Conversational Prayer

I've been reading a book by Buddy Owens, one of the pastors at Saddleback Church in California.It's called The Way of a Worshipper. In it, he talks about conversational prayer, the idea that prayer should be a two way exchange between us and God rather than us bringing Him a laundry list of needs and then signing off "in Jesus' name." To do this he suggests something counter intuitive to the traditional approach to "quiet times." Instead of thinking of our devotions in terms of a prayer part and a scripture part, combine the two and pray as you read scripture. Since it is God's Word, it is God's voice, and He will speak what He wants to say and then we respond to that. Then we read some more, He speaks, we respond. It has been a revolutionary change for me.

This morning, for instance, I turned to Matthew 9:2-8. My wife and I have been reading through a Harmony of the Gospels, and this is where we were so far. It is the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. Before I began reading I asked God to quiet my heart. "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Then I began...

(v.2) And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith...

Oh, God, let my faith be clearly seen. Help me live today in such a way as to make it plainly evident to all that I love and follow Jesus.

Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Father, help me live courageously today knowing that the blood of Jesus covers all my sins. I pray that guilt and shame and fear would not paralyze me...

A sudden thought: Am I paralyzed? Like the man Jesus healed, am I unable to move or to feel because I cling to guilt and shame and fear of judgment? Have I let the lies of the Enemy convince me that I am worthless, that You could never really love Me, that You are angry and disappointed with me? Do I carry that weight? Has it paralyzed me and prevented me from following after You?
Oh, God, grant me the courage to live free from the new life You have given me!

(v. 3) And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.”
(v. 4) And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?

God, show me if I am thinking evil of something You are doing. Is there anything that I have judged in my heart to be wrong simply because it doesn't look like what I expected to see, or because it doesn't measure up to my preconceived ideas?
Father, help me to be careful not to judge by my standards but to discern by Your Spirit. Give me wisdom to recognize Your hand, Your voice, Your work, Your will. Help me to distinguish Your voice from the Enemy's. Let me never think evil in my heart of something that You are doing. Reveal it to me now if I have done this.

(v. 5)“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’?
(v. 6) “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”--then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”

Father, you gave Jesus all authority on earth. I surrender myself anew to that authority right now. If You say,"Get up," I will get up. If You say, "Go here," I will go. I praise You, Sovereign Lord! Let me never rebel against Your authority or seek my own way above Yours. Show me now if I am doing this in any area of my life.

(v. 7) And he got up and went home.

Obedience is healing. To hear the voice of Jesus saying "Your sins are forgiven" produces courage; courage to submit to His authority and simply trust that God can do in You what He said He would do. Obedience follows and that's where the healing takes place. Father, let my obedience heal the wounds in the deep places of my heart. I don't have the power to obey on my own, Lord, but if You speak it to me, I can walk in it.
If the man had decided in his own heart to try to get up and walk in his own strength he would have failed. If anyone else had told him to get up and walk, he would not have been able to.

Your Word alone carries with it the power to obey it.

Teach me to walk in obedience to Your Word, oh, God!

(v. 8) But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Father, may my obedience cause others to glorify You. I pray that my family's obedience to Your Word will produce awe of God and praise to You.

I ask all these things and praise you in the Holy and Precious Name of Jesus Christ!

That was the way my quiet time went today and it was amazing. I actually had a conversation with the God of the universe! He spoke, I listened. I spoke back, he listened. Could there be anything more amazing than that? I have made it point to keep that line open, to stay connected to Him. I haven't even said "Amen" yet! Because the conversation isn't finished...

"Speak, Lord, Your servant is still listening."

How much more your Heavenly Father...

You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. (Matt. 7: 9-11, NLT)

I was having breakfast with my friend Daniel yesterday morning. He was telling me how excited he was that his 23 month old little girl asked for something by name for the first time. His face lit up as he described how she toddled up and clearly asked for an apple. He was plainly delighted to be able to give her exactly what she asked for. As he described the scene I pictured it in my head; her sweet little voice asking innocently, "Apple?" and her father smiling handing it to her. I thought about the closeness that deepened between them during that simple exchange.

It was such a clear principle of prayer that it rocked me back on my heels. The Father delights in giving us good things! The asking is part of the delight. The bond of closeness that deepens between us and our Heavenly Father when we with childlike faith ask for the good things we know He wants for us. There is something about the exchange that draws us deeper into Him, strengthens our relationship, knits our hearts to His.

Now contrast that to the spoiled, demanding child who constantly asks for things he knows he cannot have. It's no fun for me as a dad to have to constantly tell my kids "No." It's certainly no fun for them to constantly hear it. But the problem is that often they don't want the good things we have for them. Many times children want what is not good for them. They know the answer is no but they ask repeatedly. They plead, they whine, they get angry and have a tantrum, all the time knowing the answer is no.

Now think about what that does to the relationship. The Father is grieved because they want these things and refuse to take no for a answer. His heart is heavy because he must say no again and again, and he knows the grief that follows. The child is angry and resentful and says hurtful things to the father.

In those few moments listening to Daniel share the joy of giving his daughter good things when she asks for them, I was confronted with my own asking. Did it bring joy to my Father? Or grief? Do I want the good things He has for me? Or do I stubbornly insist on getting my own way, and then being angry when He must say , "No"? Am I missing out on the closeness with God of simply receiving the good things He wants me to have? After all, it's really the Father's heart the child is asking for. When you have the Father's heart, what's in His hand comes with it.

And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. 15And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for. (1 John 5:14-15, NLT)