Choices Pt. 3: The Choice to Communicate

Communication...  In the spiritual realm, we've all probably heard it said, "Prayer is just talking to God."  Yeah, we know.  Been there, heard that, have the t-shirt.  And if that's what this "communication" blog post is on, some of you are ready to skip this right now.  Not long ago I may have done the same.  Because to be honest,  communication with God - this "prayer" thing -  has never been the easiest thing for me.  I find myself guilty of singing “Sweet Hour of Prayer” when I should have really been singing “Sweet Five Minutes.”  Sure, I’d talk to God throughout the day.  But to actually sit down and pray for the length of time that I’d have a normal conversation with a friend?  Rare.  The ADD I didn’t even know I had comes out and within the first few minutes talking with God becomes pondering my to-do list, thinking about guys, wondering what’s on Facebook, or…  who even knows.  Sheesh.  Can I get a witness?!  I know there must be at least someone reading this that can relate.

But at the same time, I’m a believer in prayer.  I know that my relationship with God depends on communication just as much as my human relationships do.  And I’ve seen prayer do things – in my life and in the lives of those I pray for.  So this past January, some friends and I set out to meet together and pray as part of a 10-day worldwide prayer initiative called “Operation Global Rain.”  We were to seek the “rain” of the Holy Spirit and pray for each other and our various requests.  It went really well and was a major blessing!  We’d pray through our praises, confessions, requests, and thanksgivings.  It was real.  It was natural.  An hour would actually fly by.  And we saw God doing things as we came together to pray.  For the first 5 days…

Then, for various reasons my friends all decided they only wanted to do 5 days of the 10 day initiative.  They all quit!  But I really felt like finishing out the 10 days… “Fine,” I said, “If I can pray like that with a group, why can’t I pray on my own too?”  So armed with my journal (I’d at least figured out that writing my prayers really helps me concentrate and fight the ADD), I set out the next morning to pray just like we did in our group – short prayers of praises, confessions, requests…  And to my surprise, an hour flew by.  In fact, I found myself being even more specific and real with the Lord as I poured out my heart privately each morning not just in a “please be with me through this day” kind of way, but in detail about life’s hopes, dreams, failures, and sorrows.  As I prayed for others, I’d actually have specific things come to mind to pray for them for.  As I prayed about my own life, God revealed specific things about myself as well. And I started to see things change – in me and in others.

In fact, the change in my own spiritual life was so marked that at the end of the 10 days I actually didn’t want to stop!  So I didn’t.  I just kept doing it.  In fact, for awhile I felt bad because my devotional time became taken by about 90% prayer leaving little time for Bible study!  But I think it was a little like having a lot of food with no water – I’d been studying a long time, but my soul was thirsty.  In fact, I found that during this time even though my Bible study time was shorter, what I did read ended up being so much more powerful and applicable to my life.  It was almost just an extension of my prayer time where I’d quit talking, open up the Bible, and God got a chance to talk back!  Almost like we just had a conversation… ;)

This past summer someone was asking me about how we can explain to people that God is real.  And for the first time what automatically came to my mind was, “Of course He’s real.  I talk to Him everyday.”  For the first time I didn’t mind coming home at night to be by myself, not on Facebook or talking to friends.  I actually wanted to just be with God.  For the first time prayer wasn’t just another spiritual “discipline” that I’d feel guilty I wasn’t doing enough.  It was actually something that I craved and got strength from.

Interestingly though, prayer is not always 90% of my devotional life anymore.   As I prayed I specifically started asking that God would give me a new love for scripture – and almost to my surprise, He’s been doing it.  Now I sometimes pray more, sometimes study more, but both have taken on so much more meaning and life than they did before.   I know that this blog may run the risk of seeming a little more “religious” or cliché.  Some of you have probably heard over 100 talks or quotes on why we should pray.  But I write this simply because I feel that the choice to pray is probably the single most important choice I made this past year.  My relationship with God is not the same as it was a year ago.  And I trace it back to real, intentional, regular prayer.

So for those of you who are thinking, “Yeah, that sounds nice, but I’ve tried to pray and it’s not like that for me,” I relate.  That’s how I always felt reading stuff like this.  And I can’t say that everyday comes with amazing ease and fuzzy feelings even now (feel free to write me if you have questions!).  But maybe for some reading this, my journey will spark a little interest or a little hope.  Maybe your spiritual life has been like dried out bread and you realize that your soul is thirsty. I don't claim to have all your answers.  But I know that major spiritual change for me this year all started with a choice.  A choice to talk to God in a real way.  A choice to communicate.  A choice to pray.