Talking With God

Do you believe you can have a personal relationship with the creator of our world? Do you accept that God wants to talk with you and wants you to talk with Him? Do you wonder — How do I talk to God? How do I know He’s listening? How do I recognize His voice? And why does it always seem there’s someone or something keeping me from talking to Him?

Here’s what I’ve learned throughout my spiritual life journey with God —

How do we know God wants to talk with us?

He tells us in His Word.

“The Lord is close to all who call on him,  yes, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7

 How do we talk with God?

We simply talk to Him  — any-time, any-place, any-way.

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.”

James 1:5

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

How do we know He’s listening and how do we recognize His voice?

You just know.

As believers, when God speaks we recognize His voice. His words are undeniable and in perfect alignment with Scripture. When we surrender our lives to Christ and receive Him as our personal Lord and Savior, He sends the Holy Spirit to reside within us — to lead us into all truth. Then we recognize His voice, we desire to follow Him, and our prayers and communication with Him produce results.

When you pray, write your prayers down and reflect back on them in the future to see how God answered your prayers.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’”

John 16:13-15

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:27

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

James 5:16

God wants to hear from us. He wants us to share our deepest thoughts, our most personal needs, and our greatest concerns with Him. Jesus gives us a model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 — the Lord’s Prayer. When we follow this model, our prayers will acknowledge God’s greatness, His presence, power, mercy, and grace. Our prayers will center around God’s will, His glory, and His kingdom. They will include our need for intervention, support, deliverance, and direction. God will hear our prayers and respond. Jesus was faithful to set aside time for communication with God. His life was saturated in prayer. It was vital to His ministry and His ability to persevere, it is vital to ours as well.

There is a saying, “Prayer may be said to be the breath of our spiritual life.”

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16

So why does it always seem there’s someone or something keeping us from talking to God?

We must always be aware that we have a deterrent, one who doesn’t want us talking to God. Satan knows that when we talk to God, he will be defeated through the power of our prayers. Therefore, he makes every attempt to sabotage our communication with God, by keeping us busy, by keeping us distracted, and by challenging our beliefs. Talking with God nurtures intimacy with Him so we can grow stronger in our faith and more courageous in our faithfulness.

Satan is constantly seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. Therefore, we must be aware at all times and persevere, praying in all circumstances — despite his crafty attempts.

Scripture teaches us that we are to have a life of prayer that is grounded in the simplicity of expression, sincerity of heart, and trust in the promises of God.  So, let us establish a regular time of prayer each day, keep it simple, pray over every situation, and always give thanks to God every time we pray.

Is talking to God a priority in your life?