Prayer is not entirely like a conversation
In its simplest form, prayer, quite rightly, is about having a
conversation with God – talking to God and, in the process, being open to what
he is saying to you. Prayer, though, becomes more difficult when we recognise that
it is also in other ways very unlike the conversations we have with people. I
suggest that we should fully acknowledge these difficulties and meditate on their
consequences, before we start talking with God, otherwise we may get on the
wrong footing with him from the start.
For example, we cannot ever deceive God, or hide ourselves from him. We might, deliberately or inadvertently, deceive or hide from ourselves, but God sees right through any deception and any attempts to cover ourselves with things which we are not. As God asks rhetorically in Jeremiah 23:24: ‘“Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?’”
Certainly, poor conversation frequently encourages a high level of deception and hiding from others, so the quality of exchange may never get past superficial niceties, or even bare-faced lies, as a result. However, all conversations, including deeper exchanges between people, involve a degree of hiding, and often for good reason. Often hidden things are better out in the open, but if we were to say out loud everything we thought and felt to the people we encounter, including those closest to us, we would be very insensitive and unloving. Good conversations between people, then, necessitate making wise judgments between what should and shouldn’t be said, and so what should or shouldn’t be disclosed. However, this possibility is not an option with God, as there is no place to hide, and nor should we try.
Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!
For example, we cannot ever deceive God, or hide ourselves from him. We might, deliberately or inadvertently, deceive or hide from ourselves, but God sees right through any deception and any attempts to cover ourselves with things which we are not. As God asks rhetorically in Jeremiah 23:24: ‘“Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?’”
Certainly, poor conversation frequently encourages a high level of deception and hiding from others, so the quality of exchange may never get past superficial niceties, or even bare-faced lies, as a result. However, all conversations, including deeper exchanges between people, involve a degree of hiding, and often for good reason. Often hidden things are better out in the open, but if we were to say out loud everything we thought and felt to the people we encounter, including those closest to us, we would be very insensitive and unloving. Good conversations between people, then, necessitate making wise judgments between what should and shouldn’t be said, and so what should or shouldn’t be disclosed. However, this possibility is not an option with God, as there is no place to hide, and nor should we try.
Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!
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