How to Get Close to God: Communicate
Scripture Reading — Isaiah 55:6-11
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6
In a made-for-TV documentary on marriage a wife says to her husband, "We live together, eat together, and sleep together, but we have nothing to say to each other. We've become intimate strangers." Of course. Without meaningful communication there can be no closeness. What is true in our relationship with our spouse or other family members is even more true in our relationship with God. One of the reasons some of us don't feel close to God is that we're not communicating with God on a personal level. We need to learn how to communicate with God. We need to take time to listen to what God is saying to us through the Bible. We have to listen to God as he speaks to us through circumstances and things that happen to us. We have to learn to ask, "What is God saying to me through what happened, and what is God saying to me through my spouse, my parents, my children, my friends, and other Christians?" After we have listened, we have to talk with God in prayer. We can't expect to feel God's closeness unless we talk to him. Make sure you come to God and listen to him. Make sure you take the time each day to talk with him. Otherwise God will seem like a stranger. Imitate the Lord Jesus, who spent time alone every day to communicate with his Father.
Lord, help us to take time to communicate with you. Teach us how to pray, and teach us how to listen to you as we pray. Help us to follow Jesus' example each day. Amen.
About the author — Arthur J. Schoonveld
Rev. Art Schoonveld is a retired minister in the Christian Reformed Church. Before retiring in 2001, he served churches in California, Illinois, and Michigan. Since his retirement he has worked part-time for the denomination and has served as an interim pastor. Art and his wife, Anita, have four children and nine grandchildren.
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