How do you stay connected with God?
When my son and his wife had their second baby, I got to babysit their first son, Benjamin. He was a little more than a year old and stayed with me for four days. Whenever Benjamin needed something, he looked for me. He said “Nana” sometimes, but most of the time he just came up and raised his hands toward me. His actions were declaring, “Nana, I know everything I need comes from you. If I need food, if I need a hug, if I need to be put to bed, if I need a toy, you have it. I’m coming to you.” That’s how a child sees the parent or the grandparent that is full of love.That’s howI tend to approach God; because he is love and he has all that I need.
I have found prayer to be an effective way for me to connect with God. For me, prayer is a conversation, a time with the Lord where I build relationship with him. In prayer, I grow in intimacy with God. Jesus tells us to pray with humility. John tells us to pray with boldness and confidence. James tells us to pray without doubting. Paul reminds us we should pray all the time. If I keep all of this in mind, it can easily be intimidating to pray.
When I don’t know what to pray or how to pray, I read the Psalms. It’s an extended book of prayers. For example, in Psalm 86 David is praying, or having a dialogue with God. David speaks with boldness, and acknowledges his need for God, “Listen, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.” When I pray, I notice that I often start with, “Okay God...” as if I’m trying to get God’s attention. I wonder if he chuckles or gets annoyed at my impoliteness.
But this I know, I can come to God with whatever my problems, whatever decision I need to make, in whatever mood I’m in. Thanks to Jesus, I don’t have to clean up or pretend with God. He receives me as I am, and he loves me. Isaiah 41:10 reminds me of this. This took me a longtime to embrace. My father left when I was not even a year old, so fear of abandonment is a recurring issue for me. But God has proven to be faithful in his promises to all humanity, and in my life.
This mindset allows me to pray any time, any day, as many times in the day as I want. When I turn to God, who has the wisdom of the world, and seek his wisdom above it all. Strikingly, he changes the way I think. I always come out of my prayers feeling a sense of direction where I lacked it. I love prayer because I can do it anywhere, in church, at the beach, in my closet, while I drive, on a walk, before a meal, you name it. Prayer can happen anywhereI find myself, because there, God is with me. It’s nice to pray with others, but it’s not a prerequisite for me to connect with God.
When I think of Benjamin’s standing there with his hands up toward me and those sweet eyes pleading, my heart fills with love for him. It doesn’t matter if he’s wearing only one muddy shoe, or his face is covered with specks of food, or his hands are stained from writing on our plaster walls with a sharpie. None of that matters. All I see is his heart eagerly trying to connect with me, and my arms open wide almost instinctively. I imagine God receiving our prayers in the same way, with a soothing smile, warm eyes, and wide-open arms.
Connecting with God is essential on our uncharted journey of faith because He is the one walking ahead of us and with us. Prayer is one way to do so.
In what way do you find connection with God?
Check out this episode where Tanya shares about an unexpected way she connected with God.
Am I Still Connected with God? - with Tanya Kara
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