Prayer: Communicating to God.

        The spiritual discipline of prayer is simply communicating with God. Just the other day in my Biblical Interpretation class my professor taught on a prayer acronym - ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication). The first thing I learned after hearing the acronym ACTS is how quick we are (including myself) to skip adoration, confession, and thanksgiving and skip right to the supplication. I am very guilty of only coming to God in my time of need and not when I am at peace. I found that it helped to go to a quiet place where I was alone, so I could pray out loud to God. I felt like once I started to pray I could not stop communicating all that was on my heart. I was proclaiming his righteousness and giving him the glory for all the blessings he has given me. I also spent much time praying for others, like family, friends, and even people I see on a daily basis. 
        I also came to realize in my time of prayer last week that sometimes I fall into the natural tendency to retreat and hide from God because of my sin. We need to keep in mind that we are greatly loved by YHWY and Christ already paid this price on the cross for our sins. David brings this to light in Psalm 139. We are called to bring this brokenness to God and repent for His grace so that we may be made clean. A few months ago at the church I have been checking out for quite sometime called Realty LA, the pastor explained the need for us to come to God crying like a little child and place our mess before Him. We are to profess that we are broken sinners and are in need of his grace. During our time of prayer we need to let go of control and become weak and vulnerable before God. Confessing our sin during prayer is like taking a shower and being made clean. So if you are dirty with sin, don't wait and sit in it. Bring it before god through prayer.
        Sometimes I even evade prayer for fear of what God may have for me. I prayed that I would be able to trust that God know best because He has the perfect plan for me. When I am lost and don’t know the way Jesus says, that “I am the way” (John 14:6). Lately I have been struggling with some roommate conflict and the death of my grandpa. God overcame my anxiety and brought me peace through prayer. Lately I also have been anxious trying to pick a major, and have been asking God to reveal his plan for me. I have come to realize that I have not been allowing God to speak to me as I have been so consumed with my busy life that I haven’t given him the chance to speak. I now know that it is through intentional prayer and solitude that we can communicate with God, and hear His answers.