A word about prayer

Prayer is not just what we say to God, it is responding thoughtfully to what He has already said and what He is constantly saying to us through His word For this reason, the Bible is an important part of our ongoing conversation with the Lord. As I read the Scriptures, I ask Him to reveal Himself to me and I find He works in my heart. His Word speaks to situations and circumstances in my life and my heart.

For example, I was reading in Mark 2:18-22, where Jesus was asked why John's disciples and the Pharisees fasted and he and his disciples didn't. Jesus' response was a question. "Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? He told them when the groom was taken away, then there would be fasting. He then went on to ask who would put new wine in old wineskins, knowing that the wineskin would burst and the wine be lost? (I'm paraphrasing here)

God used this discussion to show me two truths about my life -
1. He showed me that trying to fix something without His help is useless. He knows my tendency to want to fix almost everything by myself first, i.e., relationships, health, etc. This was a gentle reminder, and I love Him for his gentleness, that I need to bring everything to Him and trust Him to give me what I need.
2. God makes all things new. He doesn't want to do a partial work in me - that won't last. He wants to replace every part of my old nature and He does that from the inside out. The inside is where I can't make any changes, only God can replace the stony parts of my heart with new life.
He reminded me that the new is light, and the old is darkness. Then the questions came into my thoughts, Can forgiveness cling to anger? Can acceptance cling to criticism, judgment? In the area of relationships, I knew I needed to let God perform heart surgery on me, filling me with His grace in the hard areas of my "new" heart.

"Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word." Psalm 119:27
Amen!