Have you you ever been texting with someone and you’re both engaged in the conversation, but then all of a sudden they just stop responding? The experts call this occurrence ‘ghosting’ and it’s a common event in the 21st century experience.
The communication that takes place between two people in a conversation is a breathtaking transference of ideas and personal expressions that is truly downtrodden by this modern ‘ghosting’ phenomenon. Of course, if the person deserves it, ghost them all day, but don’t we owe our fellow humans more than just silence in response to their invitations to personal interaction?
Someone might respond to this with a great question, “What about God? He doesn’t always respond to our invitations.” This is a good question because it delves us deeper into the reality of our relationship with God and helps us to better identify how He communicates with us.
In Isaiah 45:15 it says, “Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself,” which shows us that our God is a hidden God. This means that God is not in plain sight. When my son asks me why he can’t see God, my response is that God is camouflaged. He is with us, but blends in with the surroundings. He is everywhere, but we can’t see Him.
God is hiding. However, He is not hiding to punish us, He simply wants us to pursue Him. Any treasure easily obtained is not valued as much as one worked for. Furthermore, the treasure hunt for God will shape us to help us grow to a proper capacity to appropriately hold the Treasure that He is in our hearts.
How then do we progress on this great adventurous hunt for God? What can we do to ensure that we are moving in the right direction toward discovering Him?
In short, the answer is prayer. Go to God in prayer persistently and eventually He will be revealed. It’s not always a quick reveal, however, so we must be in it for the long haul. There are also steps that we can take that better our prayer life and assist us in the journey to knowing God more.
Below I have 5 steps for you that will help you in the journey. Apply these to better your efforts in seeking God in prayer. Just be prepared for Him when you find Him.
- Schedule time to pray and stick to it.Even if you need to set up alarms in your phone to remind you, set these times up. This will help you stay on track and schedule your day around what’s most important.
- Don’t just talk, spend time listening as well to what God has to say. Sometimes the answer comes right away, but not always. Don’t slacken your efforts if you need to continue your pursuit of Him after more than five minutes. If you don’t have time, try again later. Or He could be using a different method as in the next step.
- Pay attention to what’s going on around you because He sometimes speaks without words. He might use images, your surroundings, songs in your head, or even someone else in your life to respond to you. If you think He is communicating in such a way, bring it to Him seeking confirmation.
- Start your prayers with gratitude.This puts us in a great mindset as we approach the Giver of all good gifts. We approach Him grounded in an understanding that He already provides us so much. We are approach Him in appreciation and not entitlement. This breeds humility which the Lord always smiles upon.
- Recall that you are in God’s presence.God is closer to you than the water you drink after you drink it. And He is always with you. Even now. You are not just talking to the air, He hears every word of your prayers.
We aren’t limited to only these five steps in our quest to discover God in prayer, however, these have been tried and true. If you have any other tips, we would love to hear them! Comment below or send them to emailzenithministries@gmail.com.
