Talking to God: Silence October 31, 2008

Do you have questions?

Lately, I have had a lot of questions for God. God, does it seem as though you’re not fulfilling your promises? God, why do people hate you so much? God, have you forgotten about my hopes and dreams? God, are you listening? Many times, talking to God means that I talk and there is silence on the other end. I ask question after question only to receive no answers. My natural instinct is to become angry with God and question if He is who the Bible claims Him to be. Does He really care about me? Does He hear me? If so, we does He ignore me? These questions were consuming my thoughts and troubling me. I was worried that the relationship I had had with God was quickly diminishing. I was angry with myself for questioning God, but I couldn’t seem to let go of all my questions and just trust God.

He Has Answers

I was hanging out with some friends one night, and we were talking about our relationships with God. I shared that I had been having a lot of questions for God lately. One of my friends told me that God ALLOWS us to have questions because it draws us closer to Him. I had never thought of it that way! God allows me to question Him? The whole time I had been thinking that my questions were pulling me away from God when they were actually drawing me close to Him. While I still have unanswered questions, I realize that even in my questioning I can still be close to God. He doesn’t have to prove His love for me by answering my questions. Rather He answers them or not, He still loves me, and He still deserves my love.

Talking to God: Prayer September 23, 2008

What is prayer?

Many times prayer is thought of as something that can only be done at a church and must be conducted in a serious fashion. In actuality, prayer can be done anywhere and it does not have to be serious. Yes, we do fear God, but we also have a relationship with God. He’s our friend, our father, our counselor. The Bible says to bodly approach God’s throne and to ask for what we have need of. Prayer shouldn’t be something that’s scary or spooky. It should be fun and exciting! Prayer is simply talking to God. Letting Him know your thoughts, anxieties, hopes, disappointments. He wants to know it all. The more you pray, the easier it will become. The closer your relationship with God becomes, the more you will feel comfortable talking to Him. Prayer shouldn’t be something that you dread or something that you feel obligated to do. It should be something that you can’t wait to do because you can’t wait to spend time with your friend. Prayer is not complex. It’s simple; all you have to do is talk and listen. Prayer is similar to having a conversation. Somedays your prayers may be more intense than others (depending on what you praying about), but it’s the same with your conversations. Not all conversations are the same, and not all prayers are the same.

When should I pray?

You can pray anytime! Prayer isn’t confined to a certain time of the day. Some people like to pray first thing in the morning, but if you’re not a morning person, then choose another time. Choose a time when  you’re the most awake. You can also pray all throughout the day. You don’t have to have a specific time. Sometimes it helps you concentrate a little more when you completely devote time to prayer, but there are days when you may not have the time to solely devote to prayer. Car rides are a great time for prayer. While you’re driving (don’t close your eyes ) or while you’re riding, you can pray. Remember, praying is really just talking to God. If you’re walking to class or walking through the mall, you can pray. God is always listening!

Why should I pray?

It’s hard to define how important prayer is because it has so many purposes. One major purpose is because you have things you need God to do in your life. Maybe a close friend is struggling with something. You can pray and ask God to come to your friend and give him or her wisdom or comfort or whatever he or she needs. Maybe your car just broke and you need a way to get around. You can pray and ask God to provide for you. One purpose of prayer is to answer needs. Another purpose is friendship. The more you talk to God the more your friendship with Him will grow. It’s hard to be friends with someone you never communicate with. God wants to talk to you! In fact, He’s patiently waiting for the time when you will come talk to Him. The last reason that prayer is so important is because it increases your faith. God rarely shows Himself visibly, so you have to have faith to believe in Him. Sometimes when you pray you don’t feel like He’s listening to you. That’s when faith kicks in! All prayers aren’t always perfect or exciting just like all conversations aren’t perfect or exciting. But the more you pray, the more your faith will grow and the bigger God will become! So try praying and see what happens! You’ll love it. I promise.

Talking to God: Conversation August 16, 2008

It’s Very Simple

There are many days when I talk to God several times throughout the day. The stresses of life become overwhelming and talking to God helps me release the stress. I don’t always talk to Him about deep or serious things. Sometimes I complain, sometimes I ask Him for help, and sometimes I simply tell Him how much I love Him. God is more concerned with me actually talking to Him than He is with what I talk to Him about. He just wants to hear from me.

 

OPEN YOUR MOUTH

The hardest part of talking to God is opening your mouth. Once you finally start, it’s easy. A lot of times I think that I can only talk to God about “spirtual” thiongs, but God wants to hear about every detail of my life! I don’t have to try to impress God with eloquent speech; I just have to be honest and share my heart. He loves hearing from His children. He wants to know how our morning went, how we handled the traffic on the way to work or school, and how we dealt with a hectic day. He always had words of advice, encouragement, correction, and love. Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but He LOVES talking to us. Many times He’ll wait for us to be the initiators. He could start the conversation everytime, but He wants to know that we want to talk to Him as much as He wants to talk to us. Try talking to Him and you’ll be amazed at how wonderful it is!

Talking to God July 31, 2008

Open to All

Talking to God is often viewed as something that is reserved for only spiritual elites or radicals, but that is not true. Anyone can talk to God, and there is no specific way to talk to Him. Talking to God can mean anything from writing Him a poem to telling Him why you’re stressed out. There is no magic formula for talking to God. The only requirement is that you talk to Him from your heart.

Expression through Writing

I talk to God in many different ways, but one of my favorite ways to talk to Him is through writing. One night I was thinking about how much I love God. I was enthralled by the fact that He passionately loves me. What a wonderful thought! The God who created the universe loves me, and His love is not based on merit. It’s unconditional. As I was thinking about God’s amazing love, I began to be so full of joy that I couldn’t contain it. I had to express my love for God, so I wrote Him a poem. Remember that this is just one way of talking to God. I will explore more ways of talking to Him in subsequent blogs, but since writing is one of my favorite things to do, I thought I would start out this discussion of talking to God with a poem. Hopefully this poem will encourage you to begin, or continue, to talk to God as a friend.

He is Jesus

He calls my name, my heart flutters.
The sound of His voice is life to my bones.
When His voice reaches my ears

My muscles gain strength,

My spirit responds.
Like a dead man rising from the grave,

So too my soul rises at the mention of His name.
He beckons me to come,

Come partake of His love.
He woos me,

He captures my heart.
I willingly become His prisoner.
His beauty captivates my every thought.

My breath is subject to His appearance.
His nearness is the force behind each beat of my heart.
The sight of His face causes blood to flow though my veins.
He calls me closer–into His circle of intimacy.
Should I go?
Am I worthy?
Will an intimate moment with Him live up to the expectation I’ve set?
Will I be disappointed, wishing I had only beheld Him from afar?
Curiosity conquers my reservation as I make my way closer.
With each step my body is invigorated.
Although keenly aware of my imperfections,

They do not demand the sum of my attention

Because I know that He is not dwelling on them.
His devotion is fixed on enjoying each moment that is spent with me.
Our time together is endless,

Yet it still is not enough.
I will never be disappointed with my time spent with Him, only fulfilled.
He is my lover, my friend.
He is Jesus.