We just returned from two months in the US. Whenever we go back to the US I find that I have to adjust to the way of life there. I can’t always put my finger on it but life just feels different in a different country, so I have to change some of my expectations when we go back to the US. What I didn’t realize years ago was that living in Ukraine was changing me, it wasn’t just changing the way I lived or thought but it was also changing the way I spoke. I realized this when people in the US began telling me that I seemed to have a slight accent in English. “What do you mean?” I would ask with surprise. “I grew up here!” At first I didn’t believe it but later I came to accept it after a number of people told me they sensed an accent.

So what was it? Why did my speech change? All I can say is that conversations are powerful and they can change us, they can change the way we think and they can change the way we speak. All that time talking with Ukrainians and others who spoke English with a different accent than mine changed the way I spoke English.

As you have studied the conversations of Jesus this summer I pray that they have changed you, that they have tweaked your accent, that your faith, your life, and your speech look a little more like Jesus.

Today I want to point your attention to another type of conversation that we see in the life of Jesus. Thankfully, the gospels record for us many of Jesus’ conversations with God the Father. There is no better way for us to see the heart of Jesus and than to have an intimate look at his conversations with God the Father.

Mat 14:23

23 And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain to pray in private; and in the evening he remained there alone.

Jesus knew that ministry demanded much of him, spiritually and physically. Even though the people were constantly following him, constantly asking him to perform miracles he took time to get away from it all and spend time with his Heavenly Father. Jesus spent much time in private prayer. There are at least six times when we see Jesus leaving the crowds in order to spend time in prayer.

• Mar 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

What an amazing example Jesus is for us! Today each of us has a crowd that is constantly following us. That crowd can be found in our social networks, at our work, in our computers, in our homework, and a thousand other places. It’s hard to turn our world off but it is necessary. God wants us to come to him in the quiet private hours of our life. He wants to hear our voice individually, apart from the clatter of this world. God knows that our spirits need quiet conversations with our Heavenly Father.

Jesus lived more in private conversations with God the Father than he did in public discourse and ministry. The temptation today is to live almost completely in the public. To do everything for everyone one or at least to make an impression and be seen by everyone. Jesus’ life was like an iceberg, his public ministry was only a small manifestation of his private spiritual life. Jesus lived an “upside” down life. We can see this come out clearly in his teaching on prayer.

Mat 6:6

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Unseen prayer is the type of prayer that God sees. Of course this doesn’t mean that we can’t pray in public, we can. However, there is an added danger in public. We can easily pray for the ears of others. Sadly, many of us are skilled and praying “theological,” “holy,” and “reverent” prayers in public, yet in private these same prayers are absent.

Why is private prayer so important?

• It tends to remove pretense (We can fool others but we can’t fool God)

Why is it that there is so much apparent religious working, and yet so little result in positive conversions to God — so many sermons, and so few souls saved — so much machinery, and so little effect produced — so much running here and there, and yet so few brought to Christ? Why is all this? The reply is short and simple. There is not enough private prayer.The cause of Christ does not need less working, but it does need among the workers more praying. Let us each examine ourselves, and amend our ways. The most successful workmen in the Lord’s vineyard, are those who are like their Master, often and much upon their knees.

~ J.C. Ryle

If Jesus needed prayer, then we need it more. Unfortunately, many people today live in silence to God. Many people do not know the embrace of a Good Father in times of prayer. Many Christians live day after day lacking spiritual strength and hope and it’s all because they lack those much needed conversations with God who loves them and is waiting to hear from them. Many live in icy silence and they themselves do not know and do not understand why they experience loneliness, feelings of abandonment, and coldness in their souls. Many of us are stubbornly trying to fix on our own what only God the Father can fix. Like robots we go about our daily task mechanically. We get the job done but we have lost the joy because we have lost the relationship. We perform our tasks, we manage to get by, we keep our heads down and our mouth closed.

Too many of us have forgotten that God does not want our theatrical performance, he wants our simple, sincere, and private prayers!

Why don’t we make prayer a priority?

1. We don’t really believe in it.

What can we do to make prayer a priority?

1. Plan for prayer