Intimate Communication with God
And he walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” â From “In The Garden”
These verses from one of my favorite hymns beautifully express the intimacy we can have with God the Father and the Lord Jesus. I picture myself strolling along with Jesus in a garden, talking about everything thatâs on my heart, and listening to what he wants to tell me. That, in a nutshell, is what prayer is supposed to be like.
Being intimate with the Father, talking to him throughout the day, sharing my deepest feelings and thoughts with him â thatâs the kind of interchange God wants to have with me (and you) on a continual basis. Our heavenly Father is glad to hear from us, and eager to participate in the give and take of prayer. Intimate prayer is a great antidote to what sociologists tell us is one of the most common maladies affecting Americans today â acute loneliness. I know there are many ways to pray and communicate with God. But I want to emphasize intimate prayer as an ongoing lifestyle that makes a vital connection to God. Isnât that what weâre all after?
Intimacy with God doesnât necessarily require spending several hours in prayer each day. Iâve read many books about prayer warriors. One or two of those guys almost caused me to quit praying entirely after I read the story of their lives. Some of them prayed eight hours a day. They grew calluses on their knees from praying so long. Can you imagine that? I felt, after reading their books, that if thatâs what was required in order to be an ardent and enthusiastic warrior for the Lord, I was in trouble.
But reading their biographies did inspire me, so as a young Christian, I decided I was going to get up early in the morning and pray. I started setting the alarm at 4am. During the next two weeks, I discovered that I could fall asleep in any position: standing, kneeling, sitting, rolling over, clinging to the alarm…I got discouraged. I felt as if I was trying to become a spiritual body builder, and I thought, âLord, I canât get there from here.â
Along the way, the Lord began speaking to me concerning prayer. He taught me that intimacy with God isnât measured by the length of time I spend on my knees each day. For me, intimate prayer is a continual conversation with God that lasts throughout the day. Intimate prayer is vital and important, but to fully enter into it, we must first understand the basis for this type of prayer. Someone once described prayer as an adventure. It is that. But prayer is also the door to a deep satisfying relationship with our heavenly Father. Intimate prayer can open that door.
John Wimber, Prayer: Intimate Communication (Anaheim: Vineyard Ministries International, 1997), 9-11.
