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[[https://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/jn_de_2024_07_22|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_ix|| Themen Kollektion ix ]]

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====== Prayer Experiences ... ======

Tuesday, July 23, 2024. What are your prayer experiences? I remember that when I started to pray in a sincere way years ago, initially I had problems with it. But my experiences evolved in an unexpected way ... 

Prayer means to talk to God. Is God there? Is he listening? Am I just talking into the thin air? These questions might come to our mind when we start to pray. "God, do you hear me? Please answer me. Please listen to me!" 

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** Get to know God ... **

When you do not know God at all, how would you get to know him? When you pray, but you have no idea how God is, who God is, how can you learn about him? There might be different people and communities talking about God, about their particular God. Who is the real God? Who is the God you want to live with?
  
It is an important question! People in Christian countries pray, Muslims pray, people in Japan pray, in India, etc etc. Different people pray to different Gods, or they have a different idea of who God actually is. Does it mean that there is no God? Does it mean that all ideas about God are right? Can contradictions be correct? Or do they all see an aspect of God only? 

The Christian prayer talks to the biblical God. When you want to know who God is, the bible is the source of information. The bible is a book in which many different people talk about their experiences with this God, about Gods interaction with the Jews, about Jesus himself. When you want to know who God is, have a look at the New Testament and read about Jesus. Or look into the Prophets and what they way about God's mercy, his truth, his love, his justice. 

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In these days he [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
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** Prayer ... **

As a Christian, when you pray, you can sometimes experience God through the holy spirit. That does not need to be there all the time. But it can happen. God comes, and he is there. You can talk to him, and he talks to you - through biblical passages, or through images, or through sermons and other Christians. 

Jesus took time to go into prayer. He spent whole nights in prayer. He talked to his heavenly father. This is written for us, to follow him. 

Did you pray already today? Give it a try, even minutes can change a lot. When you come to God, he will be there with his advice. He will be there with his help. When his spirit enters your heart, you will change the way you do things. You will be changed by him, he changes the way you look at people. He gives you perspectives, courage, patience, truthfulness, and even love. He is a source of motivation, a source of peace, a source of satisfaction. Give it a try! 

Enjoy your day!
(Roland Potthast)

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