Relations with God

1. Prayer: God Wants to Hear From You!

If you were given the opportunity to talk with the U.S. president or the queen of England, what would you say? You would probably be a bit nervous, and would think a lot about what you should talk about. But One far more powerful and important than the president or queen wants you to talk to Him! And He doesn't want you to be nervous, but to share what's on your mind and to pour out your heart to Him.

God loves us so much and understands what we are going through. That's why we can "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16

).

How should we pray? Christ's disciples wondered the same thing, and asked Him to teach them (read it in Luke 11:1-4

and Matthew 6:5-13

). He told them prayer wasn't for show, and it wasn't about saying the same thing over and over again. But He did give us a framework of the types of things to pray about:

• Praising and thanking God.

• Praying for God's Kingdom to come, and for His will and work to be done today.

• Requesting that our needs and the needs of others be met, whether healing, food, wisdom or protection.

• Seeking forgiveness and the help to forgive others.

• Asking for protection from temptation and the evil tempter.

In addition to getting on our knees in private (King David did so at "evening and morning and at noon"—Psalm 55:17

), we can talk to God in our minds throughout the day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

). Read David's Psalms and other heartfelt prayers of the Bible to see more about how this spiritual tool can help you draw closer to our Creator.

2. Meditation: How Do I Apply This Today?

When we've prayed for understanding and then carefully read the Bible, a natural next step is to think about what we've read and how it relates to the situations in our life. That's what biblical meditation is all about.

It's not about emptying our minds or relaxation techniques or mystical...