Walking And Talking With God: Living with God in Sweet Fellowship and Powerful Prayers

By Phil Walter

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the Garden of Eden? Just think, Adam and Eve enjoyed a beautiful home with the marvelous privilege of walking and talking with God. Do you think there is a way to recapture some of that glorious communion with God on this side of eternity?

Author Phil Walter believes there is. He maintains that people can enjoy sweet fellowship and powerful conversations with God that are reminiscent of Eden. In Walking and Talking with God, he shares some biblical principles that will help followers of Christ experience some of that soul-stirring relationship that was lost in Eden.

Phil learned these lessons through his in-depth study of the Scriptures, his interaction with well-versed Christian teachers, and his personal experiences on his journey of life. However, this is not a collection of personal memoirs; it is a compilation of lessons that confirm and exalt biblical truths.

The first section of his book is entitled "Walking and Talking with God." In it, Phil provides a variety of lessons about discipleship and prayer that Christ-followers should understand. He shows the reader that good prayers start with a good relationship with God on the Lord's terms. Then he goes on to relate how magnificent that relationship can be.

The second section, entitled "Jesus's Model Prayer," focuses on the Lord's Prayer as presented in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. Phil unpacks the prayer, piece by piece, to show the amazing depth of truths found in it.

The third section is "Comprehensive Prayer." Phil uses this unusual term to expand the scope of typical prayers. He encourages readers to consider the multitude of prayer possibilities all around them, perhaps the way God sees our world. He even offers a sample of a comprehensive prayer which he suggests can be a helpful tool in several ways. His intention is for believers to dive deeper and draw closer to God in prayer.

After covering a broad range of topics related to prayer and discipleship, the Appendix is filled with practical information, such as "Helpful Scriptures with Personal Comments about Prayer," "A Sample Prayer Campaign for Your Church: Fourteen Days of Prayer for Our Church," and "How to Start a Prayer Ministry in Your Church or for Yourself."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798888513729

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

Walking and Talking with God

A Loving Relationship with God

What It Means to Walk and Talk with God

Ways People Experienced God in Bible Times

Let's Think about This

Coming into the Light

The Meaning of Prayer

Attitudes Are Important

Let's Get Real

Praying for a Closer Walk with God

What If You Knew Someone…

Healing Sick People

A Solid Basis for Prayer

A Little More about Persistent Prayer

The Power of Prayer

Our Relationship in Prayer

Building a Spiritual Core

Add to Your Faith…

Open and Honest Communication

Praying the Bible20

Partners in Prayer22

Prayer Warrior or Prayer Nurturer?

Praying for Lost Souls

Meditative Prayer

Jesus's Model Prayer

Following the Model Prayer

The Prelude to Jesus's Model Prayer

Jesus's Model Prayer

Comprehensive Prayer

How Long Should a Comprehensive Prayer Be?

Introduction to Sample Comprehensive Prayers

The Sample Comprehensive Prayer29

Almost to the End but Not There Yet

Appendix

Helpful Scriptures with Personal Comments about Prayer36

A Sample Prayer Campaign for Your Church: Fourteen Days of Prayer for Our Church37

How to Start a Prayer Ministry in Your Church or for Yourself

Notes

About the Author

cover.jpg

Walking And Talking With God

Living with God in Sweet Fellowship and Powerful Prayers

Phil Walter

ISBN 979-8-88851-371-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88851-372-9 (Digital)

Copyright © 2023 Phil Walter

All rights reserved

First Edition

Unless otherwise indicated, Bible quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Dedication

First, this book is dedicated to my Lord Jesus Christ and all those who connect with Him in prayer, especially my fellow prayer warriors. May this book encourage you to be faithful in your service to God.

Second, to my family (Susan, Grandma, Jason and Evelyn, Eva and Elvis, Alison and Paul, Anna and David, Rachel, Christopher, Junior, Elena, Jeffery, Pauly, Elisa and Dan, Eric, Anthony, and baby Philip) may this book help you walk and talk with God in a beautiful, eternal relationship with Him. I love you.

Third, to my church family at New Horizons Christian Church. I am glad to call you my brothers and sisters in Christ. May this book help you grow in Christ and become effective prayer warriors for the Lord.

