It is a beautiful thing when people learn how to interact with one another beautifully. Perhaps this lesson called “Communication with God” could have occurred a bit earlier but it fits in perfectly here sandwiched in between “Communication and Confrontation” and “Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution”. Neither can happen with any consistency without a healthy and consistent prayer life.
You may access the power of God through prayer, the vehicle given to you by God to have open access to Him in relationship with Jesus Christ. When you pray, each and every time, God hears you. Jesus died for you specifically to have the quality of relationship comparable to a marriage. Married couples whose marriages exhibit quality are those who communicate with each other with great frequency with open access to one another. Married couples know each other best when they use a LUV communication strategy to know and understand each other, encourage and support each other, be open about what their needs and desires, and confront one another without fear of rejection. Jesus Christ wants that quality of relationship with you. He wants open access to communication with you, to be able to know and understand each other in a compassionate environment of encouragement and support, open and honest about needs and desires, without fear of rejection. How awesome would it be to have that quality of relationship with God?
Communicate with God with Your Voice
While it is true that God, by His Spirit, knows your thoughts and your prayers, it is for your benefit that you apply your voice to your prayer life. Praying out loud is helpful in eliminating distractions, such as fleeting and wayward thoughts, daydreaming and imaginative wanderings, and help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by worry and fear that can invade your mind as you pray. As you know, praying via your thoughts and lead to thinking about that stressful circumstance that leads to anticipating scenarios around the circumstance that can have self-defeating effects until you forget that you were praying at all as you now obsess about the the thing you were praying about.
Praying out loud is encouraged by a whole bunch of folks in Scripture:
“I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” Psalm 116:1-2 (King David)
“O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised. Listen to my prayer; rescue me as you promised. Let praise flow from my lips, for you have taught me your decrees.” Psalm 119:169-171 (King David)
When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God… Acts 4:24 (Prayer meeting of believers)
Jesus gave us a wonderful model for how to pray with what we refer to as the Lord’s prayer. When one is feeling stuck and doesn’t have the words to pray, he can simply repeat the words given by the Savior.
In examining The Lord’s Prayer, the following eight points, when understood, can sensibly direct our prayer experience. It covers the very essence of what we need to be empowered in recovery throughout each day.
- Authority—God is God and in complete authority.
- Purpose—God’s plan and purpose is being accomplished.
- Providence—We are not God and in need of God’s providence.
- Repentance & Mercy—We have sinned requiring mercy from a repentant heart.
- Compassion—Forgiven, we must extend God’s mercy to others.
- Resist Temptation—Forgiven, we still wrestle with temptation.
- Deliverance—We need a Savior, everyday!
- Empowerment—Submitted unto the glory of God’s power and authority.
This NLX 101 lesson is for the purpose of reinforcing the power of prayer, whether it flows from the heart or whether it is the Lord’s Prayer spoken from the voice to strengthen the heart, mind, body and soul in the face of another day. The questions and activities here will encourage participants to pray with confidence to their Sympathetic Savior with anticipation of His gracious response.