what is prayer?

How often have you said, "I want to get closer to God”? I think we all have the desire to be closer to Jesus. But how do we do this? What is the one ingredient in our walk with Him that makes the most significant difference? Surprisingly, it’s very simple.

It is the same ingredient that causes all of our relationships to thrive. It's the one thing that bridges the gap from acquaintance to friend to family. This one thing is simply COMMUNICATION. To make it even more straightforward: communication is prayer. I think sometimes we over-spiritualize our prayer life. Yes, going into your prayer closet and fighting spiritual battles is necessary and useful! But, prayer is also a simple conversation with Jesus. Hearing His voice and learning His heart.

There is so much depth to prayer, yet the concept is straightforward: Talking to Jesus.

Let's dive in just a little bit deeper. What should we expect from our prayer life? I want to point out a couple of crucial things that have helped me build a prayer life.

Number 1: Prayer is Personal.

Remember, it's a conversation. Prayer must come from the heart. It doesn't need to be fancy, well planned, or well presented. But what it does need to be is Honest. We don't need to "sound right" to get His attention. He WANTS you to pray! HE WANTS to commune with you! When our prayer life is personal, not rehearsed, it is easier to establish prayer as a lifestyle.

Number 2: Prayer is Powerful.

Prayer accomplishes much. When we pray in faith, those prayers make a difference. Yes, even your prayers! Do you ever go to prayer but at the same time doubt that your prayer made a difference? It's time to cut out that mindset and begin to believe in the power of prayer. Even with all that's going on in the world today, prayer still makes a significant difference.

Number 3: Prayer is Provoking.

In prayer, you will be provoked to change. As we search the depths of God in prayer, He searches the depths of our hearts. And as He searches, be sure that He will point out things that do not belong (psalm 129:23-24). When God reveals those things, we have the choice to be obedient or rebel. Obedience will strengthen your prayer life; rebellion will drive a wedge in between you and God. So what choice will we make? This provoking will be challenging, but if we learn to obey, we will walk closer to Jesus than ever before.

Number 4: Prayer compels Guidance.

Prayer reveals the will of God for our lives. It's in prayer that we hear the still small voice nudging us to move or to stay put. It's in prayer where we learn His heart and what we should do to please Him. If we want to know His will, we must learn to pray. Prayer is an escape from temptation; it leads to righteousness. It is the light to our path because prayer is walking with Jesus.

So do not neglect your prayer life. Learn to prioritize time with God, and you will not regret it.