Allow me to begin with a word of assurance.  I do so as I am aware that the West, with its secular ideology, militates against the life of prayer.  Because of that, the experience of western Christians is so very different than the experience of Jesus and the apostles.  In Jesus’ day, everyone prayed.  That’s why Jesus rarely taught us of the need for prayer.  Instead, He taught us how to pray.  In contrast, in the contemporary western world, most people do not pray.  Hence, we do not hear national calls to prayer.  Nor do we, as is true in many parts of the world, hear daily calls for people to pray.  Western Christians live in a culture in which invoking God’s blessing seems strange and out of place.  And because of that, many western Christians often confess that they do not pray with the frequency their faith demands.

 

Let me then, as I stated in the outset of this article, begin with a word of assurance.  I have no desire to brow beat my reader.  Yes, prayer is essential to faith.  And yes, we must pray.  But for those who have not prayed enough or have not walked with God with the kind of intimacy that was expected of you, and for those who, when honest, admit that their prayer life lacks fervency and a faithful regularity, this article is for you.  Your prayer life can become a joy and an adventure, rather than a cause for guilt.  And so, relax and read on.

 

At its most basic, prayer is communicating with the God who created us.  That should be sufficient for a life of prayer, but I know that it is not.  For many of us, praying is like going out to coffee with someone who is very quiet and never talks.  We begin a conversation.  The person in question nods but says nothing.  We sit silently.  We suggest another subject, and the results are the same.  The person nods.  Again, he says nothing.  After a while, we too lapse into silence.  It’s hard to carry on a one-way conversation.

 

But is this really prayer?  Or to put it another way, is God really silent?  I ask this question because our theology will direct our praying.  Learn good theology and you will learn both to pray often and to pray well.  Where then do we start?

 

The starting place of prayer is to begin with the Bible.  2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV) informs us that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”  Now, clearly scripture is profitable.  But it is profitable because it is breathed out by God.  The words of the Bible are not just human words.  1 Peter 1:21 says that men were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

 

So, whenever we think that God is silent, we need to chastise ourselves.  We need to pick up our Bible.  We need to read it, reveling in the truth that as we read, God is speaking to us.  When we read, look for a promise.  Look for a truth.  Look for a command.  Look for an assurance of God’s grace.  And as you take note, respond!  Thank God for what you read.  Worship the one who spoke.  Revel in the wonder of it.

 

Second, according to Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God.  Day to day, as each day is created, we see evidence of God’s care.  Thank Him for everything you have experienced in creation.  This includes life, daily food, family, friends and God’s sustaining hand.

 

Third, acknowledge your own sin.  Confess your wickedness before God.  He already knows of it, and won’t be shocked.  1 John 1:8 tells us that if we say we have no sin, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But the very next verse tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us through Jesus.

 

Finally, ask.  What do you need?  Tell God.  What are you suffering?  Tell God.  What promises do you doubt?  Tell God.  And ask.  For God hears the prayers of His children.

 

Go ahead.  Revel in your assurance of God’s grace.  Pray.  Respond to the God who is speaking to you.