I’ll be honest: it can be difficult having a conversation with someone who doesn’t usually speak audibly or show facial expressions.
Has this ever happened to you? You’re bowing your head in prayer, and suddenly something out your window catches your eye. Or you begin asking God to help someone in your life, and then your mind begins to wander. How is that person? Did they seem upset the last time you met? What are they doing right now? Probably something more interesting than this.
When I’ve been under the wrong notion of what prayer should be, prayer has caused me a lot of unnecessary guilt. Does my distractedness show God disrespect? Am I lacking in faith when I struggle in prayer?
Thankfully, God is a God of endless grace.
Prayer feels restrictive when we are given a template of how to pray and what not to say. Though we are told time and again that prayer needs to be a conversation, how can we really converse with God?
The other day, I was going through my usual style of prayer when I froze, on the cusp of losing my attention, and asked God a question.
Nothing profound, just a simple question. But that one question led to another and another. I didn’t get any answers to those questions (yet), but I did receive another revelation: God welcomes our curiosity.
It may feel silly asking God questions when we know we likely aren’t going to hear back right away. But asking questions assumes a sense of vulnerability. We admit that we don’t know everything, but God does.
Often people asked God questions in the Bible. The disciples asked Jesus to explain His parables. Many psalmists asked God deep questions about the state of their own existence. Even Jesus, when on the cross, calls out to God with a question.
When we stay curious in our faith, we won’t grow bored with it. Instead, we will grow a new level of comfort with God as we embrace the things we do not know.
And when we approach life with curiosity, we will start to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us, notice the outsiders who are overlooked, and discover ways systems could be improved for the betterment of society.
What is your soul asking God today?
It could simply be “why” or “how” or perhaps something more complex. God is listening to all of it and even if you never find out the exact answer, God is the giver of peace.
How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?[The Lord’s Answer:]
Look at the nations and watch—
Habakkuk 1:1-3, 5
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
The Will to Wake Up 