Prayer Simplified

right . I heard a story the other day of a lady who attended a prayer meeting for the very first time . She wanted to learn some more about prayer and she also wanted to come together with other believers and just see what God can do through praying together . So she went to the church prayer meeting .

She thought there might be some teaching about prayer , there might be some other people sharing some testimonies or something like that with it . But when she got there , the leader of the prayer meeting stood up and said okay , here's a list of things on the board we're going to pray for and we're going to pray now for an hour .

Well , she was totally blown away , totally intimidated by that , because she had never prayed for an hour in her life and she didn't feel comfortable in knowing how to pray . But she determined to dig in . So she knelt down beside her chair and she prayed about everybody and everything she could think of and every situation she could think of .

And then , when she was done , she looked at her watch and exactly 12 minutes had passed . She had no idea what she was going to do for the next 48 .

You see , sometimes prayer can be very intimidating , but really it's not all that complicated . First of all , we need to understand that we do need to pray . Colossians chapter 4 and verse 2 tells us that we are to devote ourselves to prayer Over . In 1 Thessalonians 5.17 , it tells us to pray without ceasing .

And in Philippians 4 , verse 6 , it says Do not be anxious about anything , but in everything , by prayer and with thanksgiving , let your requests be made known to God , and the peace of God , which surpasses all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds . In Christ . We're told to pray , but often we feel uncomfortable in knowing how to .

But what we need to learn is that talking to Jesus is no different than talking to anyone else . I have a story that I want to share with you today and I think will help you understand the importance of just talking to Jesus .

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father who was sick . When the minister arrived , he found the man laying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside the bed . The minister assumed that the old fellow had been told of his visit and said I guess you were expecting me .

The old man looked at him and says no , who are you ? Oh , I'm the new minister at your church . When I saw the empty chair I thought you knew I was going to show up . Oh yeah , the chair , said the old man Would you mind closing the door ? Puzzled the minister shut the door .

The old man looked up to him and said I've never told anyone this , not even my daughter . But all of my life I have never known how to pray At church . I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer , but , man , it went in one ear and right out the other .

I just couldn't seem to get it , and so eventually I just sort of gave up , Until one day , about four years ago , my best friend said to me he says , joe , prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus . And here's what I suggest Sit down in a chair , then place an empty chair in front of you and , in faith , see Jesus on that chair .

And this is not weird or spooky , because Jesus promised that he would always be with us , and once you're sitting there , just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now . So I tried it , the old man said , and I liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day .

I'm careful , though If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair , she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm . The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to keep doing what he was doing . Then he prayed for him , anointed him with oil and went back to the church .

Two nights later , the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon . Did he die in peace ? He asked yes , yes , he did . When I left the house about two o'clock , he called me over to his bedside .

He told me he loved me , he kissed me on the cheek , and when I got back from the store an hour later , I found that he had died . But there's something very strange about his death , pastor . Apparently , just before Daddy died , he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed . Now what do you make of that Pastor .

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said you know , I wish we could all go

like that . Prayer is not complicated , it's just talking to your best friend , jesus . You can talk to him about anything and everything . I hope you have a great day . My friends , take some time to just talk to Jesus like he is your best friend , and we will talk again tomorrow .

Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday , right here on Starting Right with Danny Mac .