All I did was TALK *to* God - HONEST!

Today I prayed for someone I was working with, God answered part of that prayer and I was pleasantly surprised! To be honest I wasn't really expecting much of an answer I was simply taking a moment to hang out with God and take a brief 'time-out' from the stuff I was doing etc. It was one of those occasions when I just thought I would mention to God something that I had noticed or heard in someone else and decided to bring it to God - not that He didn't already know about it - but I just thought I would bring it to God. Prayer's funny really. I don't know about you but when I think about prayer I tend to make connections to my own worries and fears etc and big important things like Bible Study and being Led by the Holy Spirit etc. Yes, all those things can and should be prayed about, but prayer isn't for those things alone. Infact, I am coming to see that prayer isn't 'made' for anything other than simple, even child-like communication with God - 'chat' if you like. If prayer is simply talking to God then prayer is 'chat' and if we expect to hear back from God then prayer is also listening. I think because we have access to God through Jesus we shouldn't be afraid to use that access to be so bold as to chat to God and talk about mundane, insignificant things. It's not as if there are 'bouncers' or doormen checking us out before we come to God that are going to turn us away because we aren't bringing the right kind of prayer! (just make sure your shoes are smart!)! No, I'm sure that God Loves to hear from us about anything and everything, we just don't seem to realise it. What about these verses,

"For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father." Eph 2:18

"in whom(Christ Jesus) we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him." Eph 3:12

"through whom(our Lord Jesus Christ) also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Rom 5:2

So I took the time to take a moment to talk to God in quiet - ended up merely mentioning something that was bothering someone else and making what I thought was a rather meager effort at requesting help for this person, unsure whether God wanted my involvment - it's possible he could have - but I just left it that He didn't, or rather that I didn't feel that I had the confidence to do what I thought He might want me to do.

So I left that prayer time, having mumbled something to God and left it at that. I knew I had spoken to God and I knew He had heard me and I knew I was on my way back to the unquietness of mundane work etc! I wasn't full of expectation in ANY way. In fact I left that brief prayer time feeling as if I had decided to 'bottle out' on God. THAT'S why I was surprised when what I requested HAPPENED.

I dunno, all I did was speak informally to the Creator of the universe! Prayer, along with other things in the life of a Pilgrim is gonna take some gettin used to!