Communication—or rather, failure to communicate—is a major problem in our world today. So often we don't say
what we mean, we have difficulty putting our feelings into words, and we leave people with misunderstanding. Whether
in the family, the workplace, or the church, we have problems communicating.
Many people also have problems communicating with God. They are uncomfortable talking to God, they wonder if
He has heard what they have said, or they are confused or frustrated in their lack of ability to say what they
mean.
The foremost problem in communication, however, is not any of the situations mentioned above. The foremost problem
in both our human relationships and our relationship with God is a failure to try to communicate. If a person never
opens his mouth and his heart to others, communication is stymied. Without an effort to start communicating, there
can be no growth in one's ability to communicate.
The problem is not new. Repeatedly in the Bible, God invited His prophets to communicate with Him—He was seeking
to open a dialogue, engage in a conversation, begin a discussion. God extends the same invitation to you and me
today. He asks us to start the process with Him so He can build a relationship with us.
In Jeremiah 33:1–3 we find one of God's invitations to pray:
Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the
prison, saying, “Thus says the LORDwho made it, the LORD who
formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty
things, which you do not know.’ ”
At the time this word came to Jeremiah, he was in prison for disagreeing with the leaders of Jerusalem, who
wanted to align themselves with the Egyptians to the south in order to defeat the Babylonians, who were invading
Israel from the east. The Lord had told Jeremiah that His people would be taken into captivity by the Babylonians
for seventy years. Jeremiah, therefore, had recommended to the leader in Jerusalem that they surrender peacefully
and voluntarily—from his perspective, God's word was already coming to pass, so there was no point in fighting
against it. The leaders responded by putting Jeremiah in prison.
“Call to Me”
There are three great messages in this word of the Lord to Jeremiah. First, God says, “Call to Me.” There's
probably no better place for a person to catch up on his or her prayer life than behind bars! Although we may not
be behind physical bars or residing in a public prison, we very often are isolated through a series of events or
problems so that we find ourselves feeling alone and captive to our circumstances. In those times our attention
very often turns to God. Our cry is usually, “God, get me out of this place” or “God, get me out of this situation.”
Sometimes we may even attempt to barter with God, saying, in effect, “God, get me out of here so I can serve You
better and read the Scripture and pray more than I have in the past.”
In reality, however, the “prison” in which we find ourselves may be the very place that God has designated for
us to learn better how to serve Him, read the Bible, and pray more. This is especially true when the prison is
one of our own making—a prison marked by our sin or error, our emotional problems, our relationship problems with
others, our self-created financial problems, or our self-inflicted health problems. Our healing lies not in our
deliverance from the problem, but in developing a relationship with God in the midst of the problem.
God made no mention of Jeremiah's release from prison in this passage. He simply said, “Call to Me.” God is
far more interested in establishing a relationship with us and communicating with us within our situation than
He is in changing our circumstances or releasing us from our problems. The lessons that we learn within life's
problems are valuable for all eternity. They are greater than any lessons we might learn from a miraculous deliverance
from our pain, suffering, or trouble.
God calls us to pray within the struggles of life. Prayer is the shortest distance between problems and solutions,
difficulties and remedies, questions and answers. The distance between your knees and the floor is the shortest
distance to seeing God at work in your life.
• Have you had an experience in which you found yourself turning to God within a struggle or problem?
• What insight do you have into why we often do not make prayer our first resort in times of trouble?
Always Available
God wants us to come to Him as His beloved daughter or son in order that He might be with us at any moment in
our lives. He makes Himself immediately and personally available to us at any time of day or night, no matter what
we are facing.
No person who has called out to God has ever heard a busy signal or a recorded message from an angelic being
saying, “God is occupied right now. At the tone, please leave a message and He'll get back to you.” God is available.
He says, “Call to Me. I'm here.”
We have the right to talk to God at any time, anywhere, and in the midst of any situation. His promise to us
is this: “I will answer you.”
What the Word Says
The LORD will hear when I call to Him. (Ps. 4:3)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. (Ps. 50:15)
What the Word Says to Me
• In what ways do you feel challenged in your prayer life?
“I Will Answer You”
God encourages us to call on Him with the sure promise that He will hear and answer. We may not sense His presence,
but He is always there.
People often fail us in their promises to be there for us. God does not fail us. There are times when we don't
like God's answer to us, but He answers us nonetheless. He has three main answers to our petitions:
• Yes.
• No.
• Wait.
