I read a book that was an exquisite piece of art. The author delved into physics, chemistry, philosophy, history, painting, mathematics, and poetry in a masterful and delicate way. His vocabulary, sentence structure, composition, and elegance of style were all marks of a master. Throughout the book, I repeatedly thought to myself, I wish I could write like that! Eventually, I had a check in my spirit and realized that my envy was wrong.

What is it that I want to accomplish in this life? Excellence in writing? Superior knowledge? The greatest events of my life have been those times when God communicated a message to me. His intervention in my life has given me greater joy than anything I could have ever accomplished by my own efforts.

If you are looking for goals to set for your life, I heartily recommend that you pray for increased fellowship with our Creator. Everything within us longs to reach out to Him. Every cell seeks to know what He wants us to be.

I can give no magical formula as to how to establish communion with God, but there are scriptural guidelines I try to follow. The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praise of His people (see Psalm 22:3). He lives in that which is filled with praise. Our hearts are filled with praise as we learn to believe He is working good in us (see Romans 8:28). Faith causes praise to flow into our hearts hundreds of times every day. Every thought, every experience, and everything that touches our lives becomes an opportunity to fill our hearts with praise.

Within this heart of praise, God increases His habitation. Eventually He opens new lines of communication. We may shout 1,000 times, “God! Speak to me. Speak to me!” We may hear only the echo of our own words, for God chooses the method and the time in which He communicates with us.

You may be immersed in a tragedy that seems to be drawing life’s joy out of your soul when suddenly a great stillness fills your heart. You hear a voice within that says, “Peace, be still.” The tumult within is gone. You may find yourself looking all around you to see where He is. You may have bashed your head against a problem until in agony you are forced to say, “OK, God, I give up. You will take my ignorance and work it for good.” Seemingly, out of nowhere the complete solution to the problem floods your mind and you know God has accomplished in you what you could not do for yourself.

But perhaps on a balmy afternoon, when you have no serious problems, and you are strolling along among beautiful trees and flowers, you hear His voice. You aren’t seeking special solutions but rather are reveling in God’s goodness. He chooses that moment to give you an overpowering, all-awareness of how much He loves you. Why then, and not earlier when you were struggling with some painful agony? Perhaps you first had to be tested by the problem.

So often we cry out to God in anger or resentment that He isn’t helping us to solve some problem. After all, isn’t that the way we are accustomed to getting other people’s attention? If they respond to our anger, why shouldn’t God? We must learn that God responds to our faith in the midst of our praise. Because every one of us longs for communion with God. (Reprint from June 1998)