My heart has heard You say, “Come and talk with Me.” And my heart responds, “LORD, I am coming.” – Psalm 27:8 NLT
If you’ve ever felt like your concerns, fears, dreams, or even your hobbies are too small for God to care about, you’re not alone! We tend to only go to God with our biggest prayers—God, heal this sickness. God, restore my marriage. God, give me a good job. Everything else, we may think, is probably not worth bothering Him about.
But nothing could be further from reality! In the gospel of Luke, Jesus is talking to His disciples, encouraging them to not be afraid or anxious, because, He says, “...the very hairs on your head are all numbered” (NLT). God knows everything about us, down to the most seemingly insignificant physical detail. And if He knows, He cares.
With that truth in mind, we should want to invite God into every single minute of our day. Instead of thinking of Him as stern, uninterested, or too busy to deal with us, we start thinking of Him as our friend, whose utter delight it is to listen to anything we want to tell Him. In fact, Jesus even calls us His friends: “Now you are My friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (John 15:15 NLT).
However, this intimate access to God doesn’t give us an excuse to treat Him too casually. He is our closest Friend, but He is still the almighty, holy God, worthy, first and foremost, of our reverence and respect. We never make demands of Him or speak to Him harshly—just like we’d never speak to any of our other friends that way.
When we trust our place as both God’s children and His friends, we confidently bring Him all of ourselves, holding nothing back. We bring Him the big prayers and the little ones, we tell Him when someone offends us, we thank Him when we eat a delicious meal. We praise Him when we see a beautiful sunset. We share our dreams and our hopes for the future.
So what does this look like practically?
When you wake up in the morning, pray a simple prayer, like, God, I welcome you into every moment. Help me to feel Your presence as I go about my work. This will help center your attention and affection on Him. Then, when you find yourself with a free moment during your day, recenter your focus—because let’s be honest, at some point it’s probably drifted away from Him and onto your responsibilities! When you’re on your way home, cooking dinner, or getting ready for bed, tell Him about your day—all the highs and lows, the fun parts and the frustrations.
You’ll notice that when you invite Him into every detail of your life, talking to Him (i.e., prayer) feels less like a chore and more like a gift you can’t even imagine your day without.
Your Father and Friend loves listening to you and wants to talk with you—so talk to Him!
Additional Scriptures:
James 4:8a NLT
Come close to God, and God will come close to you.
Proverbs 18:24 ESV
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Matthew 11:28 NLT
Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
1 John 3:1a NLT
See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!
Proverbs 22:11 NLT
Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the King as a friend.
