Prayer is a two-way communication
Greetings to you, dear readers of “Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! According to the magnificent mercy of God we have been given an opportunity to daily fellowship with our Creator and our Saviour Jesus Christ and to draw near to Him!
Today we will continue talking about prayer. Even if you think that you know everything about it, I want to assure you that God always has something fresh and new for you and for your situation. Every day God makes all things anew. Open your heart to this message and I am sure that God will bless you. Today I would like to point out that prayer is not a monologue, – it is a dialogue.
- Prayer is a two-way communication.
Like I said, it is not what I tell God that is the most important thing in prayer; it is what God wants to tell me. I will explain why it is so. Is there anything you can tell Him that He does not know? Is there anything at all? He knows everything. You may think that nobody knows what you are going through and that nobody knows the problems you have and how hard your life is. That may apply to people, but not to God. God knows everything! Even before you start praying, God knows everything you may want to tell Him. God also knows why these things are happening to you. Besides, God knows the way out of your situation. So, would it be the right thing to come to God, say your stuff and then leave? You won’t be able to say anything He doesn’t know. On the other side, He can tell you many things you do not know. He has so many things to reveal to you so that you learn the reasons of your problems or needs. He is able to show you the way out of your present situation. He is able to give you the wisdom you need. It’s the truth! So when we pray we need to understand that it is a conversation or a dialogue. I should not use all the time for talking. Prayer implies fellowship. Can you call it fellowship if only one person is talking? I often experience this type of „fellowship”: I get a phone call and a person goes on talking and at the end he or she says, „Well, bye, I am in a hurry!” Why do we have our phones? For communication. In some cases I don’t get to say a word. It doesn’t feel like conversation to me! It feels like a monologue.
Many people act like that with God: they call heaven, God answers their ‘phone’ and hears: „Hi, Dad!” God says: “Hello, dear child!” Then a person talks non-stop and finally says: “That’s it, Father… I’ve said it all! I am late!” And that is all the praying they do. It shouldn’t be so! Allow God to say something to you! Wait for God to speak to you! As we have established, prayer time must be meaningful and effective. Effective prayer doesn’t go well with haste.
People sometimes say: „I don’t know how to hear God. How do I know if it is God? Maybe those are simply my own thoughts”. When you enter God’s presence, learn to be silent and listen. Say to God what Samuel said: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”. If you don’t hear anything on the first day, do it again the next day and the next after that. If it takes a week, do it for a week. Do it as long as it takes and you will hear God speaking to you. The main thing is to give God time. Tell Him: «Father, this is Your time. Speak to me! I am listening». God will talk to you, because He has promised that.
Let’s imagine that I want to make a decision, but I lack the wisdom for it. It says in James (1:5):
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him”.
You go to pray and say: „Lord, I am standing at a crossroad. I don’t know what to do. You have said that if anyone lacks wisdom he should ask of You. I am asking You, Lord, to give me wisdom”. Then you get up and go your way. No! You should stay and wait for God to say something back to you and to give you some ideas. It is possible that God will remind you of a verse of Scripture that contains the answer to your need or problem. Remember that prayer is ‘a two-way’ street!
The one who has learned to wait and receive is abundantly blessed by God.
God bless you!
Pastor Rufus Ajiboy
