650 Prayers

Humans were built for language and communication.

 

It's one of the bits of creative genius God used when He formed His highest creation. And apart from regular communication, whether it's the written word or verbal, we have a great gift from a loving God: prayer. And that's what we're talking about this week in a series we're calling, Prayer 101.

 

Prayer is an intensely personal way to communicate with our Creator, the One who knows everything about us.

 

Jeremiah 29:12 says, “Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you.”

 

All through scripture we see that God is available to us all the time. No regular hours or standing meetings. We can talk to Him anytime we want. There are 650 recorded prayers in the Bible, and we read about people praying while sitting, standing, kneeling with faces to the ground, or hands lifted up.

 

By the way, Amen means “let it be,” or “so be it.”

 

The word “prayer” appears for the first time in Numbers 5:22.

 

Since prayers are human communication with God, we see that the first prayers were way back in Genesis 3 and 4 when Adam and Eve, and later Cain, talked with God. In the second exchange, even though Cain was angry and had just killed his brother, he was having a conversation with God.

 

Jesus famously modeled prayer in Luke 11 and noticed that He was talking to God, the Father.

 

It can be a fine line when thinking about how prayer is initiated. Often, thoughts come to our minds or we're reminded to pray for someone. However, there's an indication that God prompts us to talk with Him.

 

In Galatians 4:6, that from our hearts we cry out, “Abba Father,” and that the indwelling spirit of the Lord prompts this in us. Of all the great gifts God has given us, Prayer is one of the most special. It's how our spirits commune with the One who loves us with perfect love. And He's always ready and waiting to hear from us.

 

Let's pray.

 

Father, God, we worship you for who you are. We love you. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for making a way for us to talk with you. The things that lie hidden in our hearts in Jesus’ name. Amen.