May I ask you a couple of questions?

• Who is a person that you are close to?
• How do you interact with each other?

For me, the person I am closest to is Bev. We have been married for 44 years and counting. Our interaction has many expressions. It ranges from profound conversation to working on a project. There is laughter and joy. There are times of sorrow and comfort. We pray together. We help carry each other’s load. We respect each other. We enjoy each other.

Our interaction includes making mistakes and misunderstandings. Repentance, forgiveness, grace, and mercy are extended to each other. We encourage each other. There is a deep love and hope that travels with us. We talk about faith, family, and friends. We love a good project. Often, we understand what the other is thinking before words are spoken. We help carry each other’s load while having deep respect and care. We also invite other people into our interaction. Family and friends share in relationship with us. Our interaction has come to be centered on our faith, in trusting and following God together.

Prayer is interacting with God. It is very similar to the interaction we experience with the person we are closest to. There is listening and sharing. It is not a production for public display. Rather, it is a personal and ongoing relationship that we are always tending to.

Jesus gives us some specific guidance on prayer:

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation but rescue us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:5-13 NLT 

In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus living this out with these few brief words:
“But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” Luke 5:16 NLT

For me, prayer has become an indispensable interaction with God for the well-being of my life. Not only do I need time with God, but there is also a growing desire to simply spend more time with Him. There are long conversations consisting of a combination of listening, asking, reading God’s word, and trusting God with the deepest thoughts of my mind and soul. Other times the conversation is short and quite transactional: “Father God, could you help me with this today?”

Sometimes it is sitting in His presence with a situation that there are no words for. I simply ask the Holy Spirit to intercede at a much deeper level than I can articulate. God is with me in those times too. Inviting others into this interaction with God cultivates everything right and good. We share and pray together. God is with us.

Interaction with God is ongoing. God’s holiness and personalness are a one-of-a-kind combination. Through Jesus, we are invited to be with perfection. We are invited to experience perfect love. We are invited to be known by name. God values our interaction with Him. Spending time with God forms a bond that is strong and will stand the test of eternity. We increasingly know the heart of God better and seek to adjust our lives to this beautiful way of living.

Circling back to Bev and me. What we share now is not where we began. We started with an interest in each other. This grew into a covenant with God and each other. There is a richness and depth of relationship 44 years later that is beyond anything I could have ever imagined. This is what Christ is inviting us into. A relationship that grows over time. It starts with interest. It moves to commitment. Interacting with God over time becomes the most important relationship we will ever have. Simply beautiful.

Don’t let interaction with God intimidate you. Ask God to help you draw close to Him. Don’t compare yourself to others, simply spend time with God. In doing so, your relationship with Him will grow into something that no one can take away from you.

– Ed McDowell, C.E.O.
Warm Beach Camp Ministries