How I first learned to converse with Jesus personally
Back in January of 1964 I was attending a small church in East Whittier, California. My best friend from high school, Wick, and I were at a late night prayer meeting with Jerry Eisley, a friend of ours from church that had been on staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. Jerry was reading a book entitled Prayer: Conversing with God by Rosalind Rinker.
Here are a couple of quotes from the book:
“Prayer is a dialogue between two persons who love each other.” With this profound insight, Rosalind Rinker — writer, missionary, and dedicated evangelical worker — gives the key to a simple yet powerfully effective method of increasing the joy and meaning of your prayers. As nearly one million readers have discovered, Prayer: Conversing With God is a fresh and inspiring guide, based on the eternal promise: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”
“She also addresses the risk of praying to impress other people or gain their approval by manufacturing emotion, fervency, or eloquent speech. This completely misses the point of prayer which is communicating with God. If one wishes to be eloquent and have people praise him or her for their great public speaking abilities, they should seek out alternate venues rather than “showing off” during times of prayer.”
We discussed the book a while, and Jerry decided to put an empty chair in the middle of our prayer circle. He said that, since the Lord promised to be at our midst when we got together in His name, Jesus was right there with us!
Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Matthew 18:19-20 (King James Version)
When we prayed, we could just talk to Jesus. We started praying knowing that the Lord was right there. The room filled up with the presence of the Lord. That really turned on a light bulb for me. I had loved the Lord all my life, and I felt that I was a Christian. But that night I made a connection that was so real I couldn’t resist later when I went home… I returned to my bedroom and got down on my knees. My prayer was simple: “Jesus, if you are real come into my heart. Forgive my sins and change my life.” At that moment it seemed that the whole room was full of light. I was so filled with joy. It was like a weight had been taken off of me. There was a radical change in my life from then on. It turns out that my friend Wick went home that night and had a similar experience.
It’s amazing how such a simple act of faith that night in the prayer room caused such a radical change in my life. I had a conversation with Jesus!
Click here to see the table of contents and part of chapter 1.
I wonder if you’d mind if I print off your post about conversing with God and share it with my Bible study group.
I would be honored Karen!