A Conversation with God

Why Talking to God is So Important?

Talking to God and Prayer – Part 4

I’m going to do my best in this final lesson on “Talking to God and Prayer” to sell you on why talking to God is so important. In fact, I believe that you are missing out on what you expect to receive from prayer by not having a conversation with God. Allow me to paint a picture of what I mean.

Let me be clear, I have no idea of when this occurred in the relationship Moses established with God, but one day while they were together in conversation, The Lord told Moses what was happening back down the mountain with the nation of people Moses rescued from the land of Egypt. God said that these people are corrupted. They have turned from Me (God) and are now making gods out of golden statues. Next, God explained to Moses a plan to destroy the entire nation and start over using Moses to be the father of a new nation. But (say but), Moses responded. You see in a conversation, you get to respond. So Moses proceeded to talk God out of this new plan to start over. It’s recorded that The Lord changed His mind.[1] How many times have you been in conversation with God, had Him change His mind? It takes talking to Him. Maybe the disease won’t leave because we’ve not talked God out of one plan. Maybe your marriage isn’t getting healthy because you’ve not intervened on the new plan. Could it be that God might just be waiting on you to talk to Him so that He will change His mind? This is next-level prayer!

Let’s Date God
There is a guy who is on the team in which we serve at our local church. He gave me a better illustration on how communication works. In reality he made me remember how to communicate and in this illustration it will help you get better with talking to God. Some of us can remember this. Do you remember when you first began a relationship with someone you were attracted to, that special person. My sister refers to this as “new love“. The technical term for this is “infatuation.” At some point you were infatuated with the person you gave your cell phone number. That person could call you any time, day or night. In fact if too much time passed, you’d get concerned, even worried. What a relief it was when the phone rang and the number revealed it was this significant other?

Are you beginning to remember? Now let me hit you with something. When was the last time you had an infatuation with God? When was the last time you looked forward to holding a conversation with Jesus? Oh yeah, let that sink in.

What do you remember about the phone calls you shared with that special someone? I remember sitting on the phone at all times of the night, running out of things to say, and we’d just hold the phone. Some of us woke up the next morning with the phone still fixed to our ear. When was the last time you ran out of words with God but stayed on the call? Have you ever fallen asleep because you didn’t want to let Him go? What do you think God would do for you if you had this attitude towards Him? Lord, I just don’t want to let you go. That’s what Mary, the one who sat at Jesus’ feet, was expresses.[2] Lord, I don’t want to let you go.

This special someone had your attention, so why doesn’t God, who brought you this excitement in the first place, have your attention? When you were dating that special someone, they made you smile. When was the last time you gave God a smile? By the way, a conversation or “talking to God”, isn’t just words from your lips, but it’s also body language. I get that this sounds foreign and it should; this is next-level prayer. Moses looked forward to spending time with God. In fact, time and time again he climbed the mountain to where God was. There must have been something to this. Moses’ conversations must have been much different than one attending church services as we do today. Most of us don’t view our church in such a way that we’d go through much trouble at all to get there. A little rain is more than enough to keep us away. But Moses until he was 120 years of age had such a relationship with God that he in his old age continued to climb the mountain.[3] He climbed the mountain at age 120 in the same way he did at age 80. He didn’t allow his infatuation or “new love” with God to get old. When you begin having conversations like this with God, then you can expect to have results like Moses. This is next level prayer.

Talking to God and Prayer
As I was saying, in this is our final installment of “Talking to God and Prayer,” I wish to sell you on why talking to God is so important. Therefore, I’d like to provide a few contrasts of people who talked with God and prayed.

  • Have a Conversation Over Your Next Step Decision
    The old prophet Balaam (I just like how that sounds, Balaam might have been a young prophet), was requested by the leaders of two cities, Moab and Midian on behalf of King Balak to place a curse on their enemies. For they believed that a curse would give them an advantage over Israel whom they feared. Balaam, this prophet having received their request did something most (51% or more) never do. He did what was uncommon. He took their request, took some time, and consulted with God prior to making a decision to act. As a result God instructs this prophet not to act against Israel. Needless to say this was not a popular decision.[4]

    Let’s stop here for a moment. The prophet made speaking to God concerning what was in front of him, his priority. When was the last time you asked God to help you in making your next step to make a decision? Balaam spoke with God and God spoke with Balaam. This is next level prayer!

  • Prayer and Talking to God are not the same.
    Now what I’m about to share with you is very interesting and is one of those distinctions that got my attention. And it reads, “Solomon stood before the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands towards Heaven and he prayed.[5] The prayer that he prayed is recorded and quite lengthy when compared to other prayers, the few you find directly quoted in scripture. Regardless, it’s a recorded prayer offered to God. However, what’s interesting is this. When was the last time you heard anyone say they were going to pray the prayer of Solomon? Or a prayer like Solomon prayed? I find that to be remarkable. No one I’ve heard has mentioned Solomon’s prayer. We hear the prayer of Jabez, The Lord’s Prayer, and the Serenity Prayer[6] often, but not the prayer Solomon prayed. My point is simply this. Solomon talked with God and Solomon prayed. Next-level prayer is us going beyond just the most popular prayers and common understanding of prayer, but building on what we know so that we can take our prayer and prayers to the next level.

  • Know when to pray and more importantly know when to talk to God.
    The great Elisha in the middle of a famine found himself caught by the effects of the famine. He was without food to eat and water to drink. Having a conversation with God, God directed him to a place where he found relief from the effects of famine.[7] When you know when to talk to God, you’ll know what to do even when everyone else has not an answer for what’s happening around them. You’ll find food in a famine, water in a drought, and immunity from any disease. Elisha conversed with God and Elisha prayed. This is next level prayer.

I think it’s safe to say that praying is good, but having God speak to you and you speaking with Him is much better. Praying to God is good, but the next level is having God speak back. “You can talk to God without praying, but you can’t pray without talking to God.” I like saying that. It’s a powerful statement. Don’t miss an opportunity to talk to God. Each day before you request something from God, talk to Him or ask Him a question. This is next level prayer.

Question: have you ever considered having a conversation with G-O-D?

Reference #1: Exodus‬ ‭32:7-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed November 18, 2021, https://www.bible.com/116/exo.32.7-14.nlt
Reference #2: John 11:2 NLT‬‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed November 18, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/JHN.11.2.NLT
Reference #3: Deuteronomy 34:1-7 NLT‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed November 18, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/DEU.34.1-7.NLT
Reference #4: Numbers 22:7-8-18-19 MSG‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed November 18, 2021, https://www.bible.com/bible/97/NUM.22.7-19.MSG
Reference #5: ‭1 Kings‬ ‭8:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed November 18, 2021, https://bible.com/bible/116/1ki.8.22-23.NLT
Reference #6: Wikipedia. “Serenity Prayer” Wikipedia. Accessed November 18, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer
Reference #7: ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17:2-4‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬, Bible.com, accessed November 18, 2021, https://www.bible.com/97/1ki.17.2-4.msg

All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.

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