Spiritual Health, prayers and God

SPIRITUAL HEALTH
(I am writing this article since I am an Christian, you should follow your religion and belief)

Of all God's creatures, human being have the unique and awesome privilege of being created in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). The greatest benefit of this is being able to have a personal relationship with God. Throughout His Word, God repeatedly stresses the importance of right relationships. In fact, Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:35-40). Beginning with our creation, God has done many things to initiate a relationship with us. It is up to us to respond to Him and show initiative in nurturing that relationship with good communication. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you," James 4:8 tells us. Our prayers keep us connected to God. Jesus said to His disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). Here Jesus explained a crucial factor in true friendship - ongoing, open and sincere communication. A true friend is someone you talk with openly and regularly.

But a good relationship depends on two-way communication - a dialogue.
Prayer and Bible-study go hand in hand, along with serious thought and introspection about how to apply God's teachings in our own lives. If we expect God to continue hearing our prayers, we must begin obeying the Ten Commandments and His other commandments. Each of us must ask: How good a friend am I to God? How good a son or daughter am I to my Father? I truly love God when I love my neighbor. So do I really do something concrete to reach out and love, beginning in the family, then my cluster and so on. God certainly "hears" silent prayers, and someone who is close to God may utter silent prayers often, throughout each day. The Bible tells us to "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17). But God is also pleased to have us vocalize audible prayers. Numerous times the Scriptures mention the praying person using his voice, mouth, lips and tongue. The Bible also frequently uses expressions like cry, cried out, cried aloud, called to, etc. Regarding bodily positions during prayer, the Bible mentions several-kneeling, standing, sitting, lying down. We can talk with God while taking a walk or driving a car. The most important consideration is to always do your best to express humility and deep reverence. Busy? Most of us are. Lack time to pray? Consider that we all make time for those things we consider most important. And we will accomplish more in the long run when we put God first. Hence we cannot afford to 'not pray'. Prayer needs to be a top priority -make it a daily habit in your family.

In your prayers, besides going through your needs and wants, make sure to take time to thank God for the many ways He has blessed you in your life. And take time to pray for others. God always responds in the way that is best for us spiritually, and that sometimes means the answer is "no" or "not now," or the answer is something other than what we expected or wanted.
Let's not let the wonderful spiritual tool of prayer go to waste by not using it. Let's walk with God-obey Him and talk with Him in prayer.