Building intimacy with God

Jesus is the most incredible, wonderful Savior and leader. Every time I pray, I talk to Him, and I listen. I don’t hear His voice audibly or see Him, but He does speak to my mind with thoughts and ideas that change my life.

Let’s look at a few practical steps you can use to build a powerful prayer life. When I first came to a relationship with Christ, I didn’t know how to spend time with God. I couldn’t see Him or feel Him. No one gave me a manual that would help me build my prayer life. I had never seen a normal person pray. I respected my priests and saw them lift up their hands or bow their heads, but they were special. They were holy in my mind, and I was a hockey player who cussed and drank too much.

Who taught you how to pray? How did you learn?

The Bible tells us of a difficult season in Jesus’ life: “Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?’” (Matthew 26:40, NKJV) When I read this verse, my immediate answer was absolutely not. One hour of prayer was not for me. I struggled with attention deficit disorder, and five minutes seemed like an eternity. How would I ever spend an hour in prayer with God? What would I do? What would I say? How could I hear God answer me? I had more questions and frustrations about prayer than any other spiritual issue.

Friend, can you relate to my frustrations? To be honest with you, I felt like a failure.

I was so excited when my friends at A Miracle Every Day had asked me to do a series on spending time with God. No one taught me how to create these times with God. I learned through trial and error. It’s my prayer that some of what I learned will help you build something incredible.

Today, let’slearn to pray with purpose. Why are you praying? What would you like to get out of it? Please take a few moments and ask yourself these questions. I believe God has a purpose for prayer. He wants to meet with you, speak to you, and be your friend. I’m praying all your times in prayer will be times in God’s presence because you are a miracle.

Your friend, Paul Marc Goulet