Preface

The number of books about prayer is mind-boggling. Since there are so many, they must have covered the subject completely. Furthermore, it seems like most mature Christ followers have either read one of these books or have been taught from them. This author has.

Well, this is the other book about prayer and ministry that you should read. Though Solomon said, There is nothing new under the sun, (Eccles. 1:9 NIV) rediscovering a forgotten truth can be just as exciting as finding a new one. This book may supply you with a fresh or different perspective on some aspects of prayer that will enrich your prayer experiences.

One of the reasons I am adding another volume to the inexhaustible number of books about prayer is because God put a burden on my heart to tell others what I have learned about the subject and its joyous effects on my daily Christian walk. I am sharing the personal knowledge I have gleaned from Bible study and practicing prayer for over five decades. Though there are other servants of Christ who have written their own volumes on this subject, in every case, including this book, the reader must search for the truth. It can be found, and it will set you free (John 8:32).

Prayer is very important to me. Though I have had both tragedies and victories in my life, my personal walk and talk with God has kept me on the right track. I could have given up, given out, or given in a long time ago, if it were not for the Lord meeting with me in prayer. It has been amazing. Now I want to share the blessings He has given me over the years. You can benefit from them too.

Prayer is a Christian discipline that has been an important part of my life since I was an adolescent. I started with simple prayers and progressed to more complex prayers, as I learned more about praying. As I look back, I can see that God was working on me, in me, and through me as I prayed, though I did not realize the extent of it at that time. I am confident that God guided me, protected me, and blessed me from an early age because I sought Him despite my frequent waywardness. Thankfully, prayer was one of the spiritual anchors He put in my life.

Though prayer is a very big subject, I have limited the scope of this book to the highlights of my own experience with it. Also, I have tried to break it down into palatable portions. Perhaps you will be able to find exactly what you need without wading through the whole book to find it.

You see, I want this book to be practical, as well as theologically sound. So I talk about the practical aspects of prayer, not just theories. I want to share with you important lessons I have learned from the Bible and from my life experiences over the years. In my later years, my prayers have grown to include a much broader view of life and the spiritual struggles we all face. That is because I am a student of prayer who continues to learn more about the subject. And I have much more to learn. I don't think of myself as an expert but a fellow traveler on the road of life.

I want this volume to be relatively easy for Christians to read and carry with them. This is not another exhaustive volume. I want to touch on the aspects of prayer that are most meaningful to me. This is not to say that other topics are unimportant. Quite the contrary; every facet of prayer can be very helpful when we are seeking a better relationship with God. But I want this one to be very useful.

In fact, I hope this book is like a bag of gems for spiritual treasure hunters—rubies, emeralds, garnets, amethyst, sapphires, opals, topaz, or turquoise. Each one is different, but all of them are stunning and valuable. When polished and put in the right settings, they can make beautiful jewelry that everyone can enjoy. Likewise, each of the spiritual truths and lessons that I have gleaned from the Bible has its own value and beauty. Each can be enjoyed by itself, but included in a collection with others, it has even greater value.

I believe there is a great need for biblical prayer. In summarizing some of the results of a survey they conducted, the Barna Group describes the diverse and complex subject of prayer in American society in this way:

Prayer is not only the most common faith practice among American adults (79% have prayed at least once in the past three months), it's also one of the most complex and multifaceted. The Bible speaks of numerous kinds of prayers (supplication, intercession, faith, etc.) and uses diverse language to describe the practice. Different traditions and denominations tend to emphasize certain kinds of prayer over others, or even develop and build upon those laid out in scripture. Perhaps the only consistent thing about people's prayers is that they are different. Americans do not think about approaching prayer in any kind of homogenous way—or even pray to the same deity (if they pray to a higher power at all).¹

This book is a long way from perfect, but it represents who I am—a long way from perfect. It is my understanding of the Scriptures and my personal experiences in walking with the Lord.

I wrote this book to help my fellow travelers on life's road to avoid some of the potholes that I hit and to help them reach their proper destinations successfully. To equip themselves for their journeys, they will need to follow God's GPS (the Bible). Bon voyage!

Acknowledgments

I am very thankful for God's grace that allowed me the privilege of writing this book. If there is anything good in it, it originated with Him. Praise His Name!

