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I was talking at church the other day with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while. A Patriot fan, it didn’t take him long to say, “I’m still basking in the glow of the Super Bowl.” Not a Patriot fan, I responded, “Well, I graduated from Clemson,” referring, of course, to the national football championship. He said, “Well, don’t tell my wife since she’s an Alabama fan.” Then I said, thinking of the Clemson game, “It was really ugly” (to beat Alabama 44-16). And he said, “Yes, it was. Who thought we could hold them to three points?”

We were talking about two different games! Two one-way conversations.

But we often do the same thing with our prayer times. We read the Bible, then put it down while we pray over our prayer list, rather than responding to what we just read in scripture. That’s why we teach time with God as Read, Reflect, RESPOND, Record.

Try it if you haven’t already. Read a short passage, and when something jumps out at you (God speaking!), take some time to pray that back to God. Make it a two-way conversation!

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33.11, ESV)