Communications 101

Sometimes I think I’m the only one in the world who has the strange hang-ups that I do. One such quirk that always drives me crazy, but which can also get me into a lot of trouble, is my dreaded fear of a lull in the conversation with another person. I’ve learned to deal with it better than I used to, but every once in a while there is that nagging fear where it ought not to be. The tendency I once had, when the conversation drops off into dead silence, is to fill that air with babble. Every time this fear rears its ugly head, I find myself guarding my tongue. Filling air with worthless chatter has led me to gossip and all kinds of other sins of the tongue in the past. I have come to understand that silence can be a time when we are gathering our thoughts for the next round of conversation, and it’s a good thing.

When I get together with the girls on Friday, there seems to be a never-ending stream of good, usually edifying conversation. Even when I get together with someone alone, the fear is easily withstood as the conversation naturally flows from like-minded hearts who love the same God of the Bible.

This is how our time with God should be in prayer. When we love someone, our conversation with that person should flow freely and naturally. We don’t need to ‘make conversation’. Even when there is silence, we are resting in one another’s presence. Sometimes it’s just good when a friend is there saying nothing. That’s how it is in prayer. There are nights when I am distraught over this, that or the other thing and I am exhausted. As I cry out to the Father, I can’t speak for crying, but I tell Him that I just want to sit and cry in His presence knowing that He is there. It’s a sweet time of fellowship. I’ve had those times with friends in the past, and they are some of the sweetest memories of all.

Remember when I started this whole series of posts? My intention is to get back to how great a sin it is for the one who professes to be a believer to have a lack of prayer in his life. We will soon be getting back to that. In the meantime, I want to show this basic fellowship that every human being understands.

There are times when something happens in my life when I know immediately that I need to get away somewhere and pray. I know that He is the only one who can help me, and I need His help desperately right then and there. But always there should be this desire and delight to speak to Him, to share our hearts with Him. I hope to get into a whole in-depth study on prayer in the future; for now, I’m just skimming the surface.

Another thing that we naturally want to do with someone we love is to praise them. And there is no one more worthy than our praise than God, Himself. When we love a person, we can’t help but tell them so. We show him love by our actions; yes, but we also want to express our love in words.

This whole idea shows us that we don’t just come to God because we want something. What kind of relationship would that earthly one be in which I just went to a friend when I wanted something? They would soon come to call me ‘a user’. The dearest relationships we have on earth fill us with joy. They are a delight to our souls. We can’t wait for those times when we can share our love one for another.

Another thing about a good friend is this fact that you know they are always there for you. You can trust them to want your good and to be a very present help in time of need. Unfortunately, this cannot be said 100% of the time with our human relationships just because of that very fact – they ARE human. But, God is always there for us. Do you know that? Do you really know it experientially? If you don’t, there is no use to try and pray – you might as well be speaking to a wall because you don’t believe you are being heard by anyone who cares. It’s just like my babble – worthless chatter. For good communication to be accomplished, two hearts have to connect. To know that my heart connects with the Divine heart of God each time I pray is an overwhelming, yet glorious thought. But that is exactly what I know to be true. Knowing my Father is listening and always available to hear the burdens, desires, and praises of my heart gives me confidence in prayer.

One of the best tests we can apply to ourselves to see if we are truly in fellowship and communion with God is to examine our prayer life. First of all, does it exist? How often do I find myself in prayer? Is there freedom there to express what is in the depths of my heart? Is prayer a wearisome task or a great delight of my soul?

I get incredible joy from reading the Psalms. Invariably, I find myself with the psalmist crying out in unison with him only to find that they are the inspired words of God written down for me to pray back to Him. The psalmists bear their souls with so much passion that it becomes contagious at once and I find that I cannot contain myself. Before long, there will be tears of joy and I find my heart leaping up in praise to God.

Our conversations and communion with God our Father should be as easy and as natural as those with our most trusted friends, yet even more so because of who He is. What about those people who say that our conversations with friends are easier because there is a two-way conversation? After all, everyone knows that there are two sides in fellowship, right? We’ve already said that communion with God necessitates this realization of God’s presence. Every person who claims to have fellowship with God must be able to say that He has known God’s presence at that time. I understand that this teaching, in the past, has opened all kinds of doors to the false ideology of mysticism. Although He does not speak with an audible voice, He does speak. He always speaks in one way or another to our souls.

Sometimes we know His comfort as we read His words in Scripture. He also gives us wisdom, understanding and strength for every situation He allows in our lives. Sometimes He impresses upon us holy desires and longings. Only God gives us those desires and longings that line up with His will for us as recorded in Scripture. There are many ways that God speaks to us, but they will never contradict His Word which has once-for-all been recorded for us in the pages of Scripture. I have never heard an audible voice, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that God has spoken to me.

God also reveals His will to us in many ways, leading us and guiding us as we move alone in our walk with Him. You can’t recognize the sovereignty of God without knowing that He is the one causing all the good in your life and allowing everything else in your life to be worked out for your good and His glory if you are truly His. To know this fellowship is to know that you are in His hand and aware that He is daily working in your life to bring you to Christlikeness.

I love the illustration I heard a long time ago. Our lives may look like the underneath side of a tapestry to us, but when we get to heaven, those same tapestries will be turned right side up and we will see the beautiful picture He created out of our lives.