"Can We Talk for a Minute?"

Growing up we developed communication skills by the atmosphere that was cultivated in our houses. Some of us learned early on how to express our thoughts and feelings and some of us…not so much. As we got older, we made decisions to foster these positive or negative skills. Regardless of which way you went, you must acknowledge the fact that communication is key in a productive or non-productive relationship. These relationships can be business, romantic, friend, and the like but our focus for the next few moments will be on our spiritual relationship. So, LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU!

All relationships have a starting point and the one we have with God is no different. PAUSE! For those who don’t yet have a relationship with God, I want to invite you to begin yours at the end of this blog. So don’t quit reading just yet! RESUME. Some of our relationships with God began at early ages and some started later in life. Regardless of when your relationship began, most of our communication with God was done with a greater fervency and frequency in the beginning of our relationship…when everything was fresh and exciting! As LIFE progressed with its ups, downs, twists and turns, our communication with God was met with the same. There may have even been times when the communication was returned with silence or simply a “No”. Well, LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU!

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT says this, Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. This scripture encourages us to talk to God about EVERYTHING! Prayer is nothing more than communication…talking. Now the question is what kind of communication skills have you developed with God? A life full of anxiety, worry and frustration is a life that is absent of prayer. One thing I’ve learned in my spiritual journey is this…most of us simply don’t know how to talk to God! We have allowed the styles of “church prayers” dictate and shape what we view as “real” prayer. We think we have to be on our knees, when we can sit and remain prostrate in our hearts. We think if our voice is in A flat we’re really sending one up then; however, a silent prayer is just as powerful. We think swelling words, as the bible puts it, like Oh Father God, Thee, Thou, Thine and Thus really puts us in there, when Daddy covers it all. James 5:16b NLT says The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. So just TALK to him! Can I ENCOURAGE you today?

There is no right or wrong way to express our thoughts and feelings to God. Communication with Him releases what is in our hearts and allows His PEACE to fill that space. Remember verse 7 in the scripture above; if you want peace you’ve got to chat with Him. Here’s another scripture just dropped in my spirit; Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. That’s 1 Peter 5:7 NLT. I don’t know what you may be concerned about today but LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU one last time. TALK to God!

For those who want a relationship with Christ; repeat after me.

“Lord, I am a sinner. I believe you died on the cross to take away my sins. Please forgive me of my sins, come into my heart today and be my savior. Thank you Lord for saving me!”

Welcome to the Family of God!

Here are the scriptures to support what you just said:

Romans 3:23 – For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through

Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 – But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we

were still sinners.

Romans 10:9-10 – If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Romans 10:13 – Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

John 3:16 – For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that

everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

(All scriptures were taken from the New Living Translation bible, NLT)