Each is an equally valid answer. We don't tend to see them as equally valid, however. The only answer we often
accept from God is yes. I frequently hear people say, “Praise God, He answered my prayer! He said yes to what I
requested.” I have never heard a person say with exuberance, “Praise God! He said no to what I requested!”
We are self-centered people and we want God to give us what we desire. When God answers no, or wait, it is usually
because we haven't fully waited upon the Lord to discover His will or direction for our lives. In such times these
answers spare us heartache, keep us from error, or put us into a situation of growth so that we will be ready to
receive the fullness of God's blessing in our lives.
A yes answer is not guaranteed solely because a person is living right. Sometimes a no is necessary because
His answer to us affects another person who is not living right. What we can know with certainty is that God's
answer is always for our protection and His motivation toward us is always love. He has our best interests at heart.
• Have you ever asked something of God and received a yes answer? How did you feel?
• Have you ever asked something of God and received an answer of no? How did you feel?
• Have you ever asked something of God and received an answer of wait? How did you feel?
• In each of the above situations, what was your response? What was the outcome?
I know people who, when they receive an answer from God that they do not like, turn immediately to their Bibles
in hope of finding another answer they like better. Some read aloud a verse of Scripture with the hope that God
will change His mind. They are trying to get God to rethink His decision. That never works. God's answer is God's
answer. We are wise to accept it.
If the answer we receive is no, we are equally wise to ask God if His reason for denying our request has to
do with sin in our lives. We can ask Him to reveal to us what is keeping us from being in a position to receive
the yes answer we want. We can ask Him to evaluate the desires of our heart and show us which ones are not in keeping
with His perfect plan for our lives. Likewise, if the answer we receive is wait, we are wise to be alert before
God so when the time is right, we can act to receive what God has for us.
In both cases, we are submitting our lives to God, engaging in an ongoing process of communication with God,
and opening ourselves up to a deeper relationship with Him. No and wait answers can be very productive for our
spiritual growth, even though they are seldom the answers we want initially.
The fact is, we can't hurry God in His answers. We can't change His mind. He is more interested in our eternal
future—our growth, our faith, our obedience, our character—than in making us happy in the current moment. God's
answers are for our good, and He will not be swayed from giving us what is best for us. Only Jesus had all of His
prayers answered with a yes. We simply do not have perfect wisdom and understanding.
Our response to God's no and wait answers is critical. If we respond with a submissive will, then we are serving
and relating to the Lord out of love. If we rebel against Him, we have evidence that our relationship with Him
and service to Him are bound by duty, not love. God's desire, of course, is that His relationship with us be characterized
by spontaneous love and devotion, not stubborn or prideful duty.
What the Word Says
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my troubles I will call upon You,
For You will answer me. (Ps. 86:6–7)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble …
And show him My salvation. (Ps. 91:15–16)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
The LORD will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them.” (Joel 2:19)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him. (Ps. 62:5)
What the Word Says to Me
• In what ways are you feeling challenged in your prayer life?
“Show You Great and Mighty Things”
When God invited Jeremiah to call to Him, He said, “I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things,
which you do not know.”
Many of our petitions to God involve other people and our decisions related to them. We often ask God to bless
our family members and friends and to exercise judgment on our enemies. But then many of us go about our daily
business without ever considering what it is that God might want us to do, or what He might want to teach
us and show us. There are many instances in which we need to admit that we “do not know.” It is only then that
we will open ourselves to receive God's divine guidance and wisdom. Note the things God said He would show to Jeremiah:
Great things. God alone is truly great. There is nothing greater than seeing God with spiritual eyes,
hearing Him with spiritual ears, and gaining an understanding of what He is able and willing to do. God alone knows
our past deeds and our future potential. He is the Holy One, the great Creator, Sustainer, and Lover of humankind.
God wanted to show Himself to Jeremiah. He wanted to reveal to Jeremiah what was possible for Jeremiah's
future and the future of all God's people.
When we read the Scriptures, we see the greatness of God on virtually every page. When we look at the lives
of great Christians through the ages, we see the greatness of God at work. When we reflect back over the experiences
of our own lives, we have evidence of God's greatness. One of the foremost things that God desires to show you
through your prayer relationship with Him is His own greatness. He wants to communicate to you His vast love and
power and wisdom—all of which He makes available to you.
• How do you feel about the fact that God desires to reveal Himself to you?
Mighty things. God also promised to reveal to Jeremiah “mighty things, which you do not know.” The word
mighty in our current English usage does not mean what it meant at the time the Bible was written. The term
usually is used to refer to great fortified cities, ones that were walled in. The word is a reference to things
that are hidden, secret, and therefore, secure.
