The most important conversation of the day

One thing that keeps a family together and close is good communication. Good family communication helps get families through the hard parts of life, and helps build and maintain a strong loving relationship between family members. Good communication among family members continue when the children grow up, move out and start their own life.  With today's technology, it is easier than ever to stay in touch with family members. Thanks to sites like Facebook, Twitter and Skype you can contact a family member in a second.

God, our father wants to have conversations and good communication with us too.  If we love God and want him in our lives as much as we say, think or believe; then how could we allow a day to go by without talking to God.  God made talking to him easier than any social network.  It requires no phone, computer, or paper. All we have to do is use our mind.  I know as a father, I would not feel very loved or needed if my children went through their day never talking to me.  The first thing we say when we see each other in the morning is good morning. Is it easier to not talk to God in the morning and throughout the day because we don't see him or don't need his help? Do we forget him? Do we include God in our day to day life and talk to God often; or do we only talk to God when we want him to bless the food we are about to eat, before we go to bed and when life is hard and we need help? I know as a father I would be hurt if the only time my kids wanted to talk to me was when they needed something. God feels the same way.

We talk to God through Prayer. Prayer is a conversation, a conversation between you and God. It is that simple. Sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be.

Jesus gave us a template to use when we pray:

Matthew 6:9-13 New International Version (NIV)

   ⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

   “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
   as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.

Sometimes we feel like we need to talk to God using big words or full of powerful adjectives and adverbs. We feel the need to sound nice and intelligent. We concentrate so much on presentation that it seems fake. This pressure to give a powerful prayer is stronger when praying with a group or out loud with someone else.
Sometimes we feel that if we don't give that big worded prayer that others will think that our faith is not strong or we are not close to God.  My advise is talk to God don't worry so much about how it sounds. Remember God knows our every thought, and our every need before we even ask for it but God likes to have conversations with us. We don't have to use big words or fancy adjectives to talk with him.  Sometimes I wonder if God says, "Would you please get to the point!".  Think about if you spoke from your heart and did not try to fill it will big words and lots of adjectives, how much more you could talk to God about in the same time period.

My Prayers to God very in both size and topics. Some of my prayers are long and some are as short as a few words. For example: "Thank you Lord", "I need your Help", God,Your Wonderful".  No matter when I am praying or what I am praying about I always pray to God openly and Honestly.  Showing off my large vocabulary or my creative writing skills have no place when it comes to my conversation with God. I know he loves me, wants to hear what I have to say, and is happy I am talking to him. 

Talking to God is not as hard as you think.  Find the time, open up your heart and talk to god.

J. Michalak