Prayer life Stink? A short guide on how to talk with God, not to God.

Key Concepts:

• Prayer as mutual emptying of hearts between the individual and God.
• Three essential ingredients for prayer: Presence, Heart, Trust (PHT).
• Importance of inner awareness of God's presence.
• Speaking to God through the heart, not just words.
• Radical trust in God, similar to a diver trusting the person providing air.
• Preparing the heart and mind before prayer.
• De-stressing techniques to enter the "Inner Room" of the heart.
• Confession, intercession, and personal requests in prayer.
• Gratitude as a crucial element of prayer.
• Prayer as a love affair with God.

1. The Problem with Prayer:

• Prayer can become dry, repetitive, transactional, or an annoying obligation.
• These issues can lead to stopping prayer, which is likened to ceasing to water a plant, causing faith to die.
• The speaker identifies with these struggles, aiming to provide techniques to deepen prayer life.
• The speaker uses the analogy of someone who only calls to complain and doesn't listen to the other person to describe how we sometimes treat God in prayer.

2. Defining Prayer:

• Prayer is defined not through a formal definition, but as a picture: the mutual emptying or pouring out of one heart into another until the two hearts become one, where one of those hearts is God's.

3. The Three Ingredients of Prayer (PHT):

• Presence: The awareness of another person in the room, specifically God's presence. This is the starting point of all prayer.
• Heart: Communicating with God through the heart, not just words. "God hears our hearts, not our words." This involves both speaking from the heart and listening to God's heart within one's own heart. It's about subtle inspirations and moments of clarity.
• Trust: Radical trust in God, similar to a diver entrusting their life to the person providing air. This involves trusting God with one's very next breath. The speaker emphasizes that this trust is placed in the God of the universe who loves us incomprehensibly. The speaker references scripture about God's awareness of even the smallest details of our lives (Sparrows, hairs on your head).

4. Preparing for Prayer:

• Preparation is crucial because we are entering the presence of the God of the universe.
• The degree to which we make ourselves present to God is the degree to which God will make himself present to us.
• The speaker suggests finding a quiet, dark spot, sitting on the ground with palms open, ready to receive.
• Posture is important because the body is the manifestation of the soul. Open body, open soul.
• The heart/soul is the doorway into the spiritual realm where we meet God.

5. Step-by-Step Prayer Technique:

• Entering the Inner Room:
  • Get into the "Inner Room" which is our hearts and close the doors to everything else.
  • De-stressing Technique: Focus on noise, stress, and worries, imagining them as red smoke collecting in the chest. Exhale the smoke with each breath.
  • Imagine the environment and body fading away, leaving only the heart in an infinite void.
• Inviting God In:
  • Invite God into the void and be aware of His presence.
  • This is about knowing and trust, not just feeling.
  • Silence the mind and focus on the connection between your heart and God's.
• Structuring the Prayer (Optional):
  • Confession: "Dear Lord, I'm sorry for..." Search your heart for shortcomings with yourself, God, and others. Ask God to reveal these areas if you are unsure. Reject the idea of an angry, disappointed God.
  • Intercession: Pray for others, thinking big and without limitations. Pray for the sick, the dying, and those who have lost hope. Consider the balance of good and evil in the world and in our hearts. The speaker emphasizes that it's not about the words, but about meaning and trusting that God can act.
  • Personal Requests: Pour out your fears, needs, wants, sorrows, and joys to God. The more we share our fears, the less power they hold. Differentiate between wants and needs. Remember that Jesus is more concerned with our spiritual welfare than our material welfare. Seek God first, and He will provide the other things. After making requests, acknowledge that God knows our needs better than we do and ask for His will to be done. If a desire is not from God, ask for it to be removed from your heart.
  • Gratitude: Simply say "thank you" from the heart.
  • Closing: "Lord, I know you can do all things."

6. Overcoming Resistance to Prayer:

• The speaker acknowledges that sometimes we don't want to pray, and this is often due to the issues mentioned earlier.
• The root cause is often a lack of love for God and a lack of belief that He is a living person who hears and loves us.
• If we truly believe in God's love and presence, there is no better use of our time than to spend it in prayer.
• It's okay to struggle with these beliefs; take those struggles to prayer openly and honestly.

7. Conclusion:

• The speaker encourages trying the prayer technique for a week and making it your own.
• Guarantees that at some point, you will hear God deep inside your soul.
• This experience is the foundation for building a "giant love affair" where we are no longer just talking to God, but with God.