The Conversation Never Stops

Key verse

Never stop praying.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT

I can’t recall the last occasion I glanced at my wife and said, “Good morning! I’m your husband, Keith. I hope you have a good day.” In fact, if I ever have, I’ve got serious problems. No. Conversations with my wife typically pick up from the last time we spoke to one another. Though there may be moments when we haven’t seen each other for what feels like a lifetime, and the conversation may need to prime before it can feel natural again, most of our conversations are continuations of the one we started when we first began dating.

I remember the first few times I heard this verse: "Never stop praying." I was a bit dumbfounded. The notion that I should never stop getting on my hands and knees and pray solemnly to God felt like a tiresome chore that would leave me longing to have fun or enjoy life in some other manner. But considering prayer in the context that Billy Graham used—“talking with God”—made it more feasible. I can accept the idea of never stopping our conversation in the same regard that I never really end the conversation with my wife or best friends; we just pick it up from where it last left off.

Those with whom we are comfortable, confident, and love dearly, we speak with honor, value, and informal repose. Our conversations can balance seamlessly between dreams, ambition, affection, banter, and nonsense because, with those people, we have never actually stopped speaking. Our thoughts are on them, and our souls are for them. This is the sort of relationship God is seeking with you, one that is both revered and relaxed, formal and informal, professional and familiar. And when we live with Him on our thoughts, it is never a chore to continue the conversation and pray about everything, always and without end.

Prayer

Thank You, Father, for desiring a relationship with me that is unlike any other. I want to make it my sole purpose to always come to you foremost. I want to hear what You think about my life and what I’m experiencing. You matter the most to me, and I love talking to You about it all! Thank You for wanting to talk to me too!