Talking with God

Every relationship requires physical communication as well as physical presence. To have one without the other usually indicates a weak or strained relationship. God is always present with us, but that does not mean that we are always  communicating with Him.

Prayer is one of the most important tools that we have to communicate with God. It is in moments of prayer that we often pour out our hearts to God. But what is the point of this? Clearly, God knows exactly what we need. Jesus even says in Matthew 6:8 that God already knows what we need before we ask Him: "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Nonetheless, Jesus still told His disciples to pray. Why? For the sake of relationship. Jesus, who is the model we are meant to follow, had a strong prayer life. He also had a strong relationship with God the Father. Coincidence? No! Jesus modeled a strong prayer life so that we might have a strong prayer life. Winfield Bevins says, "When the apostles said to Jesus, 'Lord teach us how to pray,' it was because they knew He was a man of profound devotion and prayer. The gospels tell us that Jesus prayed at every major event in His life."

Jesus had a great relationship with God because He spoke with God regularly. Another way of looking at Jesus' prayer life is to realise, as Jesus did, that our Almighty Father is always with us. Instead of ignoring Him like we usually do, we can speak with Him - at any moment. This is what praying without ceasing is: understanding that God is always present that we can always chat with Him.

Living Life