Talking With God
Praying is one dimension of being in love--being in love with God.
The metaphor of a love affair may prove helpful to you.
A right relationship with God involves falling madly in love with God and
nurturing that love to grow and mature.
To pray to God is to speak freely and intimately with God within the security
of that loving relationship.� The conversations of a love affair comprise
the content of prayer.
How do you define prayer?� You don't need to--the Bible doesn't.
As for the One being prayed to--
"When you pray, say: 'Father,...'"
(Luke 11:2)
Lord, is it all right if I just sort of talk to You like this?
I mean, I'm not even sure how to address You because--
I'm not used to talking with a God.� I'd feel strange saying,
"Your Majesty" or "Your Holiness" (although those names are
appropriate enough).
But those words would make You seem--
far away and terrifying. It would feel like talking to a
volcano or an atomic bomb, or my boss, or the principal, or a
judge who knows I'm guilty.
Sometimes You seem like all of those to me.� But when I
pray to You, I need to see something gentler, kinder, wiser.
Prayer begins with God.� If he did not exist, there would be neither a
reaason to pray nor any hope of being heard.� Prayer also ends with God.
Once we have committed ourselves to His will, the matters about which
we pray are out of our hands.
A Love Letter from Texas
Steps to Peace With God
What Now?
...