“God is great; God is good.  Thank you for our daily food.  Amen!”

That is what little kindergarten children may say before having their cookies and milk.  Some older children say it for grace, too.

Some children also have a bedtime prayer–”Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. . .”

Many of us have our form prayers, don’t we?  Those prayers are very helpful when we don’t want to get too close to God–or have Him get too close to us!  Some of us lean on the Lord’s Prayer.  Our Lord Jesus gave us this prayer, so it is perfect–if we really mean every word!

Then again, some of us pray insincerely, just wanting to make a good impression on other people.

According to Jesus, that’s what a certain prideful Pharisee did.  This man looked down his long nose at a nearby publican and thanked God he wasn’t like THAT sinner and others like him.  Then in his so-called prayer he bragged about how “good” he was.

The publican, however, bowed his head humbly.  In anguish he cried, “God be merciful to me a sinner!”

We miss out on the joy of prayer if we are not aware of the power and blessing of it!  And we miss out on the true meaning of being a Christian when we do not regularly and conversationally talk with our Lord.  Personal communication with Him is a sweet privilege!

“Pray without ceasing,” Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

How do we do that?  Well, we have to be right with the Lord.  The prophet Amos said, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”  That’s why we ask God to forgive our sins and  turn us from wrongdoing, so we can be in step with Him.  This may cost us something in worldly pleasure and self-discipline, but the rewards are greater than the cost.  For we are filled with peace and joy when we walk and talk daily with our Lord.

Also, we can speak to Him throughout the day.  We can call quickly and quietly to Him when we need help.  We can discuss with Him our problems and leave them in His capable hands.  We can be lifted to joy by praising and thanking God for His blessings and the beauty it’s of His marvelous creations.

True communication is both speaking and listening.   When we talk with the Lord, we can know He will guide us in the decisions we have to make.  If we trust Him, we will see prayers answered.  We will see Him do “more than we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).  God may not always answer the way we want Him to, but He does answer.

If you record your prayer requests in a little booklet, you will experience great joy when the prayers are answered and you can write the answer in red, alongside the date.  Try it!

Jesus told us, “My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 16:23). This promise is real to me.  Is it real to you?

Lord, Teach me to pray. Amen

Questions: Do you find it difficult to be real with God? Why? What does praying to God mean to you?

About the Author Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, The Depth of God’s Love for You, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Self-indulgence is not real freedom but acting with discretion is.

“Mom, Joey acted really badly on the school bus.” My son couldn’t help reporting the daily news the minute he entered home.

“Indeed. He didn’t cover his mouth when he sneezed. Yuck!” Added my daughter, “He yelled loudly on the bus. Someone sitting next to him asked him to keep it down, and he replied, ‘Come on, don’t you know America is a free country?’ No one can put up with him.” They both sighed and didn’t know what to do with such “liberals”. Nonetheless, such incidents do not occur alone in the children’s world. They happen all the time in our daily life when we drive on the road or take a walk in public places.  People care about their own freedom so much that they hinder others’ freedom. Sometimes we don’t even know how to deal with “freedom”. Should we love or fear it? Different kinds of explanations and standards have blinded us from getting to know the true meaning of freedom.

Gift of Freedom

Jefferson once said, “When God gave human beings life, He also gave us freedom.” The apostle Paul also said in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” However, why do we constantly feel we are bound and cannot enjoy our freedom? A while ago, a question was raised in Sunday school, “If God wants men to have freedom, why did He prohibit Adam and Eve from eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Didn’t He take away the right of freedom?”

In reality, each of God’s commandments is out of His love towards us. The supreme of all is His respect for our freedom. Because He gave us free will, we are able to choose freely. Adam and Eve enjoyed the fullness of God’s creation in the Garden of Eden. Yet, they did not choose to trust and obey Him. Instead, they chose doubt and rebellion. As a result, they lost their original blessings and were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

Abused Freedom

We as parents seem to understand God’s will better. When we nurture our children and bring them up, we are absolutely certain that it is for their own benefit that we warn them of the danger of playing with fire and playing on the streets. When we preach to our children that we are more experienced than they are in terms of understanding life, don’t we expect them to trust our knowledge and insight? On the contrary, when the Almighty God who created the heavens and the earth calls us to his sheep pen out of His glory and love, we often reject His leadership because of our lack of faith and doubt.

Thus, it’s not that God does not give us freedom. Rather, we bind ourselves together in self-indulgence because of our own selfishness and pride. We take pride in our own self-proclaimed dignity, senses, thoughts and goals. Consequently, we do things we enjoy, say things we delight in, love those we desire, and hate those we dislike. We reckon this is freedom. In contrast, as a result of this self-proclaimed freedom, we have drifted into the abyss of hatred, fight, and chaos that we cannot dig ourselves out of.

Self-discipline and Freedom

The only way to free ourselves from this bondage is to admit our own limitation and be willing to trust and obey God’s faithfulness and lovingness as much as an innocent child longs for the reliance of the teaching of his parents.

Based on our faith in Him, we know what we have experienced and encountered is out of His great love towards us. God’s Holy Spirit will help strengthen our obedience to Him so that we gradually develop our care for others. We come to be mindful of the feelings and sufferings of others so that we do not act self-indulgingly. As a result, self-discipline no longer becomes a rigid order but instead, a spontaneous response to His great love out of our faith in Him.

Right at this moment when I was penning this paragraph, my son interrupted me, “Mom, can I eat dessert now?”

“No. Desert is served after dinner. You may want to eat some fruit instead.” I replied with a gentle but assured voice. My son nodded and picked up an apple from the refrigerator.

Look, when children are convinced that parental guidance is out of our love and protection for them, they will develop a sense of self-discipline by refraining from craving dessert. Instead of eating dessert, they opt for fruit which is a much healthier choice. Because they choose to obey, don’t they attain the freedom of a healthy diet?  Hence, self-indulgence is not real freedom but acting with discretion is.

Virtue and Freedom

The English poet Coolidge once said, “More virtue, more freedom.” If we are convinced of the joy of true freedom, how do we establish our own moral virtue? Only by coming to God and laying down our pride are we able to trust and obey the leadership of the Holy Spirit so that the glory and virtue of our Heavenly Father can take root and grow in our hearts. We will be able to reflect the image of God.

Galatians 5:22-23 states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” When we live a spontaneously loving and caring life and distance from the bondage of hatred, competition, anger, fight and jealousy, we are undeniably free persons who enjoy freedom the most.

With compliments to www.touchlife.org for the permission for translation and publication.