Dialogue with God

Is your prayer a monologue or a dialogue?  Do you ramble off your top 20 list of requests, give thanks, and wrap up the prayer without taking the time to wait on the Lord?  Are you taking the time to listen to what he wants to share with you?

 

God wants us to enter in a dialogue with him.  He loves when we go into his presence with thanksgiving and petitions, but he also wants us to wait on him.  “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).  Not waiting on the Lord, is like going to the doctor, explaining your aches and pains but then leaving the doctor’s office without the prescription for the medication that you need.  Think about it!

 

How can we expect answers, to feel renewed and strengthened when we aren’t waiting for the answers?  How can we live life knowing we are in his will when we aren’t taking the time to find out what his will is? 

 

Our prayer sessions should contain the following 6 elements:

 

1.     Praise- “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15).

 

2.     Worship- “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him” (John 9:31).

 

3.     Confession- “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). We must also confess the promises we find in the word so that they become active in our lives.

 

4.     Petition- “And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:15).

 

5.     Intercession- “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30). God wants us to intercede for others.  Stand in the gap!

 

6.     Waiting- “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me, and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1).

 

So the next time you pray, make sure you wait and listen to the Lord.  It may not be in an audible voice, but he will speak to your heart.  And as you go throughout life, be aware of how he moves in your life, the signs you see, and the visions and dreams he uses to reveal things to you.