Prayer: Expressing Our Trust

Prayer: Expressing Our Trust 1.13.25

Building a relationship with a child takes time. In fact, the relationship we have with our kids evolves as we both grow older. Communication is key when building a relationship with kids. It is a relationship that hinges on communication that leads to trust. The adult wants to trust that the kid is telling the truth and the child wants to know that it is safe to communicate and is ultimately heard, cared for, listened to, and considered. 

This is what prayer is. It is a form of communication that expresses our trust in God and builds a relationship over time. 

Prayer may be defined as follows: Prayer is personal communication with God. This definition of prayer is very broad and includes: prayers of request (intercession), confession of sin, adoration, praise, thanksgiving, and receiving (waiting for God to speak to us).

Prayer is not made so that God can find out what we need because he already knows what we need (Matthew 6:8). Prayer is communication that expresses our trust in God. God desires us to pray because prayer expresses our trust in him and is a means by which our trust in him increases the more we pray. 

In Luke 11:9-13, Jesus compares our praying to a son asking his father for a fish or an egg and he then concludes, “If you then, who are evil, now how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit those who ask him!” The same illustration of child to parent is used here by Jesus as I used to begin this blog.

Prayer is a way that we can personally communicate to God. Prayer not only expresses our trust in God, but it builds trust in God. This occurs much in the same way as kids as adults for things, the more the adult proves that they are trustworthy, the more the kids go to that adult. Why? Because the child learns to trust the adult. Prayer is that communication we have with God that builds our trust as well as builds our relationship with God.