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Welcome back to the RX3 Podcast. I am your host, Salma Canu. Today I want to ask you a question. When was the last time you prayed? If you ask people how often they pray, some of them might say, Well, I go to church. Okay, but that is not the question. Going to church does not necessarily mean you pray. People go to church for all kinds of reasons. Some people go for the sermon, some go for the music, some go because their family goes, some go for the fellowship, or simply because that is what they have always done. You can sit in church every Sunday and still not have a personal prayer life. So I am not asking when you last went to church. I am asking when you last personally talked to God. And I do not mean the last time something went wrong and you said, Oh God, please help me. I mean, when was the last time you really talked to God just because you wanted to talk to Him? You can pray at home. You can pray in your car. You can pray while you are walking, cooking, getting ready for work, or lying in bed. You do not need a microphone, a choir, or somebody standing behind the pulpit. You just need to talk to God. Everything we want to accomplish requires some kind of preparation. If you want to pass a test, you study. If you want to cook, you gather what you need. If you want a strong relationship with someone, you spend time with them. So why would our relationship with God be any different? A lot of people only pray when they are in a really bad situation. Then, when God does not answer in the way they expected or within the time they gave him, they become upset. But God is not a vending machine. Yes, he is our provider, he opens doors, he creates opportunities, he places people in our lives to help us. But I have never seen God come all the way down from heaven and physically put money into somebody's hand. A lot of times he provides through people, opportunities, ideas, protection, redirection, or something that did not look like an answer when it first happened. That is why we have to stop acting as if prayer is a transaction. Prayer is part of a relationship. A friend of mine recently told me about a concept used in marketing and networking. You do not introduce yourself to someone and immediately start asking them for something. You build a relationship, you communicate, you follow up, you allow that person to know who you are before you arrive with your handout. And it made me think about how some of us approach God. We do not talk to him, we do not thank him, we do not acknowledge him, then something goes wrong, and suddenly it is, oh God, I need this fixed right now. Think about someone who rarely calls you. Every time their name appears on your phone, you already know they want something. Are you rushing to answer? I know I am not. It is not necessarily because you mind helping. It is because you know that person is not calling, because they care about you. They are calling because they need something from you. Let us be grateful that God is not like an irritated human being who refuses to hear you because you have not prayed recently. God is merciful. You can return to him at any time. My point is that we are missing what a real relationship with God can be when the only time we speak to him is during an emergency. We need to stop using God only as 911. He is our 911. He is the original 911, but he is also supposed to be part of our everyday lives. God is not our servant, it is the other way around. We serve him, but sometimes we act like he is our personal assistant. God, I need this. God, give me that. God, fix this by Friday. And when Friday comes, we are upset because he did not follow our schedule. Who exactly do we think we are talking to? I am not saying any of this because I think I am the holiest person in the world. I am not. I am a potty-mouthed Christian. I do not turn the other cheek all the time. Honestly, I rarely turn the other cheek. Sometimes I feel like if you come looking for something, you might just get it. So I am no saint. I am still working on that. But I try to talk to God every day. I thank him. I tell him what is bothering me. I ask for help. Sometimes I am frustrated. Sometimes I do not understand what he is doing. And I tell him that too. Sometimes I marvel at what he has done and simply say, thank you. I talk to God boldly. I talk to him the same way I am talking to you right now. There have been things in my life that could have gone very differently. Despite everything that has gone wrong, it could have been worse. I know that because I have seen what worse looks like. And even then, it could be worse than that. I have experienced things over the past year that I may talk about when the time is right. What I can say now is that my relationship with God has been a rock for me. There are things people go through that can bring them to the edge of a mental breakdown. And this is not simply about money. People can have money, success, beautiful homes, and everything they thought they wanted and still feel completely empty. Imagine having everything physically but still feeling like something is missing. Even worse, imagine not being able to identify what is missing. That is a soul issue. That is a spiritual issue. When I am going through something, I tend to become more introverted. I shut most people out because I have learned that not everybody asking what happened is asking because they want to help. Some people just want information. I am not interested in feeding the gossip mill. So I talk to God. I know I can tell him everything without wondering who he will repeat it to. And when I cannot fix something, I say, God, I need you to step in because I cannot do this. There is research showing that prayer and similar spiritual practices can affect brain activity, emotional regulation, stress, and the way the person praying experiences difficult situations. I am not saying that science can prove every spiritual experience or explain how God works. Science can measure what happens inside the body and brain, but faith goes beyond what a scanner can measure. I have also seen claims online about people speaking positive and negative words over water. The images are interesting, but those experiments are not reliable scientific proof. It is possible that prayer changes water molecules, but we don't know that for sure. I do not need science to believe in the power of prayer. I have seen what prayer has done in my own life. I have seen doors open, situations shift, protection show up, and an almost scary kind of peace come over me when everything around me says I should be feeling the opposite. Prayer is a powerful tool, and so many of us are not using it. So I want to ask you again: when was the last time you prayed? If you pray every day, keep going. If you have not prayed in a long time, but you want to start again, you do not need to find perfect words. You can start right now. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for every person listening to this episode. I thank you for their families, their friends, their loved ones, and everyone connected to them. Father God, thank you for placing this subject on my heart and allowing it to reach whoever needs to hear it. For every person who wants to know you, return to you, or build a stronger relationship with you, I ask that you meet them where they are. Enter their hearts and draw them closer to you in the way that only you can. For anyone caring pain, fear, confusion, loneliness, disappointment, or something they do not feel comfortable sharing with another person, remind them that they can bring it to you. Give them peace where there is anxiety, strength where they feel weak, direction where they feel lost, and hope where they have started to lose it. Help us remember to seek you, not only when we need something, but also when things are going well. Teach us to recognize your presence, appreciate your protection, and trust you even when we do not understand the plan. Thank you for your grace, your mercy, your patience, and everything you have already done. We praise you, we worship you, you are worthy. In Jesus' name, amen. If this message resonates with you, please feel free to share it with someone who may need to hear it. If you want to support the RX3 podcast, your support is greatly appreciated. You can support the show by subscribing, sharing, or reposting this episode, or clicking the support the show button or link in the description. Thank you for listening, sharing, and supporting the RX3 podcast. Again, I am your host, Sama Kanoov. Until next time, bye for now.