In Communication or In Communion

The last time I joined you at The Glorious Table, I confessed my problem with prayer. I rejected the temptation to use prayer like a magic lamp. God is not enslaved to my whims like a genie in a bottle, and it is immature and selfish of me to think God is at my beck and call. But if prayer isn’t about getting what I want or altering the outcome of mine or other’s lives, then what is the point?

Since asking these questions, I have been thinking more and more about being in communion with God versus being in communication with God. Communication assumes there is conversation between the two of us. That is all well and good, like having a conversation with a good friend from time to time. It is good to take time to pour out our hearts and calm down enough to listen. Even Jesus needed to go off to be by himself to talk to God (Mark 1:35, Matt. 26:36) But relying only on this practice inevitably leads to questions and wanting answers or requests and wanting results.

Communion, on the other hand, is simply being with God and God being with us, all the time. Rather than setting aside time each day to stop and pray, let every thought and action be a prayer. Rather than wondering what words to say, simply let every breath be a prayer. Perhaps this is what Paul was talking about when he told the Thessalonians to “rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5:16-18 CSB). I used to read this passage and imagine people walking around muttering to themselves, constantly looking up to the heavens and bumping into things, walking through life praying instead of paying attention to what was going on around them. Now I read this passage and think that we should be even more engaged in the world instead of blindly stumbling through it. Communion with God means observing God’s creation and taking care of it. Making an effort to see the image of God in every person I encounter, even the ones I don’t like.

In his book, What if Jesus Was Serious about Prayer?, Skye Jethani explains how prayer is meant to be so much more than a quick conversation now and then or a list of requests:

The person who learns to commune deeply with God in prayer, however, will open her eyes to see a world bathed in His presence. She will recognize God’s image in her neighbor and in her enemy, in the sacred and the ordinary, in the intimate and the immense, in the natural and the architectural.

Prayer is on our knees but also walking the dog. Prayer is spreading peanut butter and jelly and remembering that Christ was broken and healed for the little mouths that will eat those sandwiches. Prayer can be in a beautiful sanctuary or at the kitchen sink. Prayer is in the music that brings us to tears and in gazing into the eyes of a newborn baby. Prayer is also in the pain and struggles we face throughout our lives and when we cry out in frustration or anger. Prayer can be in a scream of help or the clenching of a jaw. Prayer is all of this and more if we just invite it to be a part of everyday life and recognize it as so much more than heads bowed, eyes closed.

Maybe when we learn to continually commune with God, the need for a traditional prayer Q & A will fade away. Requests and pleas will be replaced by trust in the security of God’s sovereignty.

Stephanie Clinton is a writer and blogger but more importantly, a wife and mother to two little boys. In her free time (if there is any) she can be found wiping snotty noses and volunteering in her community and school. Learn more about Stephanie along with her passion to encourage women and lighten their load at www.hugskissesandsnot.com.

Photograph © Sixteen Miles Out, used with permission