Prayer - that dangerous verse in Philippians 4

Here's something I think most relationships could use more of:

Talk more and listen more! So many people who come to talk with me about relationships that need repaired or resurrected talk very little about the real, the significant, the scary things in their life. I meet successful business people who grew up in homes where no one talked about things beneath the surface. TALK MORE TO GOD. Talk more about what really matters to you to people you care about. For a lot of people this is hard -you might even need a coach or person to encourage and give you pointers.

LISTEN MORE. I used to always try to fix my wife's problems when she was sharing them with me. Usually she didn't want that; she wanted me to hear her heart, the frustration or the excitement. She was inviting me to feel with her, her day! Listening means learning to go beyond words. To search for the heart meaning.

So, here's our passage: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
1) Pray about everything! My relationship to life is colored by how much more I talk to God about everything. You may need to set your watch to beep every hour as a reminder to practice connecting in your mind to God. Practice talking more to God literally about everything. (Seriously I struggle doing this when the Seahawks are losing.)

2) Tell him what you need. Sure you might not really need it, but it's more likely you'll began to realize how much God IS part of everything you need. I so quickly just get what I need. I just grab what I want. I don't involve God enough. Try doing this more!

3) Thank God a lot more! That's my second three-word prayer I try to pray (and journal) out every morning ("I am blessed!"). Laying in bed I start with my sweetheart next to me - "God I'm so blessed by having Laura in my life. Open my eyes to see new ways she blesses my life." The more you sense how blessed you are, the greater you value the person who is blessing you. Do a recount of all your blessings from the day before. It's a great way to start your day.

The promise in verse 7 is frightening. "Will you really do this God?" I don't want to expect it because, if it doesn't happen, then who will I blame?

Ok, God's not the Candy man, but he knows how to teach us to communicate better. "Just do it Bruce!" Communication is JUST a tool. It's for the purpose of growing real, authentic, meaningful friendship. God wants and has given us a forever friendship - it's ours! Free!

Yes, I'm going to blog later today re: the cool book I've been talking about.