The Key to Prayer

The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk with God about Everything
by Joyce Meyer

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If I had to identify the most important key to effective prayer, I would say that it is approaching God as His friend. When we go to God believing that He sees us as His friends, new wonders are opened to us. We experience freedom and boldness, which are both necessary to effective prayer.

If we do not know God as a friend, and if we are not confident that He thinks of us as His friends, we will be reluctant to tell Him what we need or to ask Him for anything. If we have stiff, distant relationships with God, our prayers can be legalistic. But if we go to Him as our friend, without losing our awe of Him, our prayers will stay fresh, exciting, and intimate.

A natural friendship involves loving and being loved. It means knowing that someone is on your side, wanting to help you, cheering you on, and always keeping your best interest in mind. A friend is someone you value, a comrade, a partner, someone who is dear to you, someone you want to spend time with, and someone you enjoy. You become someone's friend by investing time in them and with them, and by sharing your life with that person.

Developing your friendship with God is similar to developing a friendship with someone on earth. It takes time. The truth is that you can be as close to God as you want to be; it all depends on the time you are willing to invest in the relationship. I encourage you to get to know Him by spending time in prayer and in the Word. Your friendship with God will also deepen and grow as you walk with Him over time on a regular basis and as you experience His faithfulness. The difference between developing a relationship with God as a friend and building relationships with people is that with God, you end up with a friend who is perfect! One who will never leave you nor forsake you. One who is faithful, dependable, loving, and forgiving.

You can be as close to God as you want to be; it all depends on the time you are willing to invest in the relationship.

Make a priority of developing a great friendship with God and inviting Him to be a vital part of everything you do, every day. That starts with simple prayer - just talking to Him and sharing your life with Him as you go about the things you have to do. Include Him in your thoughts, in your conversation, and in all your everyday activities. Don't just run to Him when you are desperate; talk to Him in the grocery store, while you are driving your car, combing your hair, walking the dog, or cooking dinner. Approach Him as your partner and your friend and simply refuse to do anything without Him. He really wants to be involved in your life! Let God out of the Sunday-morning box that many people keep Him in and let Him invade your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and all day Sunday as well. Don't try to keep Him in a religious compartment, because He wants to have free access to every area of your life. He wants to be your friend.

Abraham

Perhaps no one mentioned in the Bible is more often referred to as "God's friend" than Abraham. In Isaiah 41:8, God calls Abraham "My friend," and James 2:23 says, "...he was called God's friend." In the Old Testament, King Jehoshaphat, while he was talking to God one day, said that Abraham is "Your friend" (2 Chronicles 20:7). While the Bible refers to David as "a man after God's own heart" and to John as "the disciple Jesus loved," Abraham has the distinct honor of being called the friend of God in more than one place in Scripture.

When God decided to execute judgment on the wickedness of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, He told Abraham what He planned to do. We read about this in Genesis 18:17, which says: "Shall I hide from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do?" Why? Because they were friends.

In a friendship, people talk to each other about what they are going to do. How many times has a friend said to you, "What are you doing today?" and you reply with something like, "I'm going to the grocery store this morning and to a ball game tonight." Or how often have you asked someone, "What's your schedule next week?" and he or she responds, "I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and a meeting on Thursday. But would you like to have lunch on Wednesday?"

Because God considered Abraham His friend, He told him what He was going to do - just like you would tell your friend. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:6 to acknowledge God in all of our ways and that He will direct our steps. To acknowledge means to care about what someone thinks. We should care about what God thinks of our plans, just as we would care about what a close friend thinks. We should discuss everything with Him in a conversational manner, just as we would with a spouse or close friend.

When Abraham heard about the devastation God planned to release against Sodom and Gomorrah, he "came near and said, 'Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?'" (Genesis 18:23, NKJV). Just as God had shared His intentions with Abraham because they were friends, Abraham "came near" to God and questioned His intentions - because they were friends. They had a relationship in which they could communicate freely; they could talk openly. Abraham was so confident in God's friendship with him that he questioned God Almighty! That's intimacy; that's security in a relationship.

The story is recorded in Genesis 18:17-33, but you may already know how it ends: Abraham and God continued their dialog. Abraham prayed and interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, asking God to withhold judgment against the sinful cities so the righteous people who lived there would not suffer the punishment due the wicked. He started by asking God not to destroy the cities if He could find fifty righteous people in them, but then Abraham realized that might not be possible. After quite a bit of going back and forth, Abraham finally asked God to spare them for the sake of only ten righteous people - and God agreed. Why was Abraham able to intercede with such boldness? Because he knew God was his friend and he appealed to Him on the basis of that relationship.

© 2007 by Joyce Meyer

About the Author

JOYCE MEYER has been teaching the Word of God since 1976 and in full-time ministry since 1980. She is the bestselling author of more than fifty inspirational books, including How to Hear from God, Knowing God Intimately, and Battlefield of the Mind. She has also released thousands of teaching cassettes and a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences.