Have I been praying the wrong way?

[missmuffet]

On 6/27/2019 at 7:03 PM, Figure of eighty said:

Usually when i pray I tell God everything thats on my mind... Then i get up and go about doing whatever I do. 

 

 

But Ive been thinking ... And hearing after you pray you should wait for God's response. Should you? If you don't does that mean youre only doing a half prayer? 

 

How do you pray? 

You give God something in your life and then you sit back and see what He will do. If He will open or close the doors for what you have prayed for. You don't ask God for something and then get up and do whatever you want to do. 

[Blood Bought 1953]

4 hours ago, missmuffet said:

You give God something in your life and then you sit back and see what He will do. If He will open or close the doors for what you have prayed for. You don't ask God for something and then get up and do whatever you want to do. 

 

Interesting...... never  heard of any of this.....got any chapter and verse for this?

[other one]

On 6/27/2019 at 9:03 PM, Figure of eighty said:

Usually when i pray I tell God everything thats on my mind... Then i get up and go about doing whatever I do. 

 

 

But Ive been thinking ... And hearing after you pray you should wait for God's response. Should you? If you don't does that mean youre only doing a half prayer? 

 

How do you pray? 

I talk to him after I get up and go about doing whatever I do....   Actually I don't get down to pray, I just talk with him throughout the day.    And I am open for him to chat back at any time...  Have heard/felt him say, "Hey, don't do that." many times.....    and seeing some homeless guy setting on the curb, "Hey, go buy his breakfast."    

It's a good way to be.  You can just randomly thank him all day long....   He really is a friend you know...…   and it's great to have such a friend in such high places.

[GandalfTheWise]

On 6/27/2019 at 9:03 PM, Figure of eighty said:

Usually when i pray I tell God everything thats on my mind... Then i get up and go about doing whatever I do. But Ive been thinking ... And hearing after you pray you should wait for God's response. Should you? If you don't does that mean youre only doing a half prayer? How do you pray? 

[edited format]

I think God speaks to us in many ways.  The key is that He speaks in His own time, place, and manner.  We need to keep a balance between one extreme of wishing and hoping and thinking that every little thing we see or hear or feel is God speaking from the other extreme of rarely if ever listening.  Another extreme we need to avoid is idolizing one particular method and starting to look to the method itself rather than God.

There are times He'll use scripture.  We might be reading a few chapters and suddenly a particular verse or passage might just leap out at us.  Often this is God's Spirit communicating something to us.  We can of course read our own thoughts and feelings and opinions and desires into our scripture reading, but there are those times where God simply makes some verse come alive and address something in our lives. 

There are times we'll get some sort of strong impression or leading we weren't expecting.  It might be a sense that we should do something different like specifically praying for a particular friend, phoning a relative, stopping by the store and getting something, reading a particular book.  

There are times we'll hear what many Christians call "a still small voice" in our hearts.  This is just sometimes a feeling or a short phrase (e.g. "you're my child", "I'm with you", "have peace") that pops into our heads giving encouragement, peace, at times we need them.  I've heard many testimonies from many Christians over the years about things like this.

There are times the Holy Spirit will speak to us through other people, perhaps a phone call of encouragement, a few things in a sermon,  something someone says that just jumps out at us in some way, something we read.  There are times God might use things like a picture we see, a song we hear, a bird sitting on a window sill, to communicate something we need to hear.  Of course, many things happen every day and we shouldn't be trying to attribute God's voice in each and every little thing, but there are times that something just jumps out and unexpectedly touches us in a spiritual manner.  Over the years, I've heard many testimonies from Christians about things like this.

Now I again emphasize that there are a few things to avoid.  One extreme is getting so desperate and needy to hear God that we start trying to hear and see  God speaking everywhere and all the time.  We basically start to make stuff up.  Another extreme is being so fearful of making something up that we don't accept anything as God speaking to us.  Another problem is when God speaks to us in one way a few times, that we start to look to and idolize the method rather than looking to God.  

Over the years, I've heard many testimonies of the different ways God speaks to His people.  Some times it is connected with regular devotions such as prayer times.  However, sometimes it unexpectedly happens during our lives.   From what I can tell, it is meant to be a normal part of the Christian life.  We are the child of our heavenly Father (or as the Bible says, Abba, which is essentially the Aramaic word for Dad or Daddy) who wants to have a deeper and closer relationship with us.  His speaking to us is always for our spiritual health and benefit and to foster a closer relationship.  It's rarely if ever for spectacular revelations or prophecies of end times or truths the church has missed.   At times, it's for ministry to others.   But usually it's for us to grow and mature and draw closer to Him.

[Refresher]

6 hours ago, missmuffet said:

You give God something in your life and then you sit back and see what He will do. If He will open or close the doors for what you have prayed for. You don't ask God for something and then get up and do whatever you want to do. 

Luke 11:1-13 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
    for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

 

Let us learn from the Best Jesus Christ Prayer.

[Figure of eighty]

18 hours ago, missmuffet said:

You give God something in your life and then you sit back and see what He will do. If He will open or close the doors for what you have prayed for. You don't ask God for something and then get up and do whatever you want to do. 

When i say i get up from prayer and do whatever.. That just means I go about my day. Not pray for one thing then act opposing to it.. Like asking God to close a certain door then continue to go through it. After prayer i just go about my day, do hwk or clean. Thats what I meant.

[Figure of eighty]

13 hours ago, other one said:

I talk to him after I get up and go about doing whatever I do....   Actually I don't get down to pray, I just talk with him throughout the day.    And I am open for him to chat back at any time...  Have heard/felt him say, "Hey, don't do that." many times.....    and seeing some homeless guy setting on the curb, "Hey, go buy his breakfast."    

It's a good way to be.  You can just randomly thank him all day long....   He really is a friend you know...…   and it's great to have such a friend in such high places.

Thats amazing. I need to incorporate a 24/7 talk with God. 

And yes ill start with thanking him ...