Prayer: A Conversation

Taken from: https://www.cliffsnotes.com

When we were in High School, our teacher in our English subject taught the communication process. 

He entered the room quietly without smiling. Our class, which just came from another class, had us thinking if he was angry at us because it was unlike him. Plus, we just had a good time from our previous subject! Anyway,  this teacher proceeded to the back of the room and tapped someone to lead our routine of prayer before starting.

After the prayer, he approached the board, picked up a chalk and started writing the new topic. This led us to get our notebooks from our bags hastily. You can imagine us now being silent. We talked to one another quietly from one end of the room to the other, signalling signs of confusion through facial expressions and weird gestures. At that time personally, I was thinking if we had done something wrong towards him. Worries start to flood my mind as the strokes of the chalk came up and down and side-to-side. 

When he was done writing, he did not utter a word. He looked at us with a poker face. We dare not look. We continued writing until the last person stopped. And then he greeted us. 

A sigh of relief echoed the room. All the time, we thought he was furious. Sir Franco explained that communication is the key to clarify messages between two people: the sender and the receiver. He demonstrated that being silent can affect the relationship of these two entities. He (the sender) knows the message he wants to relay while we (the receiver) were confused in properly interpreting it. This is called the noise. Thus, our feedback towards him was silence.

Prayer is the act of talking to God. Like the communication process, it has a sender, a receiver, a message, a channel, a feedback, and a noise. 

One of the people from our youth told me a story of him praying. There is nothing wrong with prayer. Anyone can pray. However, some people complain that God is silent and that He does not hear and answers prayers. 

In the Bible, the Book of Job talks about a man who was tested by God. Job lost everything that was dear to him. For 37 chapters, the Lord was silent. Job complained and demanded an answer from God. On the 38th chapter of the book, the Lord answered Job and convicted him of his knowledge and behavior towards the Almighty. 

Beloved you are blessed to have all of these with you today:

1. The Bible

2. Believers

3. Preachings / Sermons

4. Praise and Worship Songs

5. His Spirit

These are the channels or mediums of communication.

Personally, reading the Bible helps me in all aspects. It tells me what I need to hear and what I need to know. It instructs me what to do and what not to do. It allows me to see my shortcomings and how I should act upon them. It teaches me to be dependent upon God's righteous right hand. It keeps me grounded and rooted in the Scriptures. It teaches me to be wise. It convicts me. And finally, it assures me that the God I am serving is alive. 

Beloved, if you think that God is silent, open His Book. Read His Word. You will be blessed to know that the God you're talking to is not silent at all. 

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. – Psalms 9:10.

I pray that your faith will be like King David's. Trust in the Name of the Lord for He is good.