Can ya hear me?

"Ralph, I need you here for a second, would that be okay?" you reply-- in your mind.

     Ralph is working in the kitchen, cooking up some food to eat for the daytime.  He knows you're there, across the counter, but has his attention focused on the sizzling pan.

     "Ralph, it's urgent-- I need to talk to you over here for a sec."

     Still, he's in the kitchen, flipping the sautéed veggies and sprinkling in some extra spices.

     "Ralph!" a bespoken you verbalizes.

     "Yeah, whatcha need?"
    
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     A conversation with a friend can't happen when you have what you're going to say in your heart, but not in your mouth.  This is, quite frankly, very, very obvious.  Now, let's put this in a more spiritual setting.  You need something (i.e. an uplifting emotion, strength to overcome adversity, etc.-- NOT i.e. money, fame, power, a lottery winning, etc.) from God.  You look up and see that He's most likely there.

     "Huh, he'll probably give me _____ sooner or later; I would want it, though."

     Even though God knows what you want and He knows when you need it, it may not come to fruition because you were missing one important element in communicating with God-- the actual "communication" part.

     Question-- why do we pray?  You clasp your hands together, bow your head down, and most likely kneel at a quiet, comfortable place.  You say a bunch of things, "amen," and boom!  Done.  What's wrong with that?  Well, for starters, it lacked what I mentioned before.

     Praying/prayer is a communication between you and your Father in Heaven-- God.  You talk to Him about just... stuff.  Stuff that you would talk about with your parents, your friends, your coworkers, and your acquaintances-- except a bajillion times more meaningful.  Sure, God knows what you did and what you're going to do-- "Oh, I met Suzie across the street the other day-- I really like her--" however, He would much rather prefer hearing your story from you.  Why?  He's your Father in Heaven!

     Next time you think of prayer, think about it like this.  In a nutshell, God knows you.  He knows what you're going through and He knows what you need.  If you just [reverently] ask Him what your needs may be (and some things that you thought were interesting throughout your day that you think is worth sharing), He'll hear you loud and clear.  God wants to hear from us.  How else would you talk to your parents?  Haha they are mind-readers, but still!  The only way to grab someone's attention is by verbalizing your request.  Food for thought.