Commitment to Communicate

I must admit my age as I write this statement. When I was growing up visiting with people meant sitting on the porch while sipping ice tea or a cold soda, standing in line at the grocery store and “catching up”, or hanging around after Sunday services.  It was a time of slow-paced, personal interaction with people and relationships built upon face-to-face encounters. 

Today most of our communication is done via text messages, Facebook, twitter and a myriad of other electronic means. We can all admit that sometimes it is easier and faster to text than take time to call. However, you can’t tell what the person’s tone or meaning is by the written word they type. We are missing so much by taking the easy way out.

Sometimes it can be hard to discern the tone or meaning of God’s written Word. It is rich in history, purpose and direction. However, without that personal face-to-face interaction with God’s Holy Spirit we can miss out on so much.  God is still speaking today through His Word and through His Spirit. But if we are strangers to the sound of His voice, we will miss so much of what He is saying.

Just as it took time to sit and visit, or hang around after church, it takes a dedicated time of fellowship with God to build relationship, “catch up” or just enjoy His presence.

The Psalmist in Psalm 63:1 tells us that “early in the morning he sought God”. He made a determination to seek out the presence of God before starting his day.  

And then he declares in Psalm 55:17 “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” 

I must admit that I am not an early morning riser. Yet if I take time to listen in the stillness of the morning hours, He is speaking to me. We have to put aside anything that hinders our hearing Him and make the determination that we are going to seek God’s presence and develop that face-to-face relationship with Him.

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11-13 which says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” 

This passage reassures me that God is thinking about me, waiting for me to call upon Him and He is listening to me. All I have to do is to seek and search for Him with all my heart. You see a heart divided cannot know the fullness of God and His marvelous thoughts for us. We cannot serve God and the world.

When we pray and cry out to God, He does hear our voice. His ears are always open and attentive to the prayer of a righteous person because He is a personal, loving, attentive God. A commitment to communicate with God will enable you to start building a relationship with Him that will satisfy more than all the relationships that texting, Facebook and Twitter have to offer.