By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“To talk with God, no breath is lost. Talk on! To walk with God, no strength is lost. Walk on! To wait on God, no time is lost. Wait on!” – E. Stanley Jones

Long car trips are the worst. Crammed in a tin can going sixty-five miles-hour-hour on a stretch of road that never seems to end can be horrible! We try to pass the time: we listen to music, put on a podcast, play a game. But most of the time, we always end up bored and falling in and out of sleep.

Annie and I went down to Nashville last weekend. It takes about three and a half hours. While it may not be the longest trip, it certainly goes by slow. But something crazy happened on this trip in particular. It’s going to blow your mind. We didn’t play a podcast, no music, no games.

We talked.

From the time we left until the time we arrived we talked to one another. It was great! We shared things we’d never shared with one another, learned things we never knew, and in the end, we felt much closer.

It’s weird. We spend every day together, live together, sleep in the same bed, and yet there was something special about just sitting and talking. Even though we are married, we valued that time which was simply spent in conversation. It was a beautiful thing.

In this current day and age, we’ve lost the magic of the connection you can feel with someone when you have a prolonged, deep, and very special conversation. When connections are made, and things are shared simply by talking face to face.

I’m all for celebrating the wonder of technology and I love exploring the latest device and downloading the newest app. But I can’t help to feel like we’ve lost something.

And it’s spread into our spiritual lives. Why can’t we simply sit back and talk to God? Just spending time in His presence and celebrating His goodness. What if we just held a conversation with Him and listened to what he had to say.

I think that we can grow used to instant communication. Where you text someone a question, immediately get the answer, conversation over. We try to apply the same principle to God and we can grow frustrated that our questions rarely receive instant answers. So often, it’s in the waiting and the abiding that answers are found.

Let’s challenge ourselves to hold more genuine conversations. It’s uncomfortable, and it can be difficult, but there’s something special about making a connection with other humans. A bit God’s heart can be found there.

And let’s also challenge ourselves to communicate with God like He’s our Father. Like He’s our friend. Let’s not rush our conversation, but let’s simply abide with Him, wait on Him, and simply talk with Him.