As I sit here writing this I can hear my 5 year old sitting outside calling to the birds. She is imitating a mourning dove call and trying to get them to call back. She thinks that by making the same sounds she is communicating with them. It is sweet and innocent and I think something that we all did when we were younger. Maybe instead of birds for you it was the dog or cat. Either way, we wonder why we can’t communicate more clearly with all these animals.
As humans, communication is something that is so important to us. We crave it. We want to spend time laughing and talking with friends and loved ones. We have to communicate effectively at work so we can collaborate and get the job done. As a teacher, if I can’t communicate my point with my students then we have a big problem. So why do we take communication with God for granted?
God, our father and creator, wants us to communicate with him. Despite the fact that he knows what is going on in our life already! This has always amazed me. The author of the universe wants me to talk to him. Wow.
The way he created us was as a relational being. In Genesis we see that it is not good for man to be alone. We as women were created to fulfill a relational communication that the animals were not able to do. And we were created in God’s image so that tells me that God wants communication as well.
Communication with God goes both ways just like communication with our best friend. We have the most beautiful avenue of communication with him that is modeled by Jesus himself - prayer. In the Bible we read so many wonderful things about prayer. Here are a few of my favorites:
Philippians 4:6
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
James 5:16
“Therefore, confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Romans 8:26
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
These verses say so much to me about prayer and its importance. I can talk to God about the things that are bothering me and he wants to know about them. Praying for each other is important and has great power! That is so reassuring! And when we don’t know what to pray, or our prayers seem disjointed and jumbled, the Spirit works it out for us. I see this like a ball of yarn that is all tangled and the Spirit is the best at untangling it so it can be woven into something beautiful. Prayer is amazing. Prayer is powerful. And prayer is necessary.
Just like communicating with friends and coworkers, significant others (and maybe even the birds) is important, communicating with God is even more important. What is your prayer life like? How can you bump it up a notch? What are you not praying about because you don’t know how? God has taken all this into consideration and all it takes is starting a simple conversation with Him.
Lord, we want to communicate with you. We want a relationship with you. Help us to come to you with everything like we do our friends. You know it all, but you still want us to tell you. You are such a loving father and want a relationship with us. Help us to forge a stronger bond with you in prayer. We love you. Amen.
Angie, I knew after reading that first line that you were writing this. 😁❤️ I would like to point out one more important way to pray, and that is a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. Our songs are often a form of that. Just like we appreciate recognition for our acts of kindness and help, He deserves it even more because He has given us everything- even His Son to die for our sins so we can have that relationship with Him. We need to remember to praise Him even in the hard times - He is still walking with us and working things out when we can’t see it and have to wait. I love you an…