good friend is the ability to be a good listener. God is a very good listener. God wants you to share your successes and your failures with Him. Talk to God about your trials and tests. Also talk to God about your blessings and the good things that are happening in your life. We should talk to God about things before we do them. Are you going to buy a car or a house? Talk to God about it. God is your financial partner. Pray to God about major decisions. 

We need to realize that God wants us to talk to Him. Matthew 6:5-7 says: “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” The bible says WHEN you pray not IF you pray and thus, God will reward you openly if we pray in a proper manner. It is interesting that the disciples lived and walked with Jesus and yet they asked him to teach them how to pray. “The Lord’s Prayer” was given to us by Jesus as a model prayer to show us how to pray to God. (Luke 11:1-4). We can use “The Lord’s Prayer” as a guideline in what to pray about. Put it into your own words. 

How should we then talk to God? At some point, I used to go before God and I would wonder how to start talking to him or what I should ask of Him. One day, as I was kneeling down and I didn’t know where to start or end, the verse in 1 John 3:1 came into my mind. The bible says “See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children and that is what we are!” Thus, I asked myself, if God is my father, then I should approach him the same way as I approach my earthly father. No fear or timidity – after all, I am his son. When we talk to God:

• We should talk to God as we would talk to our own human father.
• We should to talk to God in a natural way.
• Talk to God as you would talk to your very best friend. You respect your friends. You would not want to do anything to offend them. We don’t want to offend God in how we talk to Him.
• Talk to God as if He would answer immediately.

Always realize to whom you are praying! As you come before God in prayer, be aware of whom your are praying to. This being that you are praying to is the eternal Creator God who has all power and glory. Don’t approach God sleepily or carelessly. You might say something that you shouldn’t say. Always have a humble attitude in prayer. Humble yourself and exalt God. He is the creator and we are the created. He is the potter and we are the clay. James 4:9-10 says “[As you draw near to God], Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].” Realize that you are coming before the very throne of the ruler of the universe, the King of Kings. Always remember that God is listening to you. Realize that as you pray that you have God’s undivided attention. Someone said that “when we bend our knees to pray, God bends his ear to listen to us.” How sweet is that? 1 John 5:14-15 says “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”  

How then can this build our relationship with God? When we spend more time on your knees praying, the self in us decreases and we are saturated by God-self. We decrease as He (God) increases in us. We become less conscious of the surrounding around us and instead of complaining, our mouths are filled with praises to God. I encourage you to read the book of Psalms; it is filled with praises to God. Teach yourself to read one Psalm a day. Read the Psalms as you are praying to inspire you in how to praise God. (Click here to read more about Worshiping God through Psalms). David was a man after God’s own heart. Read the Psalms to see how David praised God. Sing hymns to God as well. They inspire you and also open up your eyes to see and get to know God deeply and in a better perspective and always never forget to thank God for his blessings. 

Are you taking the time daily to talk to God?

Amen!!!