How do you talk to God? How should we talk to God?
I often hear Christians who have picked up a really bad habit of saying “Father God” at least once every 5 words. I am not making this up. You have probably heard something like it yourself.
Such prayers sound like this:
Father God, I thank you, Father God, for being here, Father God, and for allowing us, Father God, to study Scripture today, Father God. And Father God, may you bless our minds, Father God, with your Spirit, Father God, so that, Father God, we may become more Christlike, Father God, and in your name, Father God, bring others to you, Father God.
And on and on it goes. I have written about this before here. Such a way of praying certainly develops a good rhythm, but is that really what we are going for in our prayers? Rhythm? No. I think that when we pray, our goal should be communication with God.
So how can you do that?
Talk to God like you Talk to Others
When people say “Father God” over and over in their prayers, I imagine God does not mind as much as I do … but please, when you pray, learn to talk to God like you talk to anyone else. You do not need fancy words, fancy language, or lots of repetition.
And God definitely doesn’t need to be reminded of who we are talking to.
On a recent Facebook Post, Vicki Manera shared this image with me:
Let’s start talking to God the way we talk to anyone else. God does not need to be reminded that we are talking to Him.
In fact, you don’t even need to start your prayers with the word “Dear” and end them with the word “Amen.” Do you do this when talking to anyone else? Nope. So just talk to God like you talk to any other friend who is standing right next to you. Because that is exactly where God is.
The Lord’s Prayer for Today
Here is “The Lord’s Prayer” which follows this way of thinking about God and about prayer:
Hey Dad, I know that you want people to know who you are, and so help me learn to follow your ways here on earth just as they are followed in heaven. Help me do this by trusting you for my needs today and avoiding the way the world wants me to live. Hopefully as you teach me to live this way, others will come to know you through me. I’m serious about this, okay?
Now really, that prayer is quite generic. It doesn’t say much. But it’s a template for how our conversations with God can go. You don’t need to memorize this prayer or recite it. After all, do you memorize a conversation you want to have with your wife and recite it to her every night at dinner? I hope not…
The point is this … God is a real person who wants to have real conversations with you. So talk to Him that way!
Do you want to pray like never before?
Do you what to talk to God like you talk to a friend? Do you want to see more answers to prayer?
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Ha! Yeah, pet peeve of mine. After exiting churchianity, I really don’t find myself in this situation of having to listening to someone pray like this. Pray in silence or in your closet people, problem solved. Mat. 6:6
Amen! 😉
Pet Peeve #2: “We ask these things in Your holy name.”
There are two things wrong with this: First, Yehoshua told us to ask things of the Father in his (Yehoshua’s) name.
Second: It’s illogical. Would you ask your mother for a favor and say, “I’m asking this favor in your name”? Of course not. You would ask a favor of someone in the name of someone else who is important to them (presumably someone more important to them than you are). Would you tell someone to go ask a favor of your father (whom s/he has never met) and ask it in your father’s name? Of course not! That would be insulting. You would tell that person to ask your father for a favor in your name because you are a beloved child of your father. (Presumably, your father would grant the request if such an appeal were made in your name.) The contortions to which people go to avoid saying, “In Jesus’ name,” in order to try to be PC are ridiculous. Either have the courage of your convictions and say it, or finesse the matter by saying “those of us who believe in him ask in Jesus’ name”, or else don’t close with it at all.
Read 1 Timothy 3:16 and Rev. 1:8
Seek the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name. Only One God.
Ha! Yes!
my pet peeve as well.. Had to turn off the Call L.A. 😉
I HATE when people refer to God as daddy or papa sounds really religious to me
Yes!!!
As long as your heart is in it, I don’t think he is critiquing. That said, many prayers are for those in earshot rather than for God.
Oh this drives me insane even if God doesn’t care… but you are right Bill. That’s usually what happens.
There’s also the word ‘Just’. “Lord, we just pray that you would just do this thing for us”. Just? Just that? Is that all you want Me to do? I’m sure Father God looks on the heart, of course, but it can be pretty irritating for those listening 😉
Great article Jeremy. I always really appreciate what you say about prayer. I remember reading this somewhere
“Some of you guys really crack me up. Why one little boy here asked his father for a fish, but the fellow gave him a snake instead as a joke! Scared the poor little squirt to death, but we all had a good laugh. So when you pray, watch out! You never know when God might throw a pie in your face.”
Matthew 7:9-11 Reversed Fractured Version
The writer commented that he was amazed how many people understood prayer in that way. But he said that God is neither cruel nor a stand-up comic. As another writer has said, if we were in extreme agony of soul should we pray, “I beseech Thee, O Distant God of Unfathomable Glory”or should we pray, “Lord—HELP! This is killing me!” Let’s pour out our hearts in honesty. I think our Father likes that.
Yes, my dad always called that flowery language when we’d hear others speak that way.
That is really eternal prayer. God help us. Thank you Father. Amen and Amen.
I think that these ways of praying should be seen as developmental. These are really His little children coming to their Father the only way they know how. Don’t despise them for their immaturity or not having a mature role model or mentor in prayer. Embrace them as dear siblings and be a model to them when you have the opportunity.
It is humorous when a small child comes and asks their parents for something. You may hear the word “daddy” said 20 times. It is more difficult to chuckle at an adult who is a spiritual child thinking they are doing something in a mature way when it is so often far from “grown up.” but don’t look on that outward adult shell. Look at the child heart.
Thanks for this article. Hopefully it will be a help to some to be less pretentious in their public spiritual devotion.
Really well put. Think it’s a good thing they’re even praying in the first place. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to come to the throne of grace regardless of the wordings of one’s prayer. HE knows our thoughts and desires
It’s funny how it annoys so many of us. I don’t think I ever heard this style of prayer when I was a child, but it’s so common now. Maybe this article will enlighten some sincerely misguided brothers and sisters.
I like that.
That is one of my “pet peeves” with Fundamentalist Christians. It seems to me that the more “fundamental” a Christian is, they more s/he does this.
Yes, mine too. And you are right … this seems to be more common in some more fundamentalist churches.
Really? How a person prays is between them and God and we are not to judge them.
I’m sorry I don’t mean to sound rude but are you defending someone ? Just out of curiosity is all I’m a little nosey and can’t help myself but try an figure out what it is you’re talking about?
No judgment. Just inviting people into a way that is more like an actual conversation anyone might have with a friend.
It also happens with “Lord” and “just”. E.G. “Lord, we just pray that you would just bless John Lord and just be with him…” I try not to notice such things, but sometimes it’s distracting
That’s right! The word “just” is repeated so often! Good one.
yes
in presence of yeshua we should talk not simply standing our ritual prayer,
God want talk with us …..
Part of the problem may be that some people don’t have a lot to say to God, they may WANT to pray, but need the extra words as “fillers.”
Great insight. These are “filler” words, aren’t they?
When people get nervous they use extra words such as ummm. I think a lot of times when someone is put on the spot to pray if they’re not comfortable praying aloud then they use the extra words without thinking out of nervousness. When they are alone their prayers may sound totally different and possibly not be spoken aloud.
Agree. Sometimes listening to others pray out loud makes me so uncomfortable. I think they have good intentions but struggle with words. For example, I write MUCH better than I speak. I pray much better silently too.
THere are a wide variety of ways to pray, and so we should feel that out loud prayers are the only way to go.
Excellent. Mantra prayers.
You don’t need to start confusing people anybody can talk to God the way they want to there’s times that I say father God when I want to reverence him and then there’s other times when I say God are there’s other times when I just say hey dude don’t start making me to a political deal for people to have to think that there’s certain ways to talk to God everybody in their own Heart Is Right on how they deal with God
In theory, I agree. People should be able to talk to God in whatever way is most natural to them. But I often find that some people think that there is only one “right” way to pray, and if they cannot pray this way, then they don’t pray. They often learned this one right way from a pastor or friend. I encourage them to talk to God as they talk to any friend.