God desires to reveal to us the things that are inaccessible to us through any other means outside of prayer.
It is through our communication with God that He reveals to us the secret treasures of understanding and discernment
that are “hidden” in the Scriptures. It is through our conversations with God that He reveals to us the as-yet-unknown
answers to our questions and the solutions to our problems. When we come to the Lord with a pure and humble heart,
seeking above all an intimate relationship with Him, then God can trust us with the precious riches of His power.
I have gone to God repeatedly through the years of my ministry to ask Him for specific guidance and direction
on a wide range of matters. Not once has He failed to answer. Many times His answer has involved things that had
been hidden to me. God has led me to ask questions I would not otherwise have asked, to seek information I would
not otherwise have sought, to probe issues I would not otherwise have touched, or to contact people I would not
otherwise have called. In the process of my obeying God's guidance, He has given me access to resources and ideas
and solutions that were previously unknown to me. In every instance, what God revealed to me was for my ultimate
and eternal good. I have no doubt whatsoever that what He has done for me, He will do for you.
God's revelation of mighty things may not come immediately, or even quickly. In some cases, we may not yet be
able to receive the information or make full use of the resources that are revealed to us. But God will not keep
from us anything we need to know. He responds to our cries for help not only by revealing Himself as the source
of all our help, but also by supplying all the resources that we need.
• How do you feel about the fact that God desires to reveal answers and solutions to you as you develop a
relationship with Him in prayer?
There are some things that God alone knows—things that will never be revealed to any person. Furthermore, with
our finite minds, none of us can ever fully comprehend or encompass God's wisdom, power, and love. What we can
know are the things that we need to know in order to keep God's commandments and follow His will for our lives.
What God tells us to do, He will equip us to do—including the equipment of adequate knowledge, courage, patience,
fortitude, wisdom, discernment, resources, and compassion.
What the Word Says
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children
forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deut. 29:29)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
And You are exalted as head over all.
Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is the power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.
Now therefore, our God,
We thank You
And praise Your glorious name. (1 Chron. 29:11–13)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed. (Isa. 4:4-5a)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give
everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jer. 32:19)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
The LORD will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them.” (Joel 2:19)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him. (Ps. 62:5)
What the Word Says to Me
• In what ways are you feeling challenged in your prayer life?
The Invitation to Knock, Ask, Seek
Jesus reissued the invitation of God to “call to Me” in Matthew 7:7, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” The promise of
Jesus to His followers is just as sure as that of God to Jeremiah: the one who asks, seeks, and knocks, will receive
God's answer and supply. Asking, seeking, and knocking are aspects of our prayer life.
Ask. We are to ask for the things we need. Some people seem reluctant to pray for the material goods
and resources they need, but God invites us to do so. In fact, He tells us that we often don't have what we need
because we haven't asked (James 4:2).
Seek. We are to seek understanding and knowledge so we can develop relationships with others. The goal
of seeking is to find someone, and our primary goal is to seek God. We may need a certain amount of knowledge and
understanding to come into relationship with the right people at the right time, but part of God's promise to us
is that He will help us find what and whom we desire to find.
Knock. We are to knock on the doors of opportunity that appear before us, responding with our faith to
the potential for good that God places in our path. God desires for us to fulfill the potential He has placed in
us. He wants us to feel satisfaction and fulfillment in what we do for Him, in Him, and through Him.
The basis for all answered prayer is God's love. He responds to our petitions for things, relationships, and
fulfillment because He loves us. Our asking, seeking, and knocking are all to be done within the context of our
ongoing daily communication with God. Our needs change daily. New opportunities come our way on a daily basis.
Relationships are built day by day. Therefore, our communication with God must be daily. Jesus referred to a daily
intimate relationship with God as “abiding” in God. The communication of a person who is abiding is frequent, without
barriers, and deeply personal and meaningful. As we develop that kind of communication with God, we truly are in
a position for Him to reveal to us and to provide for us all that we can possibly desire, in part because our desires
will be His desires for us.
What the Word Says
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is
there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him
a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father
in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matt. 7:8–11)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this
My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:7–8)
What the Word Says to Me
• What new insights do you have into God's invitation to you to pray—to communicate with Him and grow in
your relationship with Him?
• In what ways are you feeling a renewed call to pray?
From Talking With God: Discover New Insights to Help Deepen Your
Prayer Life by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1997 by Charles Stanley.
