Prayer Is Soul to Soul Communication with God

Posted on October 21, 2026 by Stephen Nielsen

We have said that prayer is petition. Now we are saying that prayer is not only petition, it is also something more basic—it is soul to soul communication with God.  And this really must come first, before we ask God for anything.  For this is the heart of prayer.  Before we can expect Him to listen to our requests we must have contacted His soul by our soul.

I got this idea from Jim Downing in his book Meditation, where he suggests that various passages in the Psalms (e.g., Ps. 62:5, 130:6, 25:1) “indicate that coming into contact with God involves the soul.”10 And he stated that “Theologians in general agree as to the soul’s principle powers…the mind, the affections and the will.”11

So, I am suggesting that “coming into contact with God” with our souls is really what prayer is.  True prayer, therefore, will involves the mind, the affections (the heart or the emotions), and the will (that part of us that makes choices).

All prayer begins with the exercise of the mind toward God.  We may call it meditation.  And we can meditate on all kinds of good things, but we must make the primary source of our meditation the Word.  We can’t go wrong by meditating on the Word of God.  “As we meditate on the Word of God [says Jim Downing], the life of Jesus Christ flows out of Him, through the Word, and becomes a part of our spiritual bloodstream.”12

Secondly, to engage our soul with the soul of God we must exercise our emotions (or our heart) toward God in communion.  How do we do this?  Well, our meditation on the word is how we start.  It will open the door to heart-to-heart communion.  When we study and meditate on His Word, He speaks to us and then we listen. 

Communion is also speaking back to God.  It is talking to God and listening.  But it is even more than that.  It is fellowship on the highest level.  It is the sharing of His holy nature.  According to Downing, “Communing…is engaging our heart with the heart of God.  The result of that communion is that our soul is watered (Jer. 31:12).”13 Downing goes on: “Communion…is a two-way communication, an alternating impact of two personalities where we listen intently and then share intently with the other person; there is an actual sharing of lives involved.”14

The third part of the soul is the will.  With the will we make choices; we choose to obey God or not.  The exercise of this part of the soul is vitally important.  Our listening to God and choosing to obey Him keeps the door of our soul open to His soul; it keeps our soul in contact and in communication with Him.  Accordingly, our willful obedience is the key to bringing life to our soul.  For by it we receive His love and power (Jn. 14:21).  Without obedience our prayers drop dead; but with obedience our prayers come alive and are continually energized by His life.

Now, as I said earlier, we can’t begin to make petitions without having this soul-to-soul communication with God.  For this is the nature of true prayer.  It is how we pray in Jesus name, that is, according to God’s will.  Accordingly, when we know what His will is we can make petitions based on His will.

But this kind of prayer—soul-to-soul communication—is not only for a basis of petition; it is also just for the sake of conversation and for enjoying God.  As E. M. Bounds has said, “[Prayer]…is communion and intercourse with God.  It is enjoyment of God.”15 I also like what Bill Bright has said: “Prayer is simply communicating with God…It is a dialogue between two people who love each other—God and man.”16

Therefore, if prayer is simply communicating with God, it is more than just petition.  It is talking to God about anything we choose and listening to Him.  I think prayer then would include such things as praise, thanksgiving, and confession (which we will talk about in another chapter).

Furthermore, although prayer normally always includes petitions (because we are so needy and dependent on Him for everything), in-between those petitions that we make we normally just make conversation—that is, we just talk to Him.  In Jesus prayer to His Father for example (in John 17), Jesus makes basically six petitions (in verses 1, 5, 11, 15, 17, and 21), but in-between all of them is conversation.  I challenge you to look at it.

If you count the number of lines of petition in your Bible, and then count the number of lines of conversation (as I did) you will find that 85% of the prayer is conversation and only 16% is petition. I analyzed a few of the prayers of David, in the Psalms, and I came up with the same results. When I made this discovery, it surprised me and really convicted me.  Most of my prayers and the prayers I’ve heard from others, I would say, are almost the opposite, more petitional then conversational.  What does that say about us?  Well, whatever it says, I think we should work toward the model prayer that Jesus gave us here.  His prayers were petitional, yes, but they were surrounded with ample conversation.  And so, since Jesus prayed this way, we must conclude that it is the natural, normal way to pray.

10 Jim Downing, Meditation, The Bible Tells You How (Colorado Springs, Colorado: NAVPRESS, 1976), p. 18.

11 Ibid., p. 18.

12 Ibid., p. 27

13 Ibid., p. 55

14 Ibid., p. 55.

15 E. M. Bounds, The Reality of Prayer, p. 9.

16 Bill Bright, How to Pray (Canada and the USA: Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc., 1971), p. 7.

Source: Basics of Prayer

Posted in About Basics of Prayer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three Types of Prayer Petition

Posted on October 20, 2026 by Stephen Nielsen

1.  That We would hear God come to us. We get this idea from the first three requests of the Lord’s prayer:  “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  According to Theodore W. Jennings Jr.,

In effect [these prayers say to us]: It is not enough that you be holy in yourself—be holy to us as well [let your name be hallowed on earth]; it is not enough that you reign far off, far above, far ahead—rule here and now [let your kingdom come down to us]; it is not enough that your goal is perfect in itself—complete it here [let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven].  In short, it says: It is not enough that you are God—be God for us, with us here and now.4

We get this idea also from Revelation 3:20, where we see the image of Jesus knocking at our heart’s door wanting to come into us, to sup with us and us with Him.  Here it is important to see that all prayer does not begin with ourselves.  He starts it.  Therefore, when we say that this type of petition is an invocation, that we are summoning God to come to us, we must remember that He has already summoned us to come to Him.  Our summoning Him is just a response to His summoning us.

O Hallesby comments on Revelation 3:20: “… [It] affords a new glimpse into the nature of prayer, showing us that God has designed prayer as a means of intimate and joyous fellowship between God and man.”7

I agree. The nature of prayer is a means of obtaining fellowship with Him.  And though we are separating out this type of petition as suggesting that it should come first, as to invoke God at the beginning of our prayer time to come to us and help us pray, this type of prayer is really also at the heart and core of all prayer.  Yes, it is the nature of all prayer to desire that God would be present with us—to commune with us and be God to us.

Therefore, the nature of prayer is the desire of the soul for God; it is a crying out to God for fellowship and help.  We see this most vividly in the prayer of David when he prayed, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:1-2a).  Again, in Psalms 63:1 David prays, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is not water.”

The second type of petition is…

2.  That He would give us the things we need. Though this type of petition also includes the summoning of God to come to us (since that is the nature of all petitions), it is different in that it is more specific as to our needs. 

In this type, as in the Disciples Prayer, all the things we need can be grouped into three categories: (1) for our daily bread—for all the physical things we need for survival: food, clothing, shelter, etc.; (2) for forgiveness—that which we need for our spiritual life in order to maintain peace with God; and (3) for guidance and—that God would take care of us and protect us from all forms of evil.

The third type of petition is…

3.  Intercession. At first glance you may not see this type of petition in the Lord’s Prayer.  Perhaps to you it appears that all the requests are personal.  And you are right; they are all personal.  But if you look closer you will discover that they are all intercessory prayers as well, because the prayer does not address the Father as “my father” but as “our Father.  Thus, if we pray the way Jesus wants us to pray, all prayer (all true prayer) is intercession.

Here is what E. M. Bounds says about intercession:

 

‘Intercession’ is an enlargement in prayer, a going out in broadness and fullness from self to others.  Primarily, it does not center in praying for others, but refers to the freeness, boldness and childlike confidence of the praying.  It is the fullness of confiding influence in the soul’s approach to God, unlimited and unhesitating in its access and its demands.  This influence and confident trust is to be used for others.9

Well, this is what I think: I think that there are levels of prayer.  And the more we trust God the more unselfish our prayers will become, and thus, the more they are true, and hence intercessory.  Therefore, the truer the prayer the more we can say that they are intercessory prayers—prayer that cries out as “our Father” instead of “my Father”.  Now, are prayers not effective at all or of no value if they are selfish (or less intercessory)?  I don’t believe anyone but God can judge the value of prayer.  I only say this: the more unselfish (intercessory) prayer is the more it is effective, because it is more Godly; but only God can judge how effective. 

4 Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., Life as Worship, Prayer and Praise in Jesus Name (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982), p. 23.

7 O. Hallesby, Prayer (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1931), p. 12.

9 E. M. Bounds, The Reality of Prayer, p. 10.

Source: The Basics of Prayer, P. 11-14.

