Prayer is a Conversation

Last week I was doing some yard work while listening to Timothy Keller’s book on prayer. Keller had an entire section on the idea that prayer is a conversation between God and man. Language is not learned by itself, but rather, a child is spoken to by others, and it is this continued conversation that allows the child to learn words and eventually talk back to those who have spoken first.

I believe that sometimes we may think that prayer is one sided. Every morning I sit in my living room while the rest of the home is quiet and the rest of the family sleeps. I have lists of people and things that I pray for; I talk to God and ask for guidance or for various situations. Many people might think this is a one-sided conversation. To date, I have never heard a voice from heaven audibly respond to my prayers. So how is this a conversation if I am the only one speaking?

The truth is that I am not the only one speaking. God has given us His word; all we need to do is open it and read it. God has 66 books that I can hold in one hand, open whenever I chose, and dive in. I believe it was Justin Peters who said, “if you want to hear God speaking to you, read your Bible. If you want to hear God speaking to you audibly, read your Bible out loud.”

Prayer is not one sided because God has already spoken to us and continues to do so every time we open the Word. The Bible should be a central part of our daily devotions. Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon what was more important, Bible reading or prayer. Spurgeon responded with his own question, “what is more important, breathing in or breathing out?” These two acts of worship go hand in hand because they are two sides of the same conversation.

This is one of the reasons I have begun to pray the Scriptures more. I believe that centering our personal prayer time by first praying the words found within the Scriptures can help us hear God’s voice and then respond accordingly.

Photo by Etienne Boulanger