What's talking with God really like?
459308
well I guess if you take enough hallucinogenics it might happen or you will believe it did so I would have to say it would be trippy
417030
Prayer is many things, but most importantly, it is communication with the Almighty. This means it is conversation, not a monologue. When I pray, I try to spend more time listening than talking ... I figure God knows more than I do, so He should have the bulk of the time to do the talking :)\n\nFor my part, there are the short "HELP! ! ! " kind of prayers when I'm in a bind; the pouring out my heart to God, kind of prayers; the lifting up a brother or sister who is in a bind kind; the deep and travailing intercession for others; prayers of blessing for my friends (and enemies); praying for protection, wisdom, direction, etc.\nIn short, even though the form of the prayer changes with the circumstance, the Object of the prayer (God) remains a constant, so any prayer that is prayed in veiw of God's glory being manifested in the greatest possible way, is assured of a positive answer.\nI do try to pray for things VERY specifically (God, please bless Tom by giving him a job that will let him spend more time with his kids, and still pay the bills), as opposed to general prayers like "God, please bless Tom." In this way, I can know with greater certainty that God has answered the prayer (He may very well answer both, but If I have only prayed a general prayer, I won't know if it's really God answering or just 'the way things turned out').\n\nIn my experience the best prayers start with listening to God, finding out what is on God's heart, and then praying for that to happen.\n\nEdit: I wanted to add that prayer does not have to be done in any set or formal way (although formal prayers are not wrong), or use a bunch of high-sounding words that lack personal meaning but sound 'religious'.\n\nAlso, I think God likes us to be 'dirt honest' with Him (It's not like we are really hiding anything from Him anyway). Sometimes my prayers are more like yelling at God, and sometimes I get downright demanding (like a child who still has some 'growing up' to do), but I know that God is big enough not to be threatened by my anger, frustration, disillusionment, disapointment, etc, and even when these emotion are directed at Him, he is patient with me, and (I think) is actually just as pleased in those times as much as the ones we usually refer to as a "good prayer time".
926014
Sounds about right - Have you ever read Conversations with God by neil donald walsh? - not jesus freak stuff but based on the concept that everything is the choice you spoke of - fear vs. love and how we create our own realities\n\nThe meaning of life is to live it - that means something different for each one of us...finding our passion is a journey.
742006
yes...praying is talking to God...while building ur relationship with him and doing ur daily walk, u will want to pray and talk to him as much as possible...when i pray, i make sure to thank him...in everything, give thanks, then i tell him i love him and then lift prayer requests to him...u can pray anywhere...anywhere at all!  at school, before you eat (to bless the food), going down the road, while reading ur bible, in ur bed before you go to sleep, when you wake up, in the shower...absolutli anywhere, absolutli anytime!  my favorite place to pray is the alter...it's supposed to be meeting with God and u can feel his pressence the strongest there...prayer is amazing and you should definatli do it!  good luck and i'll be sure to pray for you!  :]]
126727
It is possible for people to experience messages from God as a voice.  I once met a man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, and he had struggled for a long time to recognize the voice of the Holy Ghost in comparison to all the other voices in his head.  He said that the voice of the Spirit was always accompanied by feelings of peace.\n\nIn addition, remember that the Holy Spirit will never tell you to do anything that's inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ.\n\nYou can also pray to God and ask Him to help you recognize whether the things that you understand are messages from Him.  He cares about you and your mental health.\n\nThese are some keys you can use.
479649
It is powerful as any prayer. \n\nPrayer is communication with GOd. Most people see prayer as being down on your knees, eyes closed, and heads down. Prayer is communication with God. The Bible says to pray without ceasing.\n\nwhen you pray, you have to be real with God. Saying this prayer over and over is cool. But when you pray, tell GOd what is on your mind. Go to him like you would go to a friend. you don't go to a friend or put it like this (YOUR FATHER). you don't go saying the same things over and over.\n\nyour prayer shouldn't be ritualistic and custom. Jesus did tell the disciples to pray this prayer. But notice what Jesus said to God on the cross. He prayed to the Father. Jesus said, "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." Jesus was communicating. \n\nAnd once last thing. God does not answers prayers, he just fulfills his word. Many people are saying God isn't answering my prayer. God has never answered a prayer. We only pray what he already said he would and could do. When you pray for health and then you are healed. God didn't answer your prayer, he fulfilled his word. Jesus said, "By my stripes you are healed." "Whatsoever things you ask in the name of Jesus, it shall be done." \n\nThat was deep.
