Talking with your Heavenly Father when you are alone with Him in His Sanctuary is like spending time with your closest friend. God first initiated this friendship; how we respond to Him gives an added dimension to the relationship. Yes, He is not only someone with whom you share your deepest concerns—He is also your holy, magnificent, awesome, loving, and living God who deserves your highest praise and honor.

This is the ultimate relationship and is unlike any other you have ever experienced.

We do not come to God in prayer to win His favor or love for us. God has already shown us His love through His son Christ Jesus who died for our sins and transgressions. Rather, prayer is the most intimate form of communion with God; it shows Him that we desire a personal union with Him.

Prayer is turning our hearts heavenward, focusing on Him, listening to His voice, and surrendering to His will for our lives. Yielding ourselves in submission to Him is necessary to be able to hear his voice. This is not a passive exercise but, rather, it is an active choice displayed out of strength, not weakness. We choose to surrender and say, “Not my will, but your will.” We choose to be in His will. As Charles Ebert Orr stated in Food for the Lambs:

Prayer is the energy and life of the soul. By prayer all storm clouds are driven away, mountains of discouragement are cast into the sea, chasms of difficulties are bridged, hope is given wings, faith increases, and joys abound. Hell may rage and threaten, but he who is frequent and fervent in prayer experiences no alarm. By prayer, the windows of heaven are opened, and showers of refreshing dews are rained upon the soul. It is as a watered garden, a fertile spot where blooms the unfading rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley; where spread the undecaying, unwithering branches of the tree of life.

Your time alone with God begins with confessing your sins and asking Him to forgive those sins. Since the blood of Christ Jesus cleanses you from all unrighteousness, confession and cleansing prepares you to enter into His Sanctuary and experience the ultimate relationship. . .  (Excerpted from Chapter 7).

Prayer Requests and Prayers Answered

Keeping a record of your prayer requests and answers to those prayers is an essential part of the journey toward intimacy with God. Alone with God in His Sanctuary contains several prayer request pages like these: