Talking to God is the same as praying, because prayer is at its core, conversation with God. When we are praying we are communioning with the Father and drawing near to Him through the many forms of prayer.
I think one of the most common misconceptions about prayer is that it is only praying when you are asking God for something. Of course, that is a form of prayer and it’s called supplication, but that is not the center of what prayer is all about.
Prayer is about spending time with God through communing and fellowshipping with Him. When we fellowship with God, it takes on many facets. [Related article: Spending time with God (Common Questions Answered)].
One moment we may be thanking Him for who He is and everything that He has done for us, and the next we are praying for our neighbor to be saved and asking God to open a door for them to hear the Gospel, and then after that, we may start singing to Him and worshipping Him or we may get silent and try to hear what He has to say.
This is an example of prayer. Not all of it is talking to God, although most of it is. Some of it is singing, and some of it is listening, but it is all prayer. [Related article: How to Spend an Hour in Prayer (8 Helpful Tips)].
The Bible reveals each one of these facets of prayer throughout scripture. Here are a couple of passages:
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9)
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6)
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men” (1 Timothy 2:1).
“But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).
Does God hear me when I talk to Him?
If you are a born-again believer, who is walking in right relationship with Him, then you can speak to God and He will hear you. However, no sinner, who has not repented, can have a relationship with God, so if you have never decided to follow Jesus then God does not hear you.
The Bible makes it clear that if we are not followers of Jesus then God will not hear us when we pray or talk to Him.
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).
The only prayer that God will listen to if you’re not walking with God, is the prayer of repentance.
If you don’t repent, He won’t hear you when you speak, but as soon as you repent of your sin and put your trust in Jesus, He forgives you and you enter into a relationship with God.
“..that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13).
“And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:17-18).
Notice the language the apostle Paul uses in these couple of verses. He mentioned that all of us gentiles (non-Jews) were far off, separated from God, but now God has brought us near to Him by the blood of Christ’s cross!
And then he continues to say that we “have access by one Spirit to the Father” because of what Christ did on the Cross. In other words, we can now have a relationship with God because of what Christ did for us.
So now, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you can talk to Him and pray to the Father, and God will hear you! The only requirement for you to be able to talk to God out of your heart, and Him hear you, is your trust and repentance toward Jesus.
And the only requirements for a believer to receive answers in prayer are that our prayers are in the name of Jesus (John 14:13-14), they are done in faith (Mark 11:24), and that they are according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). If we do these things, God hears us and will answer us!
Is prayer a conversation with God?
Prayer is a conversation with God because all prayer stems from us talking with Him and Him speaking to us. Although there are many forms of prayer, they all consist of either man speaking to God, or God speaking to man.
Throughout the Bible, there are verses that mention conversing with God. Some of them are stories of a men talking with God, and others are verses commanding and encouraging all believers to talk with God.
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9)
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Phillipians 2:1-2).
As you can see from each of these verses we are encouraged by the apostle Paul to fellowship and commune with the Lord and His Holy Spirit. (Related article: The Prayer Life of the Apostle Paul & How to Pray Like Him).
Communion is simply talking to God and being open to hearing from God. It is a two way conversation.
If you and I were having fellowship/communion one day over a coffee, but I was the only one talking, would it have been true fellowship?
Of course not, because we never exchanged with one another. This is what communion is meant to be about; exchanging with God our heart’s desires to Him and then Him revealing Himself to us more and more.
So, in short, communing and fellowshipping with God is the core of what prayer is all about. There may be many forms of prayer, but these “forms” are simply words that describe the different aspects of your fellowshipping with God, whether that be intercession, worship, supplication, etc.
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