Redeeming God , Yehoshua actually taught that we should not pray in public. In essence, he said, “Go to your room and shut the door! https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206:5-6&version=NIV
Without any meanness or trivial nit-picking intended, I must make a comment about addressing our Holy God.
The translation of the Lord’s prayer in this article opening with, “Hey Dad” makes me cringe to the nth degree. When teaching the basic structure of prayer to the disciples, Jesus did NOT open His prayer, “Hey Dad.” He, even HE, opened with reverential awe: “FATHER who is in Heaven, HALLOWED is your name.” His opening demonstrates a strong emphasis on just WHO is being address and a declaration of the Father’s HOLINESS.
Furthermore, Abba does not mean, “Dad,” or “Daddy,”or “Da-Da,” or “Pop,” or “Daddy-o,” or any such thing. It is Aramaic for, “Father.” It IS intimate, and indicates and declares the Believer’s standing as a joint heir with Christ. It IS an affirmation of Grace, and we are to trust God’s Word as a child trusts a parent, however, the use of “Abba Father,” it is not an instruction to refer to or address God in an infantile manner. We Believers absolutely may boldly approach the Throne of Grace, but we still need to remember, like Moses, that we are treading on Holy Ground when we speak to the Lord our God.
If people is comfortable of saying Father God, even how repetitive it is I would say let it be,,the most important is they have a personal relationship to our God….The intimacy of your prayer is determine by your heart and your intention aligns with God’s will…God knows what’s in our mind and in our heart.. People express themselves in different ways..may not be authentic to you but who are we to determine that.it’s like culture what is proper to you is not proper for others and what is proper for others may not be proper to you…
I love this
Sometimes I pray only call His name repeatedly with my heart in my prayer sessions. Logical talks sometimes block my heart unveiling to God. So I just pour out my heart to Him saying His name or relational title. My God, My Father! Usually God speaks to me once I am ready to hear His voice. Maybe they call his name multiple times while trying give their heart. We need a logical conversation with people. But God is Spirit so we need to learn to communicate with Him through spirit not just by logical talks. He knows before even we open our mouth. I wouldn’t care how they talk as long as they are trying to pray in spirit.
I don’t think GOD Exist,There is no GOD im not sorry
I believe that the reason we often add extra words and keep repeating phrases, like father God is because we really don’t understand how excepted we are all because of Jesus sake.
Perhaps we don’t talk to God very often and haven’t learned how personable he is. God is just as much of a person as we are; he made us in his image. He loves the relationship, and he paid a great price at Calvary to make that possible.
The Holy Spirit is our teacher, and will lead us into all truth; he will take all the things of the father and the son, and reveal them to us.
A great book on the subject was written by brother Andrew; it’s called practicing the presence of God.
It’s all about his life as a monk, who lived a life of solitude and Hardwork.
Andrew found that he had so many duties. He was all worn out when it came time to pray so what he did was he talked to god throughout the day while he was doing his work while he was working in the kitchen while he was washing dishes, or preparing food.
Perhaps, if we talk to God throughout the day, it’ll make each day or pleasant for us, or invigorating and more hopeful, and will please our father in heaven?
I know these things, but it doesn’t mean that I have incorporated it to the fullness. God has not yet finished with any of us, but we’re on the path and we have the hopefully eternal salvation and life in the presence of God and his people. What a wonderful thing!
Hi I’ve just read some of your messages about god it’s good to talk to Jesus like a true friend but I have tried to talk like that and failed because he is holy and to talk to him naturally is demeaning him and I know that I’m wrong in thinking that.I’m a born again Christian but I still find it hard to talk to Jesus naturally