"You know who you are talking to?!!!!"

When I was little and before I even knew who Jesus was I was a straight up trouble maker. I loved causing drama and then stepping back and watching it unfold. I don't know why I was like that, I just was. My mouth got me into some pretty tough situations. I will never forget the day I cussed out this girl on the bus. She was actually pretty cool but I was on a roll that day. I was going around and who ever I laid my eyes on became the target for my verbal rant. Amy was next. She was a cute girl but she had the unfortunate shortcoming of wearing glasses. (I have, since this situation, become legally blind and need contacts or glasses to recognize even my own face in a mirror). For about 15 seconds I verbally thrashed this girl for wearing glasses. Within the following moments the bus got quiet. Everything seemed to pause. The silence was broken by my friend, "You know who you are talking to?", he asked. You see, little did I know, this cute little girl with glasses was not just another innocent victim that day. She was also the daughter of our town's SHERIFF!...and let me just say this, our town was small. I played off the fear inside by responding, "I don't care, what is he gonna do to me?", but inside I was terrified. I had gone too far this time, I had spouted off at the mouth for the last time. After getting off the bus and walking home, the distractions of my house quickly got my attention and the drama from the bus was a distant memory. (Somewhere between Super Mario Brothers and Contra, Nintendo games from back in the day). My life was back to normal, that is until my parents got the phone call. My normal life was shook back to the reality of what I had done. I had ran my mouth without really understanding who it was I was talking to. I ended up being forced to apologize to her and her family and I was grounded. I wish I could say that was the last time I ran my mouth but it wasn't. I learned my lesson a few more times until I finally understood that you have to choose word's carefully, gently and always keep in mind who it is you are speaking to.

This same lesson applies to our relationship with God. So many of us spout off in anger, or ramble meaningless words, simply because we really don't understand Who it is we are speaking to. One way to enhance and grow in your prayer life is to study more about Who God really is through His Word. To understand the power and work of God's Word is a healthy step in learning how to communicate to God.

How strong can the ministry of the Word be in our lives? (Hebrews 4:12)
How does knowing God's word change our lives? (Joshua 1:8)

Jesus says that eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3)... it is through His Word that we grow to know Him and through prayer that we communicate to Him.

Remember over the next 6 weeks we will be learning how to go Beyond Belief and into an active faith. Prayer plays a big part of our faith in action. This is an area of our lives that we need to focus on and be willing to grow in.

Journal about your prayer life. What comes into your mind when I say prayer? How often do you pray and what is it you spend your time praying about? Before we ask God to grow our prayer life we must realize that the way to grow in prayer is to grow in our knowledge of God. The sooner we come to know Him, the more we will be drawn to communicate with Him.