God created us as relational beings. Humans long to connect with others. We want people to understand us, empathize with us, share our joy, feel our pain, and so on. In order for this to happen we slowly open ourselves up to others. We start laying a foundation upon which we can build a relationship. We give a little; they give a little. We talk a little; they talk a little. We listen; they listen. Anyone who has built and maintained a close friendship knows it takes time and effort.
Well, God is relational as well. He longs for a relationship with us. However, he will not force that relationship on us. He will beckon or encourage us to come to him. He will make himself available. He will love us. He will stand at the door and knock, but he won’t come in and fellowship with us unless we invite him. (Revelation 3:20) He initiates, but he will not force us to respond. That we must do on our own.
How does one start this response process with God? Perhaps communication holds the key. Communication is a two way street. It’s a give and take process. We talk and he listens. He talks and we listen.
We Talk and He Listens
There is a fancy name for talking with God. It’s called prayer. It’s not quite as complicated as many would like you to think.
The purpose of prayer is to communicate with God and build a relationship with him. If the only time we pray is when we feel guilty or when we feel a false sense of responsibility or when we want something from God, we shouldn’t plan on building much of a relationship. After all, how many close friends could we keep if these were the only times we talked to them? Communication with God means telling him how we feel from the heart.
Since we don’t always feel the same way, our prayers will vary. Sometimes we might be angry or frightened. Sometimes we might be elated and joyful. Sometimes we are anxious and worried. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by God’s goodness and full of praise. And we should always be able to find something to be thankful for. We talk to God just like we would talk to our most intimate friend – from the heart and often.
If we approach prayer from the heart instead of from a legalistic view, it doesn’t have to be intimidating. We do not always have to pray kneeling for an hour at the same time every day, using the same words in the same tone of voice with a prayer list. I’m not saying this is necessarily wrong. I’m just saying we could do what the old gospel song says and “just have a little talk with Jesus.” We can talk to Jesus about everything!
We don’t have to worry about what we say and in which order we say it. We could even just sit in silence, meditate and “commune” with God. Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” Here’s the deal – God will help us to pray if we desire to do so.
He Talks and We Listen
So how does God talk to us? Some would have you believe God “talks” directly to them and tells them to do something specific or God speaks through dreams. I think those are the exceptions, not the norm. Today God doesn’t generally talk to us through a burning bush. Usually, if we ask God to communicate with us, he will do so with what we come in contact with on a daily basis.
For example, studying God’s word is a good place to start. The Bible is filled with God’s thoughts. If we are truly interested in his point of view, we will be reading it. The Bible is a living book. We can read the same scripture many times and think we totally comprehend its meaning. Then we will read it again and find some gem of understanding that had eluded us before.
If we open our hearts to God, we might find him speaking to us through a sunset, a small child’s smile, a co-worker’s off handed comment, a friend’s concern, a quote we read in a book, various circumstances, or even our own conscious. It may come in the form of comfort, wisdom, or even correction. Since we are not all alike, God might communicate in different ways to each of us. The closer we are to God, the more we will hear and recognize his “voice” (John 10:4) when he speaks to us throughout our daily routine. God speaks, but we have to be willing to listen.
We were created to be relational beings. Having a relationship requires us to communicate. That means we talk and they listen, then they talk and we listen. The same process works with God. Although it takes time and effort, it isn’t that complicated. Wouldn’t it be wise to try to build a relationship with the God who made us the way we are?
