Who's In The Conversation?

Have you ever been in a situation where you are with a couple of friends and they become caught up in a conversation that seems to exclude you? It wasn't intentional on their part, they were just so caught up in conversation that they seem to have forgotten that you were there.

In John 16 Jesus is engrossed in a conversation with His disciples. This is the chapter where Jesus is explaining that He will be going away, but He will come back (referring to His death and Resurrection). The disciples aren't quite understanding so there are a lot of questions. Everyone is involved in the conversation. Then John 17:1 begins with like this...

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You." John 17:1

Do you see what Jesus did here? In the course of His conversation, He looked up and spoke to the Father. He didn't gather everyone together to pray. He didn't bow or kneel in formal ceremony. He didn't walk away from the others to quietly pray. As we read John 17, we see that the words Jesus spoke (His prayer) to the Father, were an extension of the conversation. He recognized that God the Father is always with us and He simply included God in the conversation. It was the same as if your friends in the above example would have turned to you and brought you into the conversation.

I am not saying that we should be walking around everywhere we go, engaged in an audible conversation with God. Jesus was with close friends who were believers in this situation. But how often do we forget that God is right there with us waiting to be included in the conversation? The closer our relationship with Jesus is, the more aware we are of His continual presence and the more we naturally begin to include Him in our conversations, whether silently or audibly.

We can model the closeness of our relationship with our Father to our children by looking up sometimes in the course of our conversations with them, to include God. In the midst of our conversation, and our day-to-day, there are many opportunities to look up and say "Thank you Lord.", "What should we do Lord?", "Would you help us with this Lord?", and one of my personal favorites, "Lord, would you please show me where I put my glasses again?". Your children, your grand-children, and others will see that your relationship with Jesus is real and personal, and they just might pick up on making it more personal in their own lives too.

Pray continually. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” Matthew 18:20

"...And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

Please join me at Titus 2 in Action today...

"A girl needs to be so lost in God, that the guy is going to have to seek HIM to find her!" ...Maya Angelou