God, what do You want me to know?

I love making new friends.  I find people so interesting, their way of life, their habits, their preferences, their dislikes.  Sometimes people will tell you all about themselves readily.  Most often, you need to invite them to do it.  This happens by asking questions.

Of course when it comes to having a more personal relationship with God*, this approach never crossed my mind.  When someone suggested it to me, I immediately thought, "Why didn't I think of that on my own?"  For me, I think it's because I was taught to revere and praise God from a distance, that there is an invisible line between my space and God's hallow ground, and that I was not to cross it.  But then the suggestion seemed so natural and made sense and was so simple.  To have a more personal relationship with God, I just needed to engage in conversation by asking questions. 

What I learned is that the simplest question to ask, and the one I use most often is this: "*God, what do you want me to know?"  Then I give God the room and the time to answer.  It might not happen immediately, but eventually I get a response.  The trick is to figure out how God is trying to reach you.

It might be through your dreams.  Maybe, for example, you wake up with a song on the brain.    Maybe it's images of a story that plays out in the night.  Either way, pay attention to the words or the images or how it makes you feel or of what it reminds you.

Maybe it's not just songs from your dreams, maybe it's songs on the radio.  You keep hearing the same song on the radio and it's not one that is popular right now.  Maybe it's the words from a piece of music that your teacher has given you.

It might be that someone or something crosses your path multiple times.  For example, maybe the answer comes from an individual.  It could be immediate or maybe you keep running in to the same person over and over and you get an answer from these interactions.  Maybe you get "poked" or "pinged" three or four times, either explicitly or implicitly.  For example, maybe the answer is in a book that one person recommends, another person has sitting on their coffee table, and a third person, a total stranger in front of you, is checking out from the library or purchasing at the book store.  And if you are not a reader, God knows that's not how to engage with you.  Maybe the title of the book you keep seeing tells you the answer.

The point is there are endless ways that God may be answering you and these ways will change as circumstances change.

The main things is to ask the questions you seek answers to and by all means PAY ATTENTION to what crosses your path. 

Reflective questions:

1.  Have you ever felt like you were being  "poked" or "pinged" by God or the Universe?

2.  Do you ever ask God what He or She wants you to know?  Why or why not?

3. Do you want a personal relationship with God now?  Why or why not?

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you for today.  It is not for me to decide.