Prayer is a conversation with God

By Gary Elsten, Pastor
Frankton First United Methodist Church

A few of us were talking just the other day and one of them said that it was such a wonderful feeling to understand that prayer is just a conversation with God. There isn’t any set formula for how to pray.

We don’t have to be sitting or lying prostrate on the floor. We don’t have to bow our heads and close our eyes.  (And I do not recommend this if you are praying while driving!) We don’t have to use some magical words that open or close our prayer.  

Prayer is just our speaking with God and then listening to God. We can tell Him what’s going on in our lives. We can thank Him for the great things that are happening to us.  We can let Him know that we are hurting or searching for answers to a specific question. We can tell Him that we’re anxious or angry or concerned or confused. 

One thing prayer is not: it is not a time just to drag out your wish list as if God is some genie in a bottle that will grant us three wishes. God is so much more than that.  Yes, you can take your requests to God, and we should take our requests to God. He is the one who can grant our requests.  

However, as in any conversation, we should do more than make requests.We should start our conversation with Him by praising His being: His power, strength, wisdom, might and certainly, his love. We should confess where we might have messed up in our lives and ask His forgiveness and for His strength to help us resist that temptation the next time. We should thank Him for what He has done in our lives, what He is doing in our lives and also what He will do in our lives. All these we do in addition to sharing our requests with Him.

Finally, we need to sit and listen. Once we’re done talking, just sit and listen. Try and experience what God is telling us. We will never be able to hear His answer to our prayers unless we sit and listen and expect to hear Him. 

Learning to love to pray

By Doug Davis, pastor
Frankton Christian Church

Today I came across my blog entries I made while on my first trip to Ivory Coast in West Africa. I went over there to teach a "Learning to Love to Pray" seminar to a number of pastors.

A lot of prayer preceded the trip and the seminar. The prayers were answered beyond what we could ask or imagine. The man who had invited me, Simon, told me to be prepared for 20-30. I took materials for 100. 150 pastors and church leaders ended up attending! God answers prayer and wants His people to talk with Him!

The seminar I taught uses an incredible definition of prayer that has changed my prayer life: Prayer is the conversational part of the most important love relationship in our lives, our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God wants to have a conversation with me!

I can tell Him just how I'm feeling and He can tell me how much He loves me. He loves me so much that He answers our prayers even as we are speaking them. He told Daniel, "Your prayers were heard to answer.." I love that!

In a few weeks, we going to be praying for our Frankton schools and students. God is waiting for our conversation with Him. He's ready to hear and answer. Our prayers will make a difference. Something always happens when we pray that wouldn't have happened if we hadn't prayed.

Will you start praying now? Will you join us on Sept. 25th and help make something happen?

God is in EVERY side of our lives

by Gary Elsten, pastor
Frankton First United Methodist Church

Just like the ocean has a tide that comes in and goes out, life seems to have its ups and downs – its ebbs and flows. There are times in our lives when it seems as though everything is going along just the way we like it.  Our relationships are good.  Our judgment seems clear.  School seems easier and work flies by.  Our future outlook is nothing but blue sky. 

Then there are those other days; those days when things have gone from bad to worse and the storm clouds just keep rolling in.  Whether our life is in one of the flow periods or one of the ebb periods, it’s always good to remember that we have a constant in our lives.  That constant is the love and presence of God.  He is always there whenever we need him, which is all the time, even when things seem to be on the up side.

But it’s so interesting to notice that even our prayer life, our conversation with God, has its ebbs and flows.  There are times when we want to pray and the prayers just keep flowing.  There are other times when we find it difficult to pray and every word is a struggle.  We all need to understand that this is a natural occurrence in our lives.  We are, after all, only human.  We have ups and downs that are brought on by what’s happening around us and what’s happening inside us. 

What we should remember, but is sometimes so hard to remember, is that whether we are in the up side or the down side, God is in ‘every’ side.  And even when you are having trouble with your prayer life, the Holy Spirit is having no trouble praying for you.  Take heart.  Be of good courage.  God still cares, even when we’re not talking to him as much as we know we should.

Prayer is powerful . . . God is great!

Prayer is perhaps the most powerful tool we have. How simple it is to just stop and talk to our Heavenly Father. That's all it takes.

Prayer is one-on-one, quiet time with God. It is heart-felt emotional discussion with the Lord. It is a loud conversation among friends, colleagues, church members, neighbors. It is a prayer chain phone call, email or message on Facebook or Twitter.
My prayers always include a simple "thank you, Lord, for this day. I ask for your Holy Spirit to be part of me today so I may be a better instrument for your work." I lift up family, friends, and other people to Him for help, healing, guidance.

The beauty is when I talk to God, He listens. It doesn't matter the subject matter. The time of day or night. He listens. And He gives me peace. He brings me inspiration. He helps. Just the act of "praying" helps me.

So . . . imagine if you will . . . the power of prayer if we gather many people (hundreds??) together in one room at one time to pray for one thing? The youth of our community. Prayer is powerful.

Won't you join us on September 25 to pray for our youth? Email us for more information. The prayer rally is open to the public.

God is good!

East Central Indiana Youth for Christ / Frankton Christian Church / Frankton First United Methodist Church