From time to time, my husband travels with his job. What is that song lyric “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” I’ve definitely realized things in his short absences that I used to take for granted. I have grown to miss the security of having him by my side, I now recognize more clearly how much he does around the house (he cleans the kitchen, takes out the trash, feeds the dog, and much more), and appreciate how amazing he is at being a dad to our two teenagers. But what I miss most of all when he’s traveling is his companionship and the small talks we have throughout the day.
In the chaos of our lives, we have found that small talks throughout the day can make such a difference in our relationship. Just a few phone calls spaced randomly through the day. It somehow keeps our connection strong. We remember to tell each other things that might be forgotten by the end of the day. The big and little things we get excited to share with each other first before we share with anyone else. Sometimes it is good news and we rejoice together and then other times we encourage and sympathize when the day is not what we’d planned. Sometimes there are decisions to make and other times I just really need to hear his voice.
I’m grateful for anytime we have time to catch up but honestly talking once a day really just isn’t enough to build a quality relationship. And our relationship is one of great importance to me. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep it strong.
My relationship with Christ is of even greater importance in my life than my marriage. And understanding how I miss these small talks with my husband made me think about my prayer life and how Christ must feel when I only talk to him once a day (and honestly, some days not even that much). In David Jeremiah’s book on prayer he mentioned that God is not calling us to “a prayer life.” He is calling us to a “praying life.” He is not calling us to an activity. He is calling us to a relationship.
While good quality time set aside for prayer is essential sometimes to step away from the chaos and clutter of our lives and focus on that one thing – being in the very presence of our creator. But our relationship can flourish when we don’t just limit our prayers to that. Those stressful moments, those tough decisions when we need His guidance and direction, He’s just waiting to help. And then those times when we need reassurance and encouragement, He so longs to provide His strength and peace. Or perhaps we are just grateful for the blessings of the day, He wants to hear that! He just loves to hear our voice calling out to Him.
The more moments over the course of the day that we can spend in prayer, the more we will be able to recognize those God-given opportunities that come upon us. We will begin to see His loving hand all around us. Our heavenly Father cares about anything and everything in our lives and He deeply desires a relationship with us – a relationship that is centered on prayer. Psalm 145:18 tells us that the Lord is near to all who call upon him.
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My prayer is that each day throughout the day that the Lord would be near to us. That we would call His name and allow Him to guide us through life, to be used for His glory, and to experience the peace and rest that only He can provide.
