If the primary purpose of the Bible is for God to speak to us, then many people assume that the primary purpose of prayer is for us to speak to God. While it's true that prayer is a way for us to speak to God, it actually has a much more profound purpose.
When we genuinely pray, we go into the presence of God. However, since God is omnipresent aren't we always in God's presence? Yes and no. While God may be everywhere, there is no certainty you are engaging Him. It is possible to have dinner with your spouse, and because you are distracted, never enter into his or her presence. We can do that with God.
When you pray in earnest, you come face-to-face with the God of the universe, the God who shows you grace, the God who adopts you, the God who guides and strengthens you. When you pray, you step into God's kingdom, His world—the place where God rules without push back.
When I pray, it may seem that I am narrowing my world, retreating from the real world into a prayer closet in Jesus' metaphor. Actually I am entering another world, just as real but invisible, a world that has power to change both me and the world I seem to be retreating from.
Philip Yancey, Prayer, Does It Make a Difference?
Suppose you could extend an invitation to spend time with anyone in the world: the president, your favorite actor or athlete, an expert in your field, etc. How exciting would that be? We have actually been given a personal invitation by the sovereign, merciful, creator God to visit with Him whenever we want. "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
The most amazing thing about prayer is we are communicating directly to the Lord Almighty, who is the final authority over everything. We don't need to go through a priest or any other person, memorize a chant, or follow any tradition or ritual. We just need to talk and listen. We don't even have to talk out loud because God is omniscient, or all-knowing. He knows our thoughts. He has allowed us to walk into His presence whenever we want. This was made possible through the death of Jesus, when we were reconciled back to God and can now enjoy an intimate relationship with Him.
This give and take of prayer (speaking and listening) was modeled by Jesus during His three-year ministry. First, we see Jesus speaking to God throughout His ministry. He talks to Him when He heals, before He eats, while doing ministry, during miracles, while He is alone, when He is in a crowd and so on. In our reading tomorrow, we will look more in depth at speaking to God.
But Jesus didn't only talk to the Father, He also listened. For instance, when it came time for Him to choose the twelve men who would be His disciples, He spent the whole night in prayer (Luke 6:12-16). Only after talking and listening to His Father's wishes was He ready to make His choice. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before Jesus was killed, He prayed for God the Father to change the plan for the next day, and even though the plan remained the same, Jesus found strength in listening to His Father. Prayer is not just talking to God; it is giving space for Him to communicate back to us.
Listening to God can be a bit mysterious. God doesn't need to speak out loud to get through to us. By slowing down, emptying our minds, and praying, God can communicate directly to us through thoughts and ideas. Sometimes He speaks to us in the midst of activity—walking, jogging, gardening, hiking, etc. Regardless of what we are doing, if we sift out the noise of our lives, we can make room for His voice. But how can we be sure it is God speaking? We can know because thoughts will come into our minds that we know didn't come from us. They will be consistent with His Word and what He wants for us. Perhaps it is a prompting to do something or a new perspective on a problem, or an answer to a question. God will make it known. Though He is mysterious, He also wants us to hear Him clearly.
As we spend time in His presence talking to Him, listening to Him, reading His Word and meditating on His principles, eventually we will grow to a place in our relationship with God that we recognize and understand what He is saying to us. Like John 10:3-4 says, "The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice." Recognition comes from familiarity and familiarity comes from time spent together.
There is no one right formula for always hearing God. There will be times where the communication seems more difficult, when it is harder to hear God's voice. But it is good to remember that God wants to hear from us and for us to hear Him. In those moments when it seems God is silent, know that He is always there, always listening, always working, always involved.