The key to a strong marriage is communication. However, communication is not just necessary within the marriage relationship, but it is necessary in any relationship, especially our spiritual relationship with God. We may communicate in our spiritual relationship in two ways: prayer and study.
We need to be a people of prayer. The Bible is resplendent with the command of communication through prayer. Paul tells us in First Thessalonians 5:17, “ Pray without ceasing .” James wrote, “ Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much ” (James 5:16). Daniel knew that prayer was important. He “ went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime ” (Dan. 6:10). Jesus must have thought that communication with our Father was important enough not only to teach it to His disciples (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4), but to practice it Himself (Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; 6:12). If Jesus needed to pray, then how much more do we need to pray? Prayer is the prelude to peace, the prologue to power, the preface to purpose and the pathway to perfection.
Since communication is a two-fold process, we should not only communicate to Jehovah through our prayers, but also allow Him to communicate to us through His written word. God not only wants His word read (1 Thess. 5:27), He wants it to be understood as well (2 Tim. 2:15). Moses gathered the entire nation of Israel and conveyed the importance of communication from God (Deut. 5:22, 27). We need to have the conviction of Josiah towards the word of God:
And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord . [2 Kings 23:2]
Jesus said in John 6:45, “ It is written in the prophets, ‘ And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me .’” The only way we can learn of God and His will for us is a daily study of the Bible. This is the only way we can allow God to communicate to us His desires, commands and promises for us.
Communication is not sufficient alone, but action must correspond with the communication. Without such, communication is vain, and the situation places a severe strain on the relationship with problems to follow. May we always communicate with God through daily prayer and Bible study, and follow our communication with faith and obedience to the will of God. “ But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased ” (Heb. 13:16).