Prayer

I have never blogged.  I'm still not sure I understand all of this.  But, here goes :)

Our small group at church has been doing a study on prayer.  We have been listening to messages from a pastor, John Lindell.  We voted on the topic to study and my hand was the first to go up for prayer.  Although I have been raised in church and a Godly home, I feel completely inept in the area of prayer.  Let me just tell you that it's difficult to hear from God when you don't have an understanding of the purpose of prayer.  When I pray, I feel distant, I feel like I'm talking to myself, I feel like I'm simply saying what I'm supposed to say.  I know there is more that what I'm comprehending and have been practicing all these years.  I have always been confused by the many different messages we receive on how to pray.  None of our problems or concerns are too small to bring to God.  Does that mean our prayer time should be taken up by asking Him for things?  Things He already knows and has under control?  Do we spend all of our prayer time praising and worshipping Him (He is very worthy of this!)?  If so, is there a place for our concerns?  Sometimes when I pray, I feel like I'm talking to myself.  Does this mean I shouldn't pray at all or just continue trying to break through? 

I feel like, through this study in our small group, I may be beginning to grasp the bigger picture.  God is our Father.  He loves to talk to us.  He loves for us to tell Him how much we love Him.  He loves to know that we trust Him enough to come to Him with our fears and concerns.  I am beginning to understand that when we begin our prayers with praise, everything else falls into place.  When we tell God how mighty He is, how sovereign He is, how loving and how powerful He is, it's difficult to complain to Him about our circumstances.  God is a jealous God who longs for our time, our thoughts, our concerns, our praise.  Prayer has been graciously given to us as a way to communicate to our maker- our SAVIOR!  I am going to continue to study about prayer.  I will continue to research how the writers of the Bible prayed- how Jesus Himself prayed.  I want to pray to God in a way that pleases Him and allows myself to be open to hear from Him!