Talking with God

Guess what? It’s day two of your journey with Jesus. Today I want to focus on something simple: talking with God. We call this prayer — you might also call it meditation. But what I really want you to learn is this: whatever you’re thinking, whatever you’re feeling, at any time and in any place, it is always an appropriate and available moment to talk to God. He’s always present. He’s always listening.

Here’s what the Bible says in Philippians 4:6–7:

“Don’t worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

So here’s my encouragement for you today: prayer doesn’t need to be a poetic, grand gesture. It doesn’t have to be articulated a certain way or follow a particular cadence. You just need to get used to speaking to God — and to do it verbally. There will be times when you’re in the office and coworkers are around, and all you can manage is, “Holy Spirit, help me not to flip out on my boss.” That’s okay. What God really wants is simply to hear from you, because your words have power.

Eventually, I’d encourage you to read the book of Genesis. There you’ll see that God created everything by speaking it into existence. Then He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This means God wants to hear from you. When you speak, your words have power — they move the heart of God.

So here’s my challenge to you today: don’t worry about what it sounds like. Don’t try to sound impressive. Don’t force it into something long and awkward. Instead, learn to enjoy sitting still and setting aside time — maybe even a specific place — to connect with God.

Here’s a simple formula to help you get started:

1. Thank Him. Start with gratitude.
2. Be honest. What do you need help with? (“Thank you, God” becomes “Help me, God.”)
3. Ask Him to show you. Show me You, Your plan, and Your purpose — whether I’m reading the Bible or simply going through my day.
4. Ask Him to change you. Too often we come to God asking what He can do for us, instead of asking, “What can I do? Who can I become for You?”
   
   

Once you’ve asked Him to change you, the natural next step is asking for help: help me become the person You created me to be. Help me live out the calling You have on my life.

So that’s my encouragement for today: thank Him, ask Him to help you, ask Him to show you, ask Him to change you, and then ask Him to use your life for His glory.

Here’s what I want you to remember: God loves hearing from you. Don’t ever be embarrassed. Don’t ever be ashamed. Don’t compare your prayer life to anyone else’s. Just get started — and as you do it consistently, you’ll grow. Maybe it starts with two minutes, then grows to five. Eventually, it can become hours spent simply sitting and talking with the One who loves you more than you love yourself.

Whatever you do today, make time to talk to God. In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us how to pray — a passage you may know as the Lord’s Prayer. I encourage you to read it as a template for your own prayer life. But for now, let’s keep it simple. If you’d like to pray with me, here’s where we can start:

God, help me to trust You fully. Help me to communicate with You as often as possible and to learn to hear Your voice. Give me a desire to communicate with You on a consistent basis, more than anything else. Thank You for hearing me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tomorrow is Day Two of your Journey with Jesus. We’d love for you to start your day by joining our 6:00 AM Prayer Call as we seek God together and grow in our faith. If you have a prayer request at any time, our prayer team would be honored to pray with you. Simply email us at Prayer@LegacyAZ.church.

We’ll see you tomorrow for Day Two of your Journey with Jesus!