Dear New Christian,

First, let me say welcome to the family of God. I well remember when I first became a Christian. I too felt like I knew nothing, and guess what -- I didn’t! When we first trust in Jesus for salvation, we are spiritual babies in Christ, just like a baby in the natural. When we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sin and give our life to Him, we belong to a whole new kingdom. We were brought out of the Kingdom of the devil and placed in the Kingdom of God. We now have a Heavenly Father who gave us His words in the Bible to teach us the ways of His Kingdom. We have to learn to walk and talk with our Lord.

The way you communicate with your friends, communication with the Father is the same way. Talking with Him and listening to Him -- that is prayer. The Psalmist of old wrote: “Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth” (Psalm 54:2). “Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry” (Psalm 88:2). Our Father loves us and yearns to hear from us. He wants to hear what we need, not only for ourselves but for others we see who have needs.

Getting into a good prayer group might help you. I remember my first one right after I became a Christian. I was so nervous I did not say a word for a week. I just listened and learned. I learned to talk with the Father; then listen to what He had to say….I just started by opening my mouth and talking!

The Apostle Paul gives us great instructions from Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The only way to not look, think or act like the world we came out of is to be changed in our thinking. That is only done by reading our manual for success, the Bible. By reading and reading, we will see how important it is to talk or pray to our Father.

He is with us always and wants us to involve Him in everything we do. This is done through communicating in prayer! Over time, your prayer life will become richer and more meaningful to you. Your thinking and praying will become more and more His ways – with eternal values in view.