Most of my material comes from my study of the Scriptures, my firsthand experiences, and a myriad of resources that I read or heard over the fifty-five-plus years in my specialized service to Christ. While I have been able to document some of these sources in the endnotes, I am unable to remember them all. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the impression all of them made in my mind. Any omission or error of those sources is deeply regretted. Upon notification, I will be pleased to make the necessary corrections in subsequent editions of this book. Now I hope my writing will leave impressions on other people, even if they cannot remember the source.

I am very grateful to my wife, Susan, who gave me much encouragement and made sacrifices in many ways. She was patient and understanding over the long road to a completed manuscript. Not once did she comment that I was taking too long. I am grateful for her support that was vital to my efforts.

Among the many other people who helped me in various ways, I thank my daughter, Alison, who allowed me to hide in her condo for some focused writing. And I thank the remainder of my children and grandchildren for their suggestions and encouragement that were very beneficial to my writing.

Section 1

Walking and Talking with God

A Loving Relationship with God

Come, walk with me, He said tenderly…

"I wanted to walk with you in the garden, but you weren't content.

I saw the excitement in your eyes as the world was revealed.

But your eyes would wander."

"Even casting you out, I remembered the garden…

I listened for your voice. But your heart was far from me.

"You worshiped gold and silver. You put other gods before me.

I sent you prophets, but you wouldn't listen.

I sent miracles, but they were forgotten.

"I knew there was only one way…

I wanted to walk with you in the garden…

My Son paid the price."

He still waits to walk with you in the garden.

His Son paid the price.

—Scott Lineberger²

The words of this poem describe the warm and loving relationship that God desires to have with us. Unfortunately, that desire is not always returned by His highest creation.

As we travel along the road in life, God says, Let's take this journey together (Paraphrase of Matt. 28:20). If we do, He helps us when the way gets difficult, shows us the best route to follow, and defends us when our enemy attacks us. Ultimately, He will lead us to the most beautiful destination that anyone could ever hope for—His glorious home called Heaven where we will enjoy eternal love, joy, and peace in His presence.

That makes walking and talking with God one of the greatest privileges that He has given His children. There is certainly something very special about spending quality time with Him each day.

I first discovered the beauty of this truth through my daily devotions, especially as I prayed. My relationship with Him grew deeper and stronger over time. As I look back, it has sustained me and even blessed me with joy in my times of deep personal need.

Now I would like to help others discover that same relationship with God and receive the blessings that come with it. But I do not hold myself up as a model; just a fellow pilgrim on the road of life, trying to help others along the way.

What It Means to Walk and Talk with God

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)

And the Lord God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. (Gen. 2:16)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. (Gen. 3:8–10)

In the beginning of the world, God created people to walk and talk with Him. Furthermore, they were created in His own image so that they could share a similarity that no other creature on earth had. They could come to know and love God, personally.

Walking and talking with God describes that close, personal relationship with Him. This is the kind of fellowship that every Christian needs. It begins in this earthly life and continues throughout all eternity. In fact, the prophet Micah tells us, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Mic. 6:8, emphasis added).

Walking with God pictures our daily life with Him. Talking with God implies our communication with Him. Both are vital to our spiritual health. Prayer is part of our fellowship with God that continues daily. The closer we get to God, the better our fellowship will be. And the better our fellowship with God, the better our prayers will be. What's more, walking and talking with God daily not only keep us in a good relationship with God, but also they draw us closer to other people who are trying to walk with Him as well (1 John 1:7).

The trailhead where we can begin to walk and talk with God is our belief that God exists and that He wants to reward us with a beautiful, personal relationship with Him that can continue eternally (Heb. 11:6). Jesus is the gateway to that trail where we find a soul-stirring relationship that can transform our lives (John 10:9). As we walk along the trail of the Christian life, Jesus Christ can lead us away from the worldly instincts and philosophies (our sinful human nature) that end in death. Instead, He leads to find a new and better life with God. This relationship produces true spiritual growth in our lives which results from a process that begins when we are reborn through Christ.

Our faith in God and His Son moves us to humbly surrender our lives to the authority of Jesus's lordship over us. When we submit to Christian baptism, we are born as a new life in Christ (Matt. 28:19; John 3:3; Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12; 19:5; 22:16; Rom, 6:4; Gal, 3:26–27; 1 Pet. 1:23; 3:21). At this point, we try to stop doing the things of the old life and start doing things that Christ-followers do, such as praying, reading our Bibles,