Communicating With God

Previous page: A Practice Of Daily Prayer

Many People Talk to God

This is conversational prayer, and for some this is simply a part of their life.

They ask God questions.
They chat about their problem.
They ask for guidance.

Interestingly, many of the people I have met who talk to God in this way do not necessarily attend church. Perhaps they have less need to do so.

They have a favourable image of God as a loving Father.

They are comfortable with a God who sees them all the time.

They do not feel a need to hide.

They have a spiritual practice which is ongoing and woven into their life in such a way that it is easy to remember it.

Mind you, I now have these things and I also go to church. Maybe I just can't get enough.

Is God Separate From Me?

When we talk to God, there can be a risk. It can encourage us to think of God as outside of ourselves, the way someone would be if we were talking to them.

This is not a good thing, because when we see God as separate we can imagine that She/He may be less available to some than to others and less available at times to us.

For myself, I relate to God as the formless Energy, the Light, the Love that flows through me:

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring”
(Acts 17:28, KJV esword)

Equally though, I do experience myself as having a relationship with Him/Her/It.

What matters to me is that, by deepening my relationship with God, I enhance my connection with God/Spirit for my good and the good of others.

We Are Creatures Of Relationship

We are creatures of relationship. It makes sense to me that in order to shift our identity from ourselves as physical beings to spiritual beings, we need to establish a real sense of relationship with the God that guides us. Or else with an enlightened being who has already dropped the body. For me, this is definitely Jesus.

And one of the central features of relationships is that we communicate with each other.

Keeping The Communication Channel With God Open

To talk to God is a good way of making sure that communicating with God becomes and stays a part of your life.

The characters who are close to God in the Bible, such as Abraham, Jacob, David, are very flawed human beings.

What is it then that allows them to be men of God?

For me, the reason is that they never stop communicating with God and expecting Him/Her to help.

And if we look at Jesus, on the cross he cries out.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
(Matthew 27:46, KJV esword)

In this moment, it is possible Jesus doubts God’s love. But at no point does he stop communicating with God. In the moment of his greatest pain, he is in communication with God.

This knowledge really comforted me when I was trying to build my faith for healing, and my faith felt even smaller than a mustard seed.

We don't need to be perfect or have perfect faith, but we do need to keep the communication channel with God open.

Are You There God, It’s Me?

Here is a prayer poem from a time of loneliness in my life.
It is me asking, “Are you there God, it’s me?”

I learned it and recited it often. It helped.

But throughout the day, I am communicating with God through short prayers, short phrases, short quotes.

“Thank you God.”

“Hello God.”

“Are you here God?” (If I say Are you there God? I now laugh and correct myself. God is never as far away as “there”.
God's answer is always “YES, I am here. I am always here. Thank you for being HERE.”)

I smile even writing them now. These small phrases have become doorways to allow me to rest in God's love.

I am so grateful that it has become a part of my life to acknowledge God's presence and talk to God.

Other pages relevant to Communicating With God

How do you know it is God's voice you are hearing?

A spiritual group discuss their experiences of hearing God's voice.

If you are communicating with God through conversation, but still feel some resistance, click here for But it feels as though I am talking to myself

As well as learning to talk to God informally, we can also use traditional prayer as a way of communicating with God.