Through my years as a Christian I have heard so many things taught about prayer.

"You have to pray for at least 30 minutes a day to be effective."  "You must have your Bible by your side."  "Pray off a list-so you don't forget anything."  "You must say all the right words and phrases."  "You have to cast out all evil-so there won't be any barriers in your way."  "You can't pray any memorized prayer-it always must be new and creative."  "You must pray on your knees."  "You must fold your hands or hold your hands up in a certain way."

But God just says, "come!"  We have an open invitation-and we don't even have to dress for the party!

He won't force us to come to Him-although He may nudge us-but the decision is always left up to us.  We choose-do we spend time with God or not?  If our love is for God the Father, then we will put Him first place in our lives.  It's as simple as that!  Do we give God our best or the leftover moments in the day that we can spare?  We can usually find ways to cut out some unnecessary things in our lives.

You see we have a relationship with God.  The moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became a child of God.  We are now in the God family, and just as in any family that relationship needs to be nurtured.

Why not talk to God when you're in your car, or walking or running, waiting in line-or grocery shopping.
You may amaze yourself with how much time you actually do have to spend with God in fellowship.  When you're ready, He will never put you on hold or ask you to call back another time!

According to Paul, life is supposed to be a marathon.  But before you can run a marathon, you first have to start. Right?  Therefore the first step is usually the decision to do something!

One of the best things about prayer is that it is a two-way conversation.  You talk and God talks.  Take time in your prayers to get quiet before God and listen.  Jesus says that His sheep know His voice.

Now, am I saying here that you will hear God in an audible voice?  That could very well happen, it has happened to others in the past.  But God speaks mostly through His written Word, the Bible, the Scriptures-His promises to you and me.  Or you may just have a "knowing in your spirit" or a quiet feeling or peace about something.

We all have different personalities-God made us that way-if we all were the same then life would be pretty boring!  God's not looking for carbon copies.  He's not looking for all of us to be repeating the same prayers at 8 am, noon, or 10 pm before bedtime.

You need to find peace and comfort and fellowship with God in being yourself.  So start off simply-then go on from there.  You'll have casual times, happy times, times of intercession, praising times, serious times and searching times...but when you're seeking God and your heart is right the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say and how to pray!

When you are speaking from your heart, your prayer life will develop into a great time spent with God.

A new year will be beginning soon, so make a decision in your heart to start it out right - spend time fellowshipping with your Father God.  You'll be glad you did!