To connect with God is a very essential ingredient in our pursuit of simple prayer.

If we’re believers, then Christ resides within us and we have Him dwelling in our hearts. But even though this is true for us, we must still learn to abide, which means it is a process that we will get better at over time.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

When Proverbs tells us to “acknowledge Him,” it means we are to acknowledge Christ dwelling within us, recognizing the divine intimate contact we have with Him. To connect with Him, then, means that we’re cultivating a connection with Him and an awareness of His presence within us. The more we do this, the more fully and completely we learn to abide in Him.

Our awareness of His presence increases with practice, with time spent in prayer, and by acknowledging the personhood of God dwelling within us.

Acknowledging Him is one of the goals of simple prayer. We are not just acknowledging Him as residing in heaven (which seems to put Him far away), or simply acknowledging Him with our mind (though we do this sometimes), but we are acknowledging Christ within us (which is the hope of glory).

As we develop that intimate contact with Him on a regular basis, then the promise is that He will direct our paths, which is ultimately what we want Him to do. We should all desire Him to be in charge of our life, for Him to live His life through us rather than us living our life for Him.

This connection begins in our prayer time in the morning, but staying connected is a lifelong learning process.

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This kind of communion is about maintaining our spiritual connection with the Lord all day long. We stop seeing our prayer times as being like stops at a gas station to fill our car up, for we are continually being filled with His presence.

Picture what it would be like to be married to someone, but to limit our time together to five or ten-minute spans, once or twice a day.

What if we made our spouse stand on the front porch the rest of the time, patiently waiting until we found a few minutes that were convenient for us to get together? Who would tolerate a relationship like that? Not anyone in their right mind. Yet, that’s a pretty accurate picture of how many Christians treat their relationship with the Lord.

The Bible teaches God’s design for marriage partners to be “one flesh” and describes the parallel with our spiritual intimacy with the Lord:

“He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17).

Instead of being a sporadic on-again, off-again relationship, our communion with the Lord is meant to be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

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Many of us have been surprised by impulses, thoughts, and emotions that seem to come out of the blue and throw us off course. And oftentimes, we enter into sinful behavior and yield to the temptation. So there is a need to promptly reconnect with Christ in an intimate and life-giving way.

It doesn’t have to be long, drawn-out process, but it does have to be prompt and intentional.

The Bible promises that if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9). John isn’t speaking of a process of repentance and penance that we perform to get in God’s good graces, but an instantaneous cleansing of unrighteousness, resulting in a restoration of our connection with Christ. We can once again begin to walk in fellowship with Him and with one another.

When we break fellowship with Him, however, we have an Advocate with the Father through Jesus Christ:

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1-2).

The provision for being reconnected with God quickly and effectively is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Because of His shed blood, we can walk in an abiding lifestyle with the Father, sensing His peace and feeling His presence throughout every moment of every day.

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Each one of us have unresolved thoughts, feelings, and impulses that seem to come right out of the blue at all the wrong times. But through healing prayer, we are learning about letting God take these unresolved issues—these things that are hidden in the depths of our hearts and are springing up, causing ungodly thoughts, emotional outbursts of different types, and impulsive and destructive behaviors—and healing them. They are toxic expressions lying just under the surface of our hearts.

So even though we may be enjoying a peaceful union and communion with God in our lives, none of us have arrived yet, and we all have areas in our heart that conflict with enjoying the progressive intimate relationship we have with Christ. As we experience emotional healing, walking in the Spirit becomes less and less hindered by these intruders. We must learn to intentionally welcome God’s presence so we move beyond just enjoying His presence in a place of a peace to diligently pursuing Him for deep healing.

We long for Him to search out the hidden things deep within us.

The most effective way to diligently pursue God is not by telling Him we only want to enjoy intimacy with Him, but also by letting Him know we want Him to search our hearts. We long for Him to search out the hidden things deep with us, the affected areas, the emotional abuse, that is buried alive under the surface of our hearts. And when He reveals what needs healing, then we’re going to deal with whatever He exposes according to His process.

That’s the diligent pursuit I’m talking about, because we all want these issues resolved in our life. These toxic expressions periodically paralyze us, periodically cost us in relationships and in many of the endeavors of our life. The Lord taught me how to instantly deal with issues such as these and get my peace back. Therefore, we need to passionately pursue this season of emotional healing, this area of intentional sanctification.

Search me, O God.

The psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). It’s not just about thinking this in our minds, but it’s about allowing God to search our hearts through prayer. He is able to go right to the core of some of these barriers, the heart of the things that have hindered us, the issues that rise up and resurrect themselves, causing us trouble, and He is able to bring deep healing.

We’re deliberately asking God to deal with these issues before they come up without notice. We are asking Him in advance to reveal the hidden areas of our hearts, allowing us to dismantle and abolish their effect in our lives. He longs for us to be free from the influence of these negative thoughts, impulses, and emotions. And we want to be those who respond rather than react—that’s the goal of maturing in the things of God.

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, you can read a free preview of our book Deep Relief Now! here: Free Preview or get the book on Amazon here: Buy on Amazon

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