617761
Here is what I would say to God if I had a direct line to God.\n\nDear God,\n\nWhy are some children beaten, abused and tortured to death?  Why does it seem that the nicer a person is, the weaker the person is perceived and subsequently taken advantage of?  Why do you allow bad things to happen to good people?  Why is EVIL so powerful?  Why are religious leaders so very evil sometimes?  How can you allow certain people to use religion and faith in YOU as a tool to inflict major pain, suffering and humiliation on so many innocent people?\n\nGod, please tell me why I am still alive?\n\nThanks,\nMr. Lou Zerr
721206
Have you tried reading it from the MESSAGE translation?\n\nPhilippians 4:4-9  \n4Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! 5Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!\n\n    6Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. 7Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.\n\n    8Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious--the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. 9Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
853617
God's language is silence.\n\nGod is omnipresent.  That means that God isn't separate from you or I.  God is within you and I.  \n\nIt's not like you are not part of God, but God is somehow external in some famous person.\n\nIf you really want to hear God, you have to listen to silence.  That means listening to not only all the typical noises around you, but all the thoughts in your head as well, including the voice that keeps telling you that this is a load of shyt.\n\nPeace brother.
258083
God speaks for Himself through His Word (the Bible) and through His Messengers (preachers).  i am not a preacher, and I won't pretend to know the Bible inside and out, but I know this much:  God Loves You.  He loves you so much, he gave up His Son on your behalf.  He loves you now, and he has always loved you. He is waiting to know whether you love him...
180458
It depends on what you mean by pray.I keep talking to God throught the day like hes my friend which he is.I do read the Bible everyday.
857886
I was born as a catholic christian.  It comes a time that I personally asked God and it is also the time that I am losing belief in God and siding to belief that God was only a figurative thing.  Until, I was fed up one day with my problems and I raised my head and uttered to God that He is not real, to my surprise He answered and shown me a vision up to this time I can vividly recall.  His voice is the one described by the prophets, gentle, forgiving and powerful.
1027628
Building Your Relationship With God\nI was born and raised a Christian; from the ages of 10-17 I went on a mission trip each year. My last mission trip when I was 17 was a Mission trip arranged by Marantha in conjunction with Peace of the Pie Ministries, called “The Ultimate Workout”. Every mission trip I have ever went on, including this one, was all for the wrong reasons. I did not go to glorify God, or to draw others to Christ; my main reasons were girls, fun, and girls, purely selfish reasons. However what set this trip apart from the rest was not the mission trip itself building churches and seeing people’s lives changed by God, it was the last 30 minutes at the airport as I waited for my plane there in Costa Rica’s airport. \n While sitting there at the airport, I got to talking to a guy that was also waiting for the plane. I told him I was there on a mission trip and we were building churches and stuff. Then he started to ask me what I believed, and I told him what I believed, or at least what I had been taught to believe. I had always taken God for granted since I was surrounded by Christians everyday for the last 17 years of my life. Nevertheless he was not satisfied by my answers; he wanted to know why I believe what I Believe not just what I believe. It was all I could do to scrape up a few verses to try and keep from sinking in this conversation; finally the boarding call for the plane came I was “saved by the bell.”\n I realized that I know of God, but I did not have a personal relationship with Him. I had never truly given my heart to God. All that was part of taking Him for granted. Even then I did not think about it to much, but that seed was planted in my mind. \n When you give your life to God, you need to nurture the relationship, to truly learn and understand who He is. The only way you are going to nurture the relationship is by talking to him, and listening to his word; the Bible. Christ says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:22-23. Just carrying the name Christian does not denote, nor signify a personal relationship with Christ.\n The Bible compares our relationship with God as a groom and his bride. Now, if you get married and you never talk to your spouse again, or if you do all he talking and do not listen, how long do you think that relationship will last. I’ve been married now for 6 months 23 days, and I talk to my wife every day to strengthen our relationship. The Bible says “Do not deprive one another…, that Satan may not tempt you through your incontinence.” 