"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him." - 1 John 5:14-15
What is prayer? Prayer is our direct line to heaven. Prayer is a communication process that allows us to talk to God. He wants us to communicate with Him, like a person-to-person phone call. Cell phones and other devices have become a necessity to most people in today’s society. We have bluetooth, blackberries, iPhones, and etc! These are all means of communication that allow two or more people to interact, discuss, and respond to one another. To many people, prayer seems complicated, but it is simply talking to God.
Right now, I am struggling with how to cope with all of my stress and anxiety about this new "balancing" act that I have to maintain right now in my life. I've sought comfort from many sources, finding it to be only temporary. I have been reminded through those experiences that nothing of this world can provide strength and comfort as only God can. And the only way we can ever achieve that joy in comfort is through devout, sincere prayer to God, not for the things we want, but praising Him for blessing us with the things we have. Its been very hard for me to come to that understanding, and yet I am still trying to reconcile my spiritual life with Christ. Here's an excerpt from a source I found on Gospel.com that offers an illustration that helped me understand more about how God works through prayer. -
"I once heard an illustration about how God strengthens us during trials. It went like this: “Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm; it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm. When the storms of life come upon us, we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us; we can allow God's power to lift us above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, and disappointment into our lives. We can soar above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.”
That illustration really gave an important vista for me to be able to grasp how God can truly lift us up and above our "storms", while at the same time using those "storms" in the process. We simply have to dedicate our time to Christ, Let go, and Let God do His work in our lives. Once we do that we will know with confidence that God can hear us when we pray. So, let's open that line of communication! Pray, knowing that no matter how far you roam, your connection with Him can never be lost!
3 comments:
Hey!
I think you're right that praying is like communicating with God. However, we also have to "practice" our communication with people, we have to build a relationship with them. I think that it's the same with God - we have to learn and practice to be in contact with him. Even the disciples asked Jesus to teach (!) them how to pray.
The good thing is that we know that God is always ready to listen and/or talk to us :-)
By the way - I decided against a cell phone over here ;-)
Prayer can be such a powerful thing and I am so glad that it is there for us.
Tony man! You always have incredible posts that are so encouraging and uplifting. Thank you. Prayer is such a powerful tool. You can honestly tell a difference in your day when you have spent time in prayer with our Father in Heaven.
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