![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3786-800x333.webp\")
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Prayer is basically communication. We think of it as more than that, but the whole idea of prayer is to talk \u2014 specifically to talk to God and through it put ourselves in a state where we can hear Him. The whole point is to make contact and hear what we need to know.<\/p>\n
We have faith that He hears our prayers, even when we pray for things that we shouldn\u2019t. But we also struggle when we don\u2019t think that we have received any response. What is happening when we don\u2019t get a response? Did God not respond? Or is it us?<\/p>\n
I believe that a part of the problem is in the nature of this communication. Most of the time answers to prayers come in feelings more than in any language. To me, that suggests that the \u201clanguage\u201d of the communication may contribute to the difficulty in understanding. Hearing Him requires learning a new language, understanding a language that is unlike any other, but that we also manage to confuse with other feelings. If I\u2019m right, learning the language of prayer takes work \u2014 but that work can be done by anyone, regardless of how educated or \u201cliterate\u201d they are.<\/p>\n
So why use another language? Human language is hardly the perfect medium \u2014 we miscommunicate all the time. But communication through feelings has an impact that is difficult for human language to match. To put it simply, answers to prayers come in unique ways that can\u2019t be matched \u00a0by our normal language.<\/p>\n
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These feelings, the communication from God, can be crucial when we are trying to make moral decisions. Like it or not, most moral decisions aren\u2019t completely clear\u2014between our own motivations, the morality of others and the complexity of many situations, a case might be made for most alternatives in moral decisions. I don\u2019t mean that there isn\u2019t a best moral decision in every case, but rather that we can and do find ways to justify our actions. Thus we need communication from God to help in these cases.<\/p>\n
In this poem, the proflic poet Joel H. Johnson shows how prayer should be a daily part of our lives, and helps us learn how to face temptation.<\/p>\n
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by Joel H. Johnson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/p>\n
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1882<\/p>\n
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I\u2019m not completely sure of the difference between discernment and prayer. It seems like discernment involves more of our own decisions and knowledge than receiving answers to prayer. But discernment is also something that we build over time\u2014 likely through prayer to some degree.<\/p>\n
In the following poem, James Bond (yes, that\u2019s the name of this English convert), doesn\u2019t mean that whatever happens is somehow right or good\u2014wrong and evil things do happen. He does mean that whatever happens God does is good, and that we need to learn to discern that. Bond is arguing that we need to trust that what God does is right.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
by James Bond<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1852<\/p>\n
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Our communication with God is also influenced by what we do and how we act. Making covenants puts us in a place that allows the Lord to dwell with us and makes that communication better. And I suspect that it also teaches us how to hear Him\u2014that is, the language of prayer.<\/p>\n
This kind of relationship with the Lord, one that is built through things like covenants, is the subject of the following poem describing our devotion to Him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
by Andrew Dalrymple<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1889<\/p>\n
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Maintaining this kind of relationship with the Lord requires our hearts to be aligned with God. In many ways this is our task as Christians \u2014 becoming close to God through becoming like him (as opposed to creating a \u201cChristian\u201d nation through coercion, as too many people seek today).<\/p>\n
In this poem the task of the Christian is outlined: \u201cTo imitate a Savior\u2019s perfect way.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
by Ann Robinson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1912<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prayer is basically communication. We think of it as more than that, but the whole idea of prayer is to talk \u2014 specifically to talk to God and through it put ourselves in a state where we can hear Him. The whole point is to make contact and hear what we need to know. We have faith that He hears our prayers, even when we pray for things that we shouldn\u2019t. But we also struggle when we don\u2019t think that we have received any response. What is happening when we don\u2019t get a response? Did God not respond? Or is it us? I believe that a part of the problem is in the nature of this communication. Most of the time answers to prayers come in feelings more than in any language. To me, that suggests that the \u201clanguage\u201d of the communication may contribute to the difficulty in understanding. Hearing Him requires learning a new language, understanding a language that is unlike any other, but that we also manage to confuse with other feelings. If I\u2019m right, learning the language of prayer takes work \u2014 but that work can be done by anyone, regardless of how educated or \u201cliterate\u201d they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":53827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2895,24,2906,2462,1323],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-come-follow-me-currculum","category-music-and-poetry","category-old-testament","category-poetry-arts","category-sunday-school-lesson-old-testament"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_3786.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53802"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53833,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53802\/revisions\/53833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}