Conversations with God

Hello everyone and welcome to another blog post.  I've been absent from this blog because I've been focusing on family and God.  Recently I had something happen and since then, I've just needed a break from this blog. So this is the start to a page called Bible Study With Vina...and I have already added posts to that page, so if you would like to read them, you can go to that page and read them easier or you can just scroll down til you find the one you want to read and read it.  I just made it a tad easier for you, and since I could not make it so it won't show up on the home page, it will still be on the home page. So to start this post off today we are going to have a verse to think about and maybe memorize.

Micah 6:8

  "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

    So before we really begin I want to ask:  How is your prayer life?
I know for me, I didn't really start praying until I was in my teen years, because up until then I didn't really know what prayer was.  I always figured prayer was just saying ok we are going to pray,  like does everyone know we are praying, we are going to pray. I knew that we prayed before we ate because that is what I was used to but other than that, prayer didn't really mean a lot to me.  Now that I'm in my young adult years, I can see how prayer is definitely the key to having that connection or having a conversation with God.   In 1 Thessalonians it says we are to "pray continually."  We are to always pray.  I consider God my best friend.  In my loneliness times, God was my friend.  He listened to me when I needed someone to listen.  When you have that best friend, you talk to them about your life, and things that are happening, and that is the way that God is.  If God is your best friend, you want to talk to him about everything.  The one thing I love about prayer is that there are no rules.  There are no rules in saying you have to pray this way, he just suggest that you pray.  In Philippians 4:6 it says "Do not be anxious about anything but in EVERY SITUATION, by prayer or petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  I love this verse because it is not saying sometimes, or in one situation...it says in Every Situation we are to talk to God and present what we ask to him.  
    So would you say that your conversation or your relationship with God is that of a friend, or that of someone who you just met?  
I ask that because... God is a personal God and you can't get personal with God or you can't get close to God if you don't pray. If you do not pray than you are not going to grow your relationship with God...just like if you ignore your friend, that friendship is not going to grow, it's going to shatter into a million pieces.  I also love that when you get to know God more, you get to know more of yourself...just like when you get to know someone, you sort of get to know more about yourself. 
  How do you pray to God?  Do you ask him for things that are for him, or are only for yourself? As I was thinking about this blog post, I was taking notes in my journal, because I was having my quiet time with the lord and I had my bible open and was looking up scripture.  Two verses popped into my head when I asked myself this question:
James 4:2-3 which says "You do not receive because you do not ask."  And then Philippians 2:21 says "For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ."  Those two verses were like Wow...a light bulb came on. 

    Sometimes we pray to God and ask him for things that are only for ourselves.  We don't think about what does God want from us or for us.  We only think about  what we want.  Maybe we pray to have a nice car, instead of asking... God what is it that you want me to pray for?  Yes it does say if we do not ask we will not receive, but it also states that we have to look for what God wants from us or what he wants for us, instead of just forgetting about him and only looking out for ourselves.  Now this blog post is getting really long so I will leave it at this:
God wants you to be best friends with him, and you can do that by praying and talking with him like you would your best friend. Just get out your bible, a notebook or journal, and have your quiet time with him. Don't be embarrassed, God just wants a relationship with you...it's not a beauty, or personality contest.  We will pick back up with this later.   

Comments Section Discussion Questions:
   -In the comments section... tell me how you have conversations with God?  Do you journal, do you pray, how do you talk to God?  Is God your best friend or is he just someone you just met and don't want to get to know more about?  God bless :)

Recap:
1) How do you have a conversation with God?  By praying, journaling, talking with him like he is your best friend, by reading your bible and going deep into scripture.
2) Make him your best friend and talk to him about your life
3) Don't pray for selfish reasons, but pray and consider God's interests for your life
4) Read the scripture and get to know God...and become best friends with him