Have you ever spent a long time praying, bringing your praise, gratitude and requests to God, and, at the end of your prayer, the silence that followed felt uncomfortable, as if no one was listening?
Or, as I read in the introduction of Addison Bevere’s new book, “Words with God,” prayer may feel more like yelling within a canyon. You shout, and sound waves skip across the canyon’s walls and return to you. You hear only your voice. Your thoughts. Your conclusions.
Sometimes, we may feel like that voice we hear is God’s, but we are unsure. Was it my own desires reverberating through the walls? Was it logic? Or, worse yet, was it the accuser, pointing his ugly finger, counting my inadequacies against me?
Prayer, as taught throughout Scriptures, is hardly a monologue.
From Genesis to Revelation, we find passages that show us prayer as a two-way conversation, a means to discover and move God’s heart and sometimes change our circumstances.
Yet, many spend a lifetime (or a season) when prayer feels more like yelling from the edge of a great canyon.
Why is it that prayer often feels ethereal, unattainable? Why is something supposed to be the very channel of communication with God and the door to real transformation so hard to attain?
Bevere’s book offers a perspective that is worth noting.
He believes that prayer has lost its robustness because the world has been infected by a religiosity that tells us that God will only engage with us at certain times if we do things “perfectly.”
But this is not the message of the father. That is the message of legalism.
Yes, there is no question that confession and repentance are crucial elements of prayer. We must come to our holy God humbly, honestly, and repentant of our sins.
But we confess not because God doesn’t know what we have done. He is, after all, the all-knowing God. Rather, confession is our weapon against the accuser, for only when we surrender our sins and struggles to God can we hear him clearly and receive his guidance.
God also invites us to communicate with him beyond our “quiet time.” In his first letter to the Thessalonian church, the apostle Paul challenged them to make prayer a lifestyle, a constant conversation with the Father: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; (…).”
I learned that concept years ago when my children were small.
With our hectic schedules, juggling a job, Atlanta traffic, and two growing children, my “quiet time” in the mornings often felt hurried and disconnected. Then, I started taking my “prayer closet” wherever I went.
I was the crazy lady lifting my hand in worship when traffic stopped on I-75. I became “that woman” talking to herself in the breakroom. And while preparing dinner, many nights, my girls would come into the kitchen and catch me talking to Jesus out loud.
I miss those days. Days when prayer became more than a ritual. Days when praying became as natural as breathing, and I learned for the first time what it meant to hear God speak in silence because even when I did not hear him at all, his presence was enough.
My children grew up, and today I don’t have little feet following me around, preventing me from spending a long time in prayer. And I relish those moments, don’t get me wrong. They are indeed critical.
But I have to say that I am so grateful to have found out years ago that God wants to meet me in the stillness of my prayer room, just as much as he wants to connect with me in the kitchen or in traffic.
Words with God become easy when we commit to making prayer a lifestyle and become comfortable with the silence that precedes the moments when God’s voice becomes loud and his will clear.
Only then can we truly experience the exciting nuances of a vibrant instead of boring relationship and a real and transformative connection with the father, who truly longs to have words with us.
Connect with Addison Bevere at addisonbevere.com/. For Patricia’s interview with him, search God-Sized Stories with Patricia Holbrook on all podcast platforms and YouTube.
Patricia Holbrook is a columnist, author, podcaster and international speaker. Visit her new website: www.PatriciaHolbrook.com. For speaking engagements and comments, email patricia@PatriciaHolbrook.com.
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