Real Hope: Back to Basics - PrayerSample

Open Your Heart

One of the things you want to do when you know someone well is to talk to them. Our lives are filled with relationships, some deeper than others, but in all of them, we talk. It’s the same with God. He wants us to reach out to Him. He wants to hear from us. He wants us to tell Him how we’re feeling, really feeling, about what’s going on in our lives.

But how do we do that? We pray. We open our Bibles to hear the Word of God, we pray so He can hear what is on our minds and in our hearts. Our prayers are heard; our prayers deepen our relationship with our heavenly Father.

In Ephesians 3:17 the Apostle Paul tells us that our faith empowers us to discover the magnitude of God’s love. The apostle tells us this is a love from which we cannot be separated (Romans 8:39). It sounds amazing, too good to be true, how can I tap into that?

Pray. Stop right now. Close your eyes. Lift your hands. Take a deep breath, and in your heart reach out to God. He is listening. He wants to hear what you have to say. He wants you to tell Him all about your cares, your frustrations, your needs. 1 Peter 5:7 (TPT) gives us great advice: ‘Pour out all your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you.’

Pray. God Himself, tells us: ‘I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will find and feel my presence even in your time of pressure and trouble.’ Open your heart to the one who gives, the one who loves, the one who listens and answers when you pray.

Written by CHRIS PARFOOT