Some years ago a doctor asked an elderly Christian woman in England, “If I asked God for five pounds, would I get it?”

The old woman answered with a question. “If you were introduced to the Prince of Wales, would you ask him for money at once?”

“No, not till I knew him better,” replied the doctor.

“Well,” remarked the woman, “you will need to know God a great deal better before you can expect Him to answer your prayer.”

Someone commented on this incident by observing, “Many people presume to ask God for things upon mere acquaintance with Him.” Isn’t that often the case?

Prayer, is simply two friends talking together. The Bible is God’s side of the conversation. When I read the Scriptures, I soon find myself whispering a petition. When I pray, God’s Word comes to mind. When I listen to His Word, my soul bows in adoration.

Bible expositor W. Graham Scroggie wrote, “In the Bible God speaks to us, and in prayer we speak to God.” The Bible and prayer are intertwined strands forming the intimate cord of communion between God and us.

Read the great prayers of Moses, Nehemiah, Ezra, and Daniel. In their petitions they spoke God’s words back to Him. This is the prayer language God delights to answer. As you pray, let Him bring Scriptures to mind. Pray them back to God as they apply to you.

Before you spend time reading and studying the Bible each day, pray that God will make your heart sensitive to His Word. Martin Luther said, “Having prayed well is having studied well.” We cannot have one without the other.

George Muller fellowshipped with God as few men in history have ever done. Enoch in Genesis is one such man from the Bible. The Bible said he walked with God everyday. Adam, before his fall, talked to God each day in the cool of the garden. Through George Muller, God cared for thousands of orphans. Despite his tremendous financial responsibilities, Muller never asked other people to help meet his needs. Extreme financial pressures only motivated him to spend more time in intimate conversation with God.

Listen to what Muller said about his times alone with God: “I begin to meditate on the New Testament early in the mornings. . . . Invariably, I have found that . . . after so
many minutes of meditation, my soul is guided to confession, or to give thanks, or to intercede, or to make a request. So, even when you couldn’t say that I had given myself to prayer, but rather to meditation, nevertheless, it turned out that almost immediately the meditation turned into prayer.”

As God’s Word spoke to Muller’s heart, he naturally responded back to God in prayer. He enjoyed intimate fellowship with his Lord.

Communication is the key to any relationship. Our relationship with God can grow only as we communicate our adoration, confession, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving to Him through prayer, and as we listen to His voice through the daily study of His Word.

How well do you know God? How intimate is your relationship with Him? Muller could come to God, ask Him for five pounds, and know his heavenly Father would somehow supply his need. Could you ask God for that, or are you only an acquaintance?

To Ponder
As a child of God, how well do you know your heavenly Father? How well do you want to know Him?

To Pursue
During your next time of prayer, begin by meditating on a passage of Scripture. Then pray to God, listening to what He is saying to you from that Bible passage.