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."