Improve Your Prayer Life by Loving Communication with God
Spiritual Questions with Scriptural Answers.
With this article, we wrap up our series on how we can improve our prayer lives.
By way of review, we have noticed from the Word of God that if we want to improve our prayer lives we must (1) learn from Jesus, (2) listen to the prayers offered in Scripture, (3) learn from the New Testament “prayer parables,” and (4) live in harmony with the will of God as we pray according to His will.
This final article will focus on our desire to pray which ought to flow from a loving heart for God.
As a father of four, I love when my children are excited to come and tell me something. It may be a project they did at school, a new joke they heard, a new “flip” they learned on the playground, or what they did in their practice or game.
In the evenings, I enjoy watching the Atlanta Braves and catching up on all MLB highlights on MLB Network. My children will come sit with me in the recliner, watch a few innings, and we just get to talk and share about things that are going on.
These moments are precious to me as my children are growing up so fast. I know the day will come when they will not want to sit in my chair and talk about everything under the son, so I am trying to soak it all in while I can.
A Child’s First Impression of God the Father.
Someone once said that the image of God the Father is first implanted in the mind of a child as how they view their earthly father. This is extremely humbling and ought to cause every father to think about what he says and how he responds.
A child should be able to go to his or her father without fear or hesitation. A child should know that his or her father wants them to come to him and wants to help them in any way that he can.
As much as I love my children and as much as I desire for them to come to me, I know that My heavenly Father loves me even more and desires that I approach His throne!
Old Testament Passages About Loving to Communicate with God.
The Bible teaches that God hears when His children call out to Him in prayer. The Psalmist said:
“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer…But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The Lord will hear when I call to Him” (Psa. 4:1, 3).
The Psalmist also believed in starting His day in prayer to God because He loved to commune with Him:
“Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, for to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (Psa. 5:1-3).
New Testament Passages About Loving to Communicate with God.
In the New Testament, specifically in the Book of First Peter, we learn about God’s desire to hear from His children in prayer.
First, Peter quotes from the Old Testament to ensure and encourage the Christians to whom he was writing that God would hear them when they prayed:
“For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Pet. 3:10-12; cf. Psa. 34:12-16).
Later, Peter speaks of God’s care for us, again quoting from the Old Testament:
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:5-7; cf. Prov. 3:34).
What a blessing it is to know that God hears and God cares.
He is the One Who can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20) which means He has the ability to hear and help us, but what makes prayer even more special is that He has the desire to hear and help us as well.
God communicates to us through His Word (Heb. 1:1-2) and we communicate to God through prayer.
I hope that this series of articles will help you to improve your prayer life and draw you closer to God!
Drew Suttles is a minister for the Quitman church of Christ in Quitman, Georgia, and one of my best friends in this world. They live-stream all their Bible classes and sermons on their YouTube channel.
Drew also hosts the “Weathering the Storm” podcast on the Scattered Abroad Network. Drew talks about facing life’s challenges as a child of God. His podcast will be a blessing to your life.
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Pray continually! Allow the Spirit to speak to Himself through yourself and you will be in constant communication with God! ⚔️