Posts by danieljkoren:
How to “talk” to God
Last time, we talked about hearing from God. Talking to God is similar to hearing from Him.
Someone popularized the idea that we should talk to Jesus like we talk to a friend, like sitting down and having coffee. I have searched my Bible concordance and not found the word “coffee” anywhere. I also need help finding Scriptures that tell us to talk to God like a buddy old pal.
However, stilted, religious language is not the answer either. Dead prayers might contain many adjectives but no power. Powerful prayer contains more than words. This is why memorized prayers or prayers read from a book have no magical effect.
One day my son showed his mom his shoes and told her he needed new ones soon. She told him he needed to pray about it because finances were tight at the moment. He did talk to the Lord about new shoes. He also thought about it and told himself that he would really like to have shoes that light up but he figured those were really expensive so he did not even ask the Lord for them.
God heard his heart, not just his prayer. That week, they went to a shoe store that was closing out and got him a dress pair of shoes and light-up sneakers for less money than one cheap pair at Walmart. He was shocked. God does not just hear words, but our hearts.
Prayer is not just a conversation.
Communication with the Lord is deep, heartfelt, and moving. Like hearing from God, it is not so much about the words but a deeper level of communication. This is not telepathy but heart-to-heart. This is not information transfer, but faith connection.
Your brain sends signals that keep your heart moving. You could say the brain and heart have communication. The heart does not only “hear” the nerve signal, but also gives back to the brain. Without the heart sending oxygen-rich blood, the brain would die. The heart and the brain both supply something to one another.
This “communication” between the two is not a casual conversation; it is vital. It is not “my turn now your turn” kind of dialogue. It is a continual flow from one to the other. This is why in intense prayer, you can be crying out to the Lord and receiving His answer at the same time.
We need what the Lord supplies from above. We accomplish a specific task for Him here. There is a give and exchange between Creator and us, His created. Prayer is not small talk with God but Life-flow.
An illustration of deep prayer comes to us in the life of Elijah. On the mountaintop, he activated God’s promise for rain by praying a moving prayer. This passionate prayer landed him on the ground and then folded him into a human pretzel, ending up with his head between his knees (See I Kings 18).
Elijah wasn’t praying off a list of requests or reading a well-written prayer. Prayer is communication that grips you to the core, not just words we say. The fire did not fall from heaven earlier on that same day because he had memorized a prayer but because he had a connection with heaven.
True prayer ignites the core of our being
God moves us to pray things we do not understand at times. These prayers change time, matter, and the impossible because the Creator’s force is working within us. What do we say during such prayers? Sometimes nothing because they often come as groanings that cannot be uttered (see Romans 8:26).
This is not a conversation with a friend. I have never sat down to coffee with a buddy and tucked my head between my knees and started groaning. Communication with God is much deeper than a chat with a chum. Prayer is connection to an unseen river.
Speaking in tongues is not something you do to converse with a friend. I would imagine you enjoy your friends because you understand each other. While we might not understand all the particulars of why God sent unknown tongues as a manifestation of His Spirit, we do learn that our heart matters more than our words. A heaven-given language bypasses the mind and thoughts. It is true heart-to-heart communication. Rather than mindless praying, it is heartful prayer!
Deep prayer will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you bold. You will have greater faith after that heavenly hookup because prayer that accomplishes something receives a promise, declares it done, and holds on for the long haul.
Why don’t you go get you some of that right now!