Week 27 - Tim White - A Conversation With God

How often do you find yourself wondering how in the world we are supposed to pray? It’s easy to feel like you have to use formal, King James-style language like "thou hast lovest" to be heard. But I want to tell you today that God absolutely understands plain English.

Jesus gave us a beautiful model in the Lord’s Prayer. While many of us treat it as a script to recite, I don't think he ever intended for us to just repeat the words. Instead, it’s a model we can break down to help us have a real conversation with God:

• "Our Father in heaven": Start by connecting with Him relationally and acknowledging Him as our Father.

• "Hallowed be thy name": Take a moment to truly worship His name.

• "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done": Pray for God’s agenda to be done here on earth, not just our own.

• "Give us this day our daily bread": Depend on Him for everything. Tell Him what you need and ask Him to supply it.

• "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors": We must be willing to forgive others just as God has forgiven us. Believe me, after everything He has forgiven me for, how could I do anything less?

• "Deliver us from evil": This is about engaging in spiritual warfare. Don't wait for the enemy to bring the battle to you; take it to him. Remember, we aren't fighting for victory—Jesus already won—we are fighting from a place of victory.

• "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory": End by expressing faith in His power and acknowledging that the Creator of the universe is in control.

The bottom line is that prayer is simply a conversation. You can talk to God just like you would talk to a friend sitting across from you. You don't need big words or a special language; you just need to talk to Him. Even when you don’t have the words for what you are feeling, He is there as your Savior and best friend. He’s listening - and wants to talk with you.