Day 4 - God, Can We Chat?

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NLT)

“Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” (Psalm 25:4-5)

Paul tells us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2, NIV), but that’s not as easy as it sounds. If it’s deciding what to wear for a girls’ night out, my mind “renews” a hundred times before my mascara’s dry. But when it comes to the way I think, feel, and act toward myself and God on a deeper level, it renews as fast as a herd of tortoises on NyQuil. This section is the help we need, the guided invitation to chat and partner with God, so we can let him do the heavy lifting of transformation as we listen and follow his lead.

To keep it super simple and memorable, I’ve used the acrostic CHAT to guide our conversations with God. CHAT stands for:

Consider the Facts

Honor the Story You’re Telling Yourself

Ask God What He Has to Say

Team Up with God Moving Forward

Consider the Facts

As we consider the facts and lay out the story of what brought us to these questions, we can clear away the more subjective, intangible elements of the story and see it stripped of all the emotions we shroud it in. Despite their apparent simplicity, these bare-story bones are anything but straightforward or easy, and they play an irreplaceable role in how our view of God is shaped.

When we look at the factual story of what happened to bring our particular question to the surface, we offer ourselves the gift of acknowledging our hard stories, bringing them to God in their indisputable facts, and seeing them in the raw light of day with God at our side.

Honor the Story You’re Telling Yourself

No matter the facts of what happened there is always a deeper story we’re telling ourselves that runs through it. When we bring these patterns and stories to God and into the light, we begin to recognize them with increasing familiarity. This enables us to start the work of partnering with him to challenge them and hear his story for us.

As we do, we’re able to move forward through prayer, reliance on the Holy Spirit, and the application of scriptural truths to respond compassionately to our emotions and find the wisdom, discernment, and intimacy we’re after.

Ask God What He Has to Say

Like David, we can ask God to take us by the hand, show us and teach us his ways, and lead us down the path of truth (Ps. 25:4-5). Like Job, we can ask God what he has to say to us. In doing so, we glimpse what we’re unable to see alone—God’s perspective on our story.

God might want to say more than my prompts give space for, so if a thought, image, Scripture, or memory comes to mind, take a moment to free write about it or meditate on it. Ask him to guide you, always remembering how safe, loved, and seen you are when you’re together.

Team Up with God Moving Forward

Walking with God in active companionship isn’t just a way to keep our faith alive or fuel our friendship with God. It’s the only way I’ve found to do the often-uncomfortable work of self-reflection that draws us closer to him. We simply can’t do it alone. Without the guts, know-how, insight, strength, or (dare I say it) desire, I for one am left frustratingly lost and running out of spiritual steam. Teaming up with God and walking by the Spirit—letting ourselves be guided, led, counseled, corrected, comforted, fueled, and