Converse Deeply with God
ICS Daily Devotions
Matthew 6:7-8 (NKJV) And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
We converse with people daily. Likewise, prayer is having a conversation with God. Therefore, prayer should be something natural to us, just like breathing. Nonetheless, we must be sincere, honest, and transparent before God. You and I can treat God as our best friend and pick up the conversation where we last left it. Prayer is not hard because God makes it easy for us. We can speak to Him at any time and in any place without formality, but it must be uttered in faith. Prayer is interesting because we get to see how God works in our lives, and it can become a very natural part of our lives.
Just like couples should not avoid having deep conversations because they are fearful of confrontations, we must also not avoid having deep and honest conversations with God so that God can speak into our lives. Do you know that you can freely share with God how irritable some people are in your lives? We are allowed to lament and complain to God. In fact, some of these conversations can turn our lives around when we make ourselves vulnerable.
However, if we want to converse deeply with God, we must consecrate our lives to Him. Consecration goes beyond living out God’s will for our lives. Of course, it covers living intentionally, purposefully, and consecratory, but it begins with being set apart to live a holy and righteous life. We need to fully grasp and appreciate how Jesus has redeemed us and brought us out of the captivity of sin so that we will want to live for Jesus.
The struggle between our flesh and God involves living apart from the world and wholly for the Lord in every aspect of our lives. This fight between the flesh and the need to walk in the Spirit happens daily and whenever we need to make a particular decision, and God knows this. We are at our happiest when our upward relationship with God is at peace as we align with God’s will for our lives, and when our horizontal relationships with people are also at peace by not allowing difficult interpersonal relationships to steal our joy and peace.
All of us need constant reminders to practise these truths in our lives. If we first seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things we need in life will also be added to us (Matthew 6:33). Indeed, our enemies will also be our friends when our ways please God (Proverbs 16:7).
Sermon Series: Lord, teach us how to pray
