WednesdayReflection

  12^th July 2023

Aaron D'Anthony Brown asks

How do we
communicate with God?

Ask this question of any believer and the answer will come
immediately. We pray.
Whether new to the faith, a longtime believer, or even a
nonbeliever, everyone knows the answer.

In the past, people prayed and offered sacrifices,
but after what Jesus did at Gethsemane, the ultimate sacrifice
was paid.
Now today, there are no more animal and blood sacrifices for
Christians, but prayer remains a constant.

Our communication with God is not always clear.
While God most certainly understands and knows our hearts, we don't
always understand what to pray for, or how to pray.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and
  incomprehensible things you do not know."
    (Jeremiah 33:3)

In order to understand how to pray effectively, we need to
understand what qualifies as effective communication.

When two people get together for a discussion, both parties
want to be heard.
Each has beliefs that they want to express.
Without listening, neither side receives those ideas.

What is the point of the conversation?
Making the intention as clear as possible will ensure both parties
can walk away without confusion.

Prayer though, is a bit different, because prayer is more than just
two people talking.
That type of communication requires much more reverence and faith
on our part, more than we give another person.

Since we treat God differently, we can take what we know about
good communication between two people and examine what the
Bible says, about good communication with God.
There are definite similarities, but definite differences as well.

God observes us throughout our entire lives.
He knows where we are at any given time, what we're doing, even why.
Nothing we do is hidden from God, and neither is anything we pray about.

When we apply that to our prayers, we know we can be open and honest.
There is no need to hold back when we have committed grievous sins.
He knows.
There is no need to hold back when someone has direly wronged us.
God knows.
When we approach God with an honest attitude, we will likely find
ourselves praying more openly and frequently.
We'll know and believe that God cares.

Scripture encourages believers to pray always.
This means that no matter the season of life or time of day, we can
and should approach God.

If He knows everything going on in our lives, then there will be
no surprises.
This also means that God can provide us with support and protection
at any given time. There's a reason God tells us not to worry.
There's a reason God commands this multiple times.

Fear may come naturally to us as people, but so can prayer.
We just have to put in the effort, so that prayer becomes a habit.
Then all the benefits we receive from praying will become much more
apparent in our lives.

We know to pray honestly and to pray often.
When we master those two points, we can start praying with a heart
that trusts God completely.
There has never been a promise that God has not kept.

If we pray with His promises in mind, we know that what He says, He'll do.
Without a doubt, He will do. Trusting God in our prayers takes
the burden off of us to solve every issue.
Trusting God also pays Him the due reverence He deserves,
acknowledging Him, not ourselves, as God.

We can approach God, as we would other people,
but He is much more available, much wiser, and much more loving.
The benefits of prayer are clear, and the Bible wants us to pray constantly.
How comforting, to know we can approach God whenever and with
complete transparency and trust.

He wants to hear from us, every day.
We already know that we should pray.
Now, we know how to make our prayers much more effective.

Let this growth be a guide into a stronger and deeper
relationship with Jesus.

Bible references avaiable, on request

Contributing Author
Aaron D'Anthony Brown is a freelance writer, hip-hop dance teacher,
and visual artist, living in Virginia.
He currently contributes work to iBelieve, Crosswalk, and supports
various clients through the platform Upwork.
He's an outside-the-box thinker with a penchant for challenging
the status quo.

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