Prayer Is Connecting With God

Prayer is connecting with God. It is simple enough for a child to practice, yet has unfathomable depths. We may wonder why we should pray since God already knows what is on our mind. We may wonder how to pray ‘correctly,’ to insure it ‘works.’

God does already know our thoughts before we do, but He has asked us to pray. It is how we connect with Him. Prayer is inseparable from reading the Bible. The Bible reveals God’s character. Bowing before Him in humility and gratitude acknowledges His rightful place. He is God. We are not. He is the Creator and Giver of life. He deserves all of our reverence and respect. Prayer acknowledges our dependence on Him. Through prayer we are strengthened. He moves in our spirits to guide us.

Mother Teresa has said, “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” God speaks primarily through Scripture. We should open our Bibles, pray for understanding, and let Him speak.

We don’t need a formula of just the right words. God hears and answers our prayers when our hearts are right. God wants us to bring our requests to Him, but prayer is much more than trying to get Him to do what we want. It is learning what He wants. Leonard Ravenhill suggested, “Prayer is not an argument with God to persuade Him to move things our way, but an exercise by which we are enabled by His Spirit to move ourselves His way.” Prayer is not so much a matter of getting God’s attention, but of Him getting ours. The right attitude in prayer is trust when God doesn’t answer in the way we expect.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, (Luke 11) I think they were asking Him how they could know God’s presence and hear His voice, the way Jesus did. Jesus instructed them, and us, by giving a pattern which we refer to as the Lord’s prayer.

Prayer begins with honoring God. Hallowed be your name.

The foremost thought in all our prayers should be to seek God’s will, and to be in tune with His plans and purposes. Thy kingdom come.

We remember our dependence on God for everything we need to sustain our lives, day by day. Give us this day our daily bread.

We need to remember He is perfect and we are not. We continually fall short of His perfect, holy standard. Yet, He extends unlimited grace to us. In the same way He has shown grace and mercy to us, we are to show grace and mercy to others around us. No matter how much they may have offended us, no one has offended us in the ways we have offended Our Maker. “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”

We live in a world marred by sin. Evil exists. It is only by God’s protection that we escape its influence in our lives. By His enabling we can live godly lives despite the corruption that is in the world. We cannot escape, in this life on earth, the presence of evil, but we can escape its power over us. “And deliver us from evil.”

Jesus went on to remind His disciples, God gives good gifts to His children. When we ask, seek and knock–we will be given, we will find, and the door will be opened to all the Father wants to grant. Prayer is connecting with God. It is turning our thoughts toward Him. It flows out of our understanding of who He is.

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.              Matthew 6:6 NLT

Prayer is connecting with God. How have you experienced that to be true? Please leave a comment below.

Blessings,
Phyllis

© 2025 Phyllis L. Farringer

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