As human beings we were created with the ability to communicate, and when we don’t, we become frustrated and tend to crawl into a shell. It is almost impossible for us to be with someone for an extended period without talking because there are so many things that we want to share with them; whether they want to hear them or not. And yet, isn’t it ironic that we have the immediate ear of the One who really cares and we don’t often think about talking to Him? We want to pour out everything to those nearest to us and, often, they are not really interested in hearing us because they want to tell us what is important to them.
As we move into a deeper relationship with our bridegroom, we realize that Jesus created us with a special need that only He can satisfy, and in our prayers, we are acknowledging that fact. Adam destroyed the bridge to that satisfaction but God rebuilt it in Jesus with the wood of the Cross. It is God’s pleasure that we need Him and reach out in communion to tell Him of that need. Throughout the Bible we are shown our need for God and our continual resistance to that fact. On the other hand, we also see the men and women who had a strong prayer life and the difference it made in their lives. We need that close relationship that comes from prayer.
Prayer is an integral part of building up and strengthening our faith, and without a strong prayer life we are handicapping ourselves and hindering the Holy Spirit in His effort to move us deeper into the realm of spiritual maturity. Without communicating with God, we are isolating ourselves from the very source of all that we need to fully enter His rest and become all that we were created to be. But prayer is not just an act of communicating. If it is to be successful, prayer must become a way of life that can only be learned by the teaching of the Holy Spirit and adopted by our commitment.
It is only through prayer that we can open ourselves up to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit that will draw us ever closer to Jesus and conform us into His image, a little more each day. In the process, it is by our prayers that we pour ourselves out to God, and in return He pours Himself out to us in His grace. And that is a wonderful place for us to begin.