Talking to God

Genesis 4:26

Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.


Proverbs 15:29

The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.


Matthew 6:5-6

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."


Prayer is the topic of the day. After reading these verses, you may wonder what the one from Genesis has to do with it. Well, I thought it would be an interesting little verse since it is the first time prayer is mentioned in the Bible. As for the other verses, the clarity in them is immense. Please note that the Lord hears the prayers of the righteous. This does not necessarily mean that He answers them according to the way that the righteous would want. However, He is inclined to listen and He always answers prayers in His own way. I can think of times in life where I prayed to God that someone would not die only to have them pass away. There is a verse in the Bible that says that God sometimes calls people from this life to protect them from evil. (When I find it, I will add it.) So before we can make the age-old statement about how a loving God can allow people to die, we have to think that maybe, just maybe, things on the other side are a lot better than here. In other words, it is our ignorance of what is ahead that tends to mar our view on death. Yes, the very act of death is a horrible thing in which we have caused ourselves. (Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.) So there is an option outside of death. There is the eternal, you know, never-ever-ever ending, life that comes with having Christ Jesus in our lives. Speaking of the true Lord of all, His words on prayer are clear in Matthew 6. We are not to make a spectacle of ourselves as did the religious leaders of the time (Pharisees). John 17 is a full chapter in which Jesus is praying for Himself, His disciples, and for all believers of Him. If you want to see the heart of Christ, that is a wonderful chapter to dive into. Sample of His prayer for those who believe in Him: (John 17:22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one) Prayer is our lifeline, our way to talk to our Father. He is listening and He always answers. However, just like Jesus said in His prayer to God that He taught His disciples, "Your will be done". One could easily spend a very long time reading the verses in the Bible that deal with prayer. Dive in and enjoy it. People often say that we know nothing about God because He is so mysterious. The unfortunate aspect of that statement is that we do not take the time to read the Bible to find out about Him.