The first prayer in the Bible was between Adam, Eve and God. There were words spoken by God to Adam earlier but when we think of prayer we think of a dialogue.

Prayer is essentially a simple conversation with God. We may talk about the different kinds of prayer – intercession, thanksgiving, petitions etc., but the fundamental component of them all – there is a conversation, a dialogue between an individual and God.

That evening they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees.  But the Lord God called out to the man, “Where are you?”

 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked.”

 “Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”

 The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

 The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?”

She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.” – Genesis 3:8-13 GNT

I hear of many who find their life not quite so exciting as Adam and Eve. They are dry and heavy and feel no joy. I wonder how many have prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I know it is not as simple as that but I do know that when I am engaging in my morning of devotions and prayer, I do ask the Holy Spirit to join me – He makes a difference.

I baptize you with water to show that you have repented, but the one who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. – Matthew 3:11 GNT

Ezra kind of makes us all look bad when it comes to being excited about what God is doing. I pray that we can all find a time to express this kind of worship to God in our lifetime.

“The Lord is good, and his love for Israel is eternal.” Everyone shouted with all their might, praising the Lord, because the work on the foundation of the Temple had been started.  Many of the older priests, Levites, and heads of clans had seen the first Temple, and as they watched the foundation of this Temple being laid, they cried and wailed. But the others who were there shouted for joy.

No one could distinguish between the joyful shouts and the crying, because the noise they made was so loud that it could be heard for miles. – Ezra 3:11-13 GNT

I love the model that John and Peter gives us when it comes to prayer. They maintain the hour of prayer and make sure they are in attendance. The Jewish custom was to pray three times each day – morning, noon and mid-afternoon.

One day Peter and John went to the Temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour for prayer.  – Acts 3:1 GNT

These are some great models for us to consider in our discovery of what prayer looks like.

The key to prayer is “not our action in preparing ourselves, but God’s action in revealing himself,” writes Dr. Donald G. Bloesch of Dubuque Theological Seminary. True prayer is not humanity rising to God in order to become one with him (the mystical ideal), but God reaching out to humanity and calling for a response of obedience. It is the constant struggle to take hold of the outstretched hand of God. This striving with a personal God is foundational to biblical prayer, stresses Dr. Bloesch. In “The Struggle of Prayer,” he outlines an evangelical spirituality that has at its heart the “outpouring of the soul before a living God.”