Tag Archives: talking to god

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Start with Praise

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Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.” —Isaiah 29:13

Did you know that it is possible to say your prayers but not be praying? We can run through our ritualized requests and not actually pray. Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me’ ” (Matthew 15:7–8). Not all prayers are offered to God.

You can sing praise songs and send up prayers to God but have no thought of Him. Do you know why? Because you are thinking about you. Or, you are thinking about someone else and the way they look or thinking about how good you may look.

Jesus told the story of a Pharisee who went to the temple to pray and “prayed thus with himself” (Luke 18:11). That Pharisee’s prayer didn’t go any higher than the ceiling because for him, it was all about putting on a show. As a result, his prayer wasn’t heard by God.

Yes, our prayers need to be offered to God. It is very important for us to remember that we are talking to God Almighty. Therefore, it’s a good idea to slow down and contemplate the awesomeness of God. When I do this, my goal is to get my will in alignment with His. Prayer is not getting my will in heaven; it is getting God’s will on earth. And when you know God and spend time in communion with Him, you will know what God wants.

It is okay to bring your needs before the Lord. But start with praise and adoration and get a sense of the awesomeness of God. The more you realize how great God is, the smaller your problems will become in His presence.

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Joyce Meyer – Humility Before God

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Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. —Luke 18:14

In Luke 18:10–11, we read about two men who went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. Jesus said, “The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers—or even like this tax collector here.” Then he went on to list all of his good works.

What I like about this passage is that the Bible does not say the Pharisee was praying to God. It says he went into the temple to pray, but he prayed “thus before and with himself.” Here we read about a man who appeared to be praying, and yet the Bible says he was not even talking to God; he was talking to himself! I think sometimes we also pray to impress people, maybe even to impress ourselves. Let’s be honest: we can be impressed with our own eloquence. When we are talking to God and trying to hear from Him in agreement with someone else or with a group of people, we have to be very careful that we are not preaching to the other people and that we are not simply trying to sound superspiritual, but that we are really sharing our hearts with God. Agreement is incredibly powerful, but it has to be pure, and it has to come from a place of humility.

God’s word for you today: God sees all the good works you have done in secret and He will reward you.