Posted in About Basics of Prayer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prayer is Petition

Posted on October 19, 2026 by Stephen Nielsen

We get this idea mainly from the original Biblical words translated for us as prayer.  Every Hebrew and Greek word I studied (three Hebrew words and eight Greek words) indicate that prayer is petition—asking God for something.  It is an expression of a wish or a desire; Christian prayer is an expression of a wish or desire to God.  We see this particularly in the following Greek words: euchomai, to pray to God, to wish for; deomai, to desire, to want, to ask, and to beg; and deesis, a wanting, a needing, then an asking, entreaty, and supplication. 

Here we see in these words that desire comes first, and then we express that desire with a request in order to receive from God what we desire.  That is the nature of petitionary prayer—pretty simple.

But another thing to remember is that in true prayer the desire must come from God.  We see this illustrated in Matthew 9:36-38. Jesus, after seeing the weary and scattered multitudes (like sheep without a shepherd), was moved with compassion for them, and therefore urged His disciples to pray to God (the Lord of the harvest) to send out laborers into His harvest.  Here Jesus perceived that more laborers were needed to minister to the needs of the great multitudes. So Jesus, having this great desire and compassion to meet the needs of all the people, urged His disciples to pray for more laborers. 

Do you see what I am getting at?  Just as the desire of the disciples to pray for laborers was urged upon them and transferred to them by Jesus, our prayers to the Father also must be urged upon us by Jesus.  Thus, our desire in prayer must first be His desire.

Source: The basics of Prayer, p. 10-11.

Posted in About Basics of Prayer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Definition of Prayer

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Stephen Nielsen

In this first blog post on the definition of prayer, I have found from my study that there are many different definitions of prayer.  One author, John R. Rice, says that prayer is nothing but petition.  He insists that prayer is not meditation or communion or spiritual enjoyment or praise or confession or humiliation; “[it is simply] asking something definitely from God.”1 

Many other authors (that Rice would say are liberal or modern) seem to say the opposite—that prayer is fellowship and communion and friendship with God, and not a demand for His gifts. For example, E. M. Bounds said, “Prayer is communion and intercourse with God. It is enjoyment of God.”2

Ronald Dunn seems to agree with Rice. He wrote, “Prayer is an act. While we should live in an attitude of prayer, prayer is more than an attitude.”3

Others I have read would disagree.  They would say that since prayer is communion and fellowship with God, that would make prayer a consistent attitude and not merely an act.

So, as we see, with just these few authors, there are huge differences.   And there are many other definitions and descriptions of prayer, each different—some are just a bit different, others extremely different.  So, what are we to conclude? Whose view should we follow?

Well, let me say right from the start that it is extremely important to know what prayer is, because you will conduct your prayer habits and your life according to that definition of prayer that you choose.  But, in saying that, I think it is also important not to be too rigid and narrow-minded in choosing a definition, as I think some authors tend to be. Therefore, in this chapter I intend to broaden your thinking about the definition of prayer.

I have read so many good definitions of prayer.  And you know what?  I think 98% of them are right—even though they disagree with each other.  So, what am I suggesting, that we just agree with all of them because they sound good?  No.  I am suggesting that prayer, and the definition of prayer, is bigger and broader than we may have thought.  Actually, the word definition is itself quite broad.  It includes the nature or meaning of a thing, its description, and its form or forms. 

1 John R. Rice, Prayer Asking and Receiving (Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1970), pp. 47-49.

2 E. M. Bounds, The Reality of Prayer (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1978), p. 9.

3 Ronald Dunn, Don’t Just Stand There, Pray Something (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1959), p. 184.

Source: The Basics of Prayer, p. 9-10.

Posted in About Basics of Prayer, Definition of Prayer | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Next Blogging Adventure

Posted on October 14, 2026 by Stephen Nielsen

It has recently occurred to me that, though I have written much on the subject of prayer, I think it would be good to take each of my five books on prayer and send out excerpts from them. The first book, Basics of Prayer, has ten chapters totaling 140 pages. Each of the chapters I think are basic to prayer. I will try hard to keep the posts short and something you would be interested in. I want to send you everything, but I will work on cutting out the fat.

I want to also insert something else from time to time—something I will write from my heart.

I hope you will comment and ask questions. That will be good for both of us.

Blessing to you.

Posted in About Basics of Prayer | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Our Greatest Gift

Posted on November 27, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

There is no better thing we can do on Thanksgiving Day than to look up to heaven and begin thanking God for His great love to us—for giving us His only Son, that he would die on the cross in order that we may have eternal life.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This is our great prize from heaven. There is no better gift. Our joy and thanksgiving overflows on this day. All other things we are thankful for pale in comparison to that great gift. Nonetheless, with hearts full already, with eternity awaiting, we thank God for all other good things. His basket of gifts fills our life. Our joy overflows.

Posted in heaven, Prayerful Thoughts and Intentions | Tagged | Leave a comment

Prepare for Prayer

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

How to Prepare Your Heart for Prayer

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Stephen Nielsen

Here is step three of six on how to have an extended prayer time. The entire title of this third step is…

Know How to Prepare Your Heart for Prayer and How to Respond to God’s Call to Pray

As I see it, there are basically only two things to do in an extended time of prayer: wait on God, and respond to His call to pray. But it is crucial that you do it in that order.  If you just mechanically begin to pray for all your needs without waiting on God to direct you, you will be going against the Holy Spirit and will soon become frustrated.  So first wait on God and listen to Him.  He will tell you what to do and in what order.  He is the master of prayer.  You are His disciple and servant (Read Isaiah 50:4).

Waiting on God begins even before you get to your place of prayer. Waiting on God isn’t really an activity; it is a mood, or a frame of mind.  It is being an obedient listener.  This obedient, listening mood is something you should try to maintain throughout your time of prayer.  But at the beginning of your time you will want to make an effort to establish it. Therefore, you should try to put aside your own selfish desires and focus on God and on what He wants to tell you and show you.

In order to establish this listening mood a good thing to do is go for a walk, or a boat ride, or maybe a drive in the country. As you go, pray that God will give you a listening ear.  At some point along the way, stop and read and meditate on a passage in the Bible.  And if the Spirit leads you, sing to Him and praise Him.  You may also want to just sit and look up into the sky or into the trees, or on the water.  I love sitting by a lake or a stream.  It always seems so comforting.  The moving of the water and the tree branches and the grass symbolizes to me the moving of the Holy Spirit.  When I see the effects of the wind all around me I am assured by God that He is there and working.  That is always so comforting to me.  There are so many ways we can see God in nature.  I hope you take advantage of it and let God touch you and come near you.

As you walk and sing and meditate on the Word and pray and observe things around you while listening to the Holy Spirit, at some point He will call you to more serious prayer. He may also call you to repentance and purity.  He may push you down on your knees and even on your face in repentance.  If you feel this don’t resist.  It is the Holy Spirit working on your heart to get you ready for prayer.  At that point confess whatever sins come to your mind.  Tell God whatever is on your heart.

After you have confessed your sins and cried, you may feel some relief and a lightness of heart. He has cleansed and forgiven you (1Jn. 1:9).  At this point you may feel that the time of prayer is over, that God has touched you and healed you and prayer is no longer needed.  But your prayer time is just beginning!  He has broken you down, made you repent, and cleansed your heart to prepare you for prayer—for serious prayer!  Don’t give up now!  Stick with it!

You must continue to wait on God until you feel a burden for prayer, or rather a burden to pray for specific things. Wait on Him patiently and He will show you exactly what He wants you to pray for.

If you feel some tug at your heart to pray, but for nothing specific, I would suggest starting your prayer time by reading some of the Psalms (you may want to have some passages picked out ahead of time). As you read and meditate on them, also pray over them, and let them become your own prayers—for the Psalms, and all of Scripture, are the Word of God; God will use them to form your prayers.  Also, if you feel like singing and praising Him, by all means do it.  Don’t hinder the Holy Spirit in any way.  Continue in praise and singing as long as the Spirit leads you.

At some point the Spirit will lead you to pray for something or someone in particular. He will put a burden on your heart for them.  Pray right then without delay!  You may want to write things down as they come to you so that you have a record of what God led you to pray for.  Don’t be concerned about the order that things come to you in, even if you find that you are praying mostly for yourself or mostly for one particular person.  Just pray as the Spirit leads you.

As you are praying for yourself, God may show you some things about yourself that you may want to consider and change. I would suggest having a notebook handy to write those things down.  After your prayer time comes to an end, take the time to go over everything God has showed you and begin to apply those things.

Posted in Reblogs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Extended Prayer Times

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

Let’s say you agree that you need more prayer; that it would be good to have some extended, special prayer time. How do you go about it?  Here are six steps to follow:

1. Establish personal reasons and begin to form some ideas.

In a previous blog we have already discussed some very good reasons why extended prayer times are necessary. But each of us ought also to have personal reasons. And then, from those we can start thinking about what type of special prayer is needed.

So first of all, let us search our heart to find out where we are at and what we need. Or maybe we don’t know what we need; that is the problem and we require answers.  At any rate, the first thing to do is to set some goals.  If you can’t think of what you really need or what God desires of you, just set some very general goals like: to see God and His ways; or, for God to show me what He wants me to do.

But perhaps you do have some very specific goals. You may want to hear from God concerning your vocation or a college to attend.  You may need guidance concerning a mate.  Or maybe your goal is just to have more time to pray for your children or for some friends.

Now, in accordance with your personal reasons for prayer, you should be able to come up with some ideas about what this special prayer time should look like. Here are two things to consider: the amount of time you require in prayer, and the place of prayer.  I would suggest a time of at least two or three hours.  To be classified as special prayer you need at least that long (but that’s up to you).  If you think you have a lot more to pray about, or if it will take longer to meet your goals, you may want to plan for a whole day; or maybe, if you can find the time, for a whole week.  Wouldn’t that be great!

For the two or three hour plan I would suggest a walk in the park, or maybe spend the time in a boat (but that’s up to you). If you have your heart set on a week, I think a cabin in the woods would be ideal—or a cabin on a lake, with a boat!  You may want to think also about having regular extended prayer times, and to start thinking about how often you would want to have them.

2. Set the time and place.

It is not enough to think about and set goals for prayer. You must actually start making your plans, set the time and place, and make the necessary arrangements. If you want to spend a week in prayer at a cabin, you will need to make the arrangements to make sure you can get the cabin. And you should also make sure you can get a week off from work.  I really like the idea of planning regular times of special prayer, whether it’s once a month, every 6 months, or once a year.  It will be something for you to look forward to.  Write those dates on your calendar.  Give special priority to those times.

Posted in Reblogs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Special Prayer Times

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen

We All Need Special Prayer Times

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Stephen Nielsen

Prayer ought to be regular and daily. We need prayer every day like we need daily meals and daily sleep.  But just as a car requires an oil change and a tune up once in a while, it is essential for every Christian to also have extended, special prayer times so that he can take a longer, deeper look at God and at himself—in order to tune up his life.  Daily prayers are good and necessary to prepare us for each day and to guide us through the day.  But sometimes we get in a rut.  We do things just out of habit.  We pray the same old way.  We ask God for the same things.  We take the same amount of time to pray, at the same time of the day, in the same place.  Prayer sometimes gets to be a drag, and we wonder if we should do something different.  We even wonder if we are praying in the Spirit, or if we are just praying the same words that we always pray out of habit.

An extended prayer time will help. It will help you to see God clearer and to better know His ways and His will.  It will help you to get a better look at yourself, to see if you are going in His direction.  It will be a time to look to God for refreshment and rest.  It will also be a time to catch up on prayer.  An extended time will give you the required time to pray for all the things that you had wanted to pray for but just couldn’t seem to find the time.  Yes, it will be a time to really labor in prayer—and out of it will come refreshment.

I have found that the more I pray and really work at prayer, the more I am refreshed and at peace. That is because when we pray and trust God for everything (for every little thing) He assures us by His Spirit that He has heard our prayers and that He will take care of us.  This peace (assurance) we feel in prayer is the Holy Spirit working in us, keeping us strong and protecting our hearts from doubts and fears. (Doubts and fears are normal for us in our unredeemed flesh, but they are also from the devil; many of the fiery darts talked about in Ephesians 6:16 I think are darts of anxiety and fear, which the devil and his demons are constantly throwing at us.)

These things can be overcome by much prayer. By prayer we build up our faith.  By much prayer God comes to our aid and puts up around us a protecting shield of faith and peace.  Philippians 4:6 and 7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving , let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Okay, let’s say you agree that you need more prayer; that it would be good to have some extended, special prayer time. How do you go about it?  In the next few posts I will give you some ideas.

Posted in Reblogs | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pray with Sincerity, Part 3

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Stephen Nielsen
7 Ways to Pray With Sincerity – Part 3

Posted in Reblogs | Tagged | Leave a comment