Daily Devotions
A Conversation With God
Reading for September 17th: Daniel 7-9
I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel 9:2-3
When you pray does it feel like you're talking to air?
Prayer is not always easy. It is, in a sense, a one-way conversation. We are talking to God and God is listening to what we have to say. We don't hear what God is saying in response.
But we do not have to think of only having a one-way conversation with God. God very much wants to speak to us. In fact, he's got a lot to say, and he very much wants to speak to us. If we will allow God to speak, we can have a conversation with God!
How does this conversation work?
Well, I know of only one way to listen to God, and that is by listening to what he says in his Word. All Scripture is "God-breathed" and is a revelation of God's mind for us (2 Tim 3:16; 1 Cor 2:11-13). What you hold in your hands (the Bible) is a message for you from God! Isn't that incredible?!
As I said, God has a lot to say to us, but he does not force us to listen. We must open up our ears and hear what he has to say.
Daniel had a conversation with God. God spoke to Daniel (through Jeremiah, the prophet) and then Daniel responded to God (in prayer). Daniel believed that what God had to say was serious (read the prayer). Daniel cared very much about what God had said to him and his prayer reflects the weight he put on God's words to him.
I don't want to be too rigid about this rule, but I think it is wise to let God have the first word. Read God's Word first and then pray. You'll find that your prayer will be more personal, purposeful, and, most importantly, centered on what God wants and desires (over our own desires).
Father, what you have to say to us is infinitely more important than what we have to say to you. Help us to listen first and then speak. Help us to seek your will in prayer over our own.
