Communing with God: Part 1

Prayer is defined as giving our attention to God in a two-way spiritual conversation where we talk to God & also listen to Him. It is the primary language of Christians. Christians speak in the name of Jesus Christ & in the power of the Holy Spirit. When we trust in God’s promises & are open to sharing our inner self with Him, prayer brings us in touch with God who calls us beloved in a way that invites us to listen to Him & to allow His voice to speak to the center of our being & to resound in & through our whole being. Though it may take different forms in different religions, all prayer, all communion with God requires that we trust & accept the Holy one with whom we are speaking whether it is a corporate or personal act. Generally, it is said that there are many types of prayers in the Bible: prayers of thanksgiving, praise & adoration, supplication, confession, petition, & intercession & many others. However, there really is no limit to what we may lift up to God in our prayers. When we are in communion with God through prayer, we are talking with God & listening to God from a deep place of our interior self. In order to give our full attention to God in a two-way conversation where we talk to God & also listen to Him, we need to surrender our inner selves fully to Him in unconditional faith that He loves us & promises to love us unconditionally & eternally. We need to let go of fear & trust in the goodness of God’s grace & compassion & healing love for us. God comes to us & speaks to us in many different ways. In order to hear Him we need to silence the many voices & noises of the world & the loud inner voices of fear that distract us from our Lord’s voice.

In Matthew’s Gospel in the Bible, we read of the story of the disciple Peter walking on the sea. In that story we read that Jesus walked on the water in a storm & then when Peter cried out in fear from his boat, Jesus called him to not be afraid & to trust him & to get out of his boat & to walk on the water as well. As the story continues, Peter did trust Jesus & as he did, he was able to walk on the water. However, when he noticed the wind picking up, Peter became afraid & began to sink & began crying out to God to save him. We read that when He heard Peter’s cry, Jesus immediately reached out to save him, saying: “you of little faith, why did you doubt.” So, it is for us, with little faith we will sink. But with faith we stay afloat even in the midst of darkness, storm & peril.

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy