So often we tend to be too busy to spend a little time alone with our Heavenly Father. Perhaps we are too involved with our lives to visit with God through prayer. Or we pray by rote, mouthing old prayers which leaves us free to explore other thoughts while we pray by memory, becoming fervent only when we are asking for special favors or materialistic things. When all goes well for us we are inclined to forget God until life takes a bad turn. Then we remember to pray to God for his help, usually after we have tried in vain to “fix” our problems and miserably failed.

Prayer is a direct line to God though Our Lord, Jesus Christ. A time when we can thank Him for waking us up in the morning, giving us another beautiful day to enjoy and all the wonderful things He has given to make us happy. When we pray it should not be hollow echoes with strong materialistic overtones. Prayers should be tempered by reverence and honor. Daily prayer establishes a strong link and when we face dire problems, we go to Our Father because we are in His Grace and have a right to implore Him to help us. We go to Our Father as little children go to their earthly fathers when they are in trouble. Nothing is too big or too terrible that we cannot bring it to the Lord in prayer. For God is truly a merciful and loving God.

Through prayer we lay all our proverbial cards on the table and say to God that we are sorry if we have sinned and, with His help, repent for the things we did wrong. It is the time to let God, who already knows our hearts, into our lives through prayer. We go to Him in times of trouble and times of good. He wants to share all things no matter how small. And He is never too busy to let us know He is there. He is always available to us. In His mercy when we are suffering or wrestling with life’s problems, He will send us comfort in big and small ways to let us know He cares. It may be a phone call out of the blue from a loved one, a chance meeting with an old friend; something that lets us know He is right there with us offering enough comfort to make life bearable again.

So we pray with a contrite heart and humble ourselves knowing that we are unworthy that He should care for us. Through prayer we communicate with the Almighty. We know this because if we are serious in our prayers, serious in our love for Him, the Holy Spirit touches our heart in a way that is unmistakably from God Himself. We pass our burdens which are heavy on our human shoulders to God who says” Come all ye who are heavily laden and I will give you rest”.

If we do not pray we miss out on a special and vital relationship with God, and so we must nuture it to keep it alive and new in our lives. He wants us to tell Him our problems and desires. If we are worried about something, He will fix it for us if it is good for us. And He does not require a college degree or fancy words to listen to us. All He asks is that our prayers are from the heart.

Remember Christ told us that when we pray to God, use His name, and what we ask will be given to us. It is truly a wonderful thing to have someone who can get you through the door straight to God. Jesus is a mighty friend. For none of us are worthy to speak to Almighty God on our own. But Christ died on the cross to give us that right. So Christ is our intercessor and He pronounced us worthy by shedding His blood for us. It is then a powerful friend we have in Jesus.

We are not here on earth for a perfect life but to prepare ourselves for eternity. Our present life is an imperfect one at best. God does not want us unhappy here but this is just a “pass through” life to get to our eternal home where there are no more worries, no more more suffering, no more tears, no growing old, no fears, no more dying or any of the frightening things we earthly beings face.

Does God really answers prayers? Yes, He does. There are many unexplained miracles that happen through prayer for God is a loving God. And if we are in his friendship we have a right to the comfort He so mercifully gives to us. Sometimes we ask for things that are not good for us and He says no. As when we say no to our children when something is dangerous for them. Many times in retrospect we can see that God was right in His refusal to grant our prayer. What we asked for would have been bad for us.

Remember that we are here for a reason. To prepare ourselves by living the life God created for us, by praying daily to honor God and getting ourselves ready for eternal life. That is God’s main interest. To gather to Himself those of us who have lived the way He taught for all eternity.