“Most conversation between God and humans is to help us understand things.”

A thought by Dallas Willard (2012-04-24) from his book, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (p. 39). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Such a tremendous privilege and such a tremendous opportunity. I get to have a relationship with God which in turn means I get to communicate with him and he communicates with me.

Now in this matter of communication with people understanding is a very important thing to me. It is not imperative to me to have people agree with me as much as it is to have them understand. Do you understand what I mean? Now in this context you can’t answer me back. This is not a conversation and most prayers are all one sided. That is not God’s fault but our understanding of prayer is the problem. Prayer is not to be one sided but to be a conversation. But this matter of God talking back to us can be a problem.

I like something that Dallas said, “‘Why is it,’ comedian Lily Tomlin asks, ‘that when we speak to God we are said to be praying but when God speaks to us we are said to be schizophrenic?’”

He also asked a good question when he asked, “What does it say about someone’s view of God that he or she uses the term personal relationship but there are no specific communications?”

But God does want to talk to us and commune with us and help us to understand. Maybe that is where we start. Just ask him to help us not just to solve a request but help us to understand what is happening and then wait and listen to that still small voice and what it says. He really does want us to understand.

Why not ask him?

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