…about dialog with God

Have you ever been in a one-sided conversation. The other person does all the talking and then says, “Good talking with you.  See ya later” and walks away.  When my daughter was small, she talked all the time.  We called her “motor mouth” and “jabber jaws.”  My son is 22 months younger and didn’t start talking until he was 2 years old simply because he couldn’t get a word in edge-wise!  We all know people like that and have, on occasion, been that person. Talking to God is no different.  Sometimes we need to let Him reply.  Maybe, He is even trying to initiate the conversation.

There are different kinds of prayer: worship, adoration, thanksgiving, intercession, supplication, petition.  All of these are fairly one sided - me telling God how great He is, how much I love Him and how grateful I am for all He is and has done for me, asking for His intervention into the lives and circumstances of both friend and foe, bowing my heart humbly before Him and earnestly entreating Him for a favor, and, finally, simply asking for my daily needs.

What most people don’t do very often is to engage in dialog with God.  Perhaps they don’t know how.  It is hard to listen for a reply from someone you can’t see!  That is why we so desperately need to know the scriptures.  When I get quiet, usually at night after I have gone to bed, and begin to think about my day, a scripture will come to mind and as I think on that scripture, I begin to understand it better and am able to see how to apply it to my life.  I believe this is conversation with the Holy Spirit (Who is God!).  It may not be the same for everyone and there is nothing mystical about it.  God is using scripture to talk to me!  I have heard people say that they are reading a passage they have read many times before and suddenly it comes alive and they see the application to their life or it is the answer they had been looking for.  That is God talking to you!  When that happens, enjoy it!!