Communication: More important than you think

Your devotion today is about priorities—and one of Jesus’ priorities was prayer. Prayer is a form of communication that should be the foundation of your relationship with God. Actually, good communication is the foundation of any healthy relationship. So we want to know:



Communication is vital to our friendships and relationships. When was the last time you got in trouble with your parents for saying the wrong thing or speaking before thinking? What about your boyfriend or girlfriend? Ever been in a relationship where there wasn’t a lot of talking going on? How did you feel? Bored? Unsure of where things stood between you two? Or did you feel understood and in sync because you two talked about what was going on in your heads? Think of a person in your life (teacher, parent, coach, friend, etc.) where communication helped or hindered your relationship. Now, think about how you communicate with God.

Have you ever given much thought to your communication with God before? How frequent is it? What do you talk to Him about? If communication is the key to good relationships and your most important relationship is with God, then what are you doing to communicate well with Him? With whom do you currently spend most of your time communicating? Do you spend more time texting your friends than you do praying? Do you see the problem with that? (And please know that my prayer life isn’t perfect and my toes are feeling a little stepped on, too.)

Part of communicating is understanding what the other person is saying. Are you taking time to listen to God, or are your prayer times all about you and your requests? We’ll admit, it’s not easy to sit still, calm your mind, and wait for the Lord to speak. And sometimes He doesn’t speak to us when we’d like Him to. But know that the more time you spend listening, the more able you’ll be to recognize His voice and grow closer to Him.

If your prayer life could use an overhaul, try out these simple steps:

• Try to pray in the same place and the same time every day.
• Start by breathing deeply and trying to clear your mind of all the thoughts and distractions swimming around in your head.
• Read the Bible. (We recommend the Scripture passage you studied for your devotion in ec this morning.)
• Just talk. Present requests to God, pray for others, tell Him what’s going on . . . the sky’s the limit. If it involves you, He’s interested. You can do this silently, out loud, or by writing in a prayer journal.
• Consider alternate positions as you pray: kneeling, lying face down on the floor, hands folded, etc.
• Be still. Wait for Him to speak. If you can’t keep your mind focused, then move on to reading Scripture, writing to/about Him, singing to God, or drawing a picture of how you feel about Him.
• Don’t fret if you just can’t seem to carve out large chunks of time to spend in prayer. Short prayers (like “Be near to me, Jesus,” “Help me control my words,” or “Please heal my grandmother’s cancer”) are perfectly acceptable, especially when you’re taking time out of your day to stop and focus on the One who holds it all in His hands.
• Pray with others (one at a time or all together). It’s always interesting to hear how others talk to God.

We hope that you make some time today to talk to God. He’s always listening.