1 Corinthians 7:5. Incontinence means to withhold yourself from something. So to keep the relationship of marriage from failing husbands and wives are not to depriving one another of the use of their bodies, nor any other of the comforts of the conjugal state, appointed of God for keeping the vessel in sanctification and honor, and preventing the lusts of uncleanness. God, through Jesus Christ, has already given us his body; we as Christians are not to withhold our body from him, so that we may have an intimate relationship with God.  \nIn the same way Satan can tempts us by our incontinence away from God. Satan is quite tricky; he can do it without you even knowing about it. Jeremiah 9:5-6 says, “And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.” Satan has many people deceived, they do not know God because they do not study the Bible, they think that just listening their pastors, and ministers will do the job. Yes it is good to listen to the council of your spiritual leaders; how
919311
You will know when you know God....When you know God. God is not simply  good idea. He is real and as real as anything else in your life even more so. So continue to seek God in prayer and meditation and in his word and everyday you are working on your relationship with him. No one can know God for you and you can't just accept what people tell you. It is imperative you build your relationship with him. You have God's word that if you seek him you will find him and there will be no doubt in you. God will make himself real to you, May God bless you in your relationship with him.
1023241
my favorite way to experience God is through a thunderstorm.. seeing that awesome power manifested in lightning and ground shaking thunder is so sweet.. sometimes just quieting my mind and listening to the nature around me and watching the breeze when i'm outside really make me feel at peace.. give it a shot :)\n\np.s. also quieting your thoughts when you pray to Him.. not letting your other thoughts distract you as you commune with Him.. that really makes a difference in my opinion
1122548
I pray and intercede for others (and myself) all of the time. Sometimes it's by myself and sometimes it is while praying together with others.  Sometimes it's through regular prayer, and sometimes it's through praying in tongues. Sometimes I understand and know what I'm praying, and sometimes I do not. In any case, there are so many benefits to it:\n\nWhen Interceding for Others\n\n1. I know others are interceding for me and it is an honor for me to be able to do the same for them.\n\n2.  I get to see God answer my prayers and I see the fruit in people's lives.\n\n3.  There is the satisfaction of knowing that when you do it, you are not only obeying God but pleasing Him deeply.\n\n4.  You experience deep personal intimacy with God. Have you ever been so close to someone that you could finish their sentences, and you begin to know and understand their desires?  When you intercede for others, God is sharing His heart with you.  He is asking you to pray and telling you specifically what for. It can be very intimate.  Would you reveal your deep longings to someone you were not close to? So it is with God.  He gets' close to you in order to do it.  Hearing God speak to you and express His heart to you is one of the greatest things in the world!\n\nWhen Interceding for Myself\n\nOften I will pray and ask God for answers.  I also ask Him all of the time to search my heart.  I ask HIm to convict me of any sin in my life and just to speak to me.\n\nDuring these times God often makes me aware of sins and other things in me that I honestly was not aware of, and I am able to repent and change to make right whatever I need to.  God also speaks to me and touches my heart this way.  It is a great way to draw nearer to God and get to know HIm more.  It's awesome!!!
967169
I am concerned.Preaching hellfire and brimstone is not always going to be the best way to start off a conversation.Every single one of us are different.Some people go off at the mere mention of Jesus Christ or all religions for that matter.Then some are willing to here what some people say with an open mind.Some people who witness to others don't always think out what their going to do,and how their going to do it.Some people are given the gift of bringing souls to Christ.Some stumble when they try.\n\nPeople that witness to others cannot and will not ever be able to make someone believe.There holy mandate is to bring the gospel to the masses,and have grace when doing so.Not everybody can find that fine line.\n\nNext time someone witnesses to you,and you feel their wrong.Tell them to stop,and to remember the way Jesus did it.He did it with grace,love,and adhering to his father's law.\n\nPeace be unto you.