Have you even been caught talking to yourself? There you are in your house and you think no one is around. As you go about your work, you’re chatting to yourself; feeling relaxed, your using the full array of silly voices. Then from behind you comes a faint cough and the quizzical question, ‘who are you talking to?’

At the end of January, The Archbishops of Canterbury and York encouraged people everywhere to pray concerning the Covid pandemic. As they did, it got me thinking; what is prayer and how can it do any good?

Whenever we go through a hard time in our life it can be helpful to talk about it. In one sense, it doesn’t matter who we talk to, a person, an animal or even to yourself, articulating the problem can be a helpful step in dealing with it.

Is that the power of prayer? Is prayer putting our problems into words and getting them off of our chest? When I look at the Bible, that’s not the answer I see.

So, what does the Bible say about prayer? Here are four things. First, prayer is a conversation with God. Because of Jesus and his death on the cross, the Bible says we can know God for ourselves and one of the privileges of this is we can talk to him. Prayer is the way we do that in our lives.

Second, prayer is a conversation that’s heard. When you talk to yourself, you feel embarrassed when someone overhears, or I do anyway. But when you pray, you want someone to listen. The Bible tells us that God hears prayer.

Third, prayer is a conversation that can make a difference. I don’t know what you believe God is like or if you believe there is a God at all. The Bible says he is real and is infinitely powerful. There is no problem he cannot fix. If this is true, prayer is so much more than wishful thinking.

Fourth, prayer is a two-way conversation. The Bible teaches that God doesn’t just hear prayer; he also answers. True, it may not always be the answer we want, but our words are not left bouncing around the clouds.

If you want to know more about God, Jesus and the Christian faith I’ve been vlogging through Mark’s Gospel. Mark is a book in the Bible that focuses on the life of Jesus. The videos are available on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page.

Praying you all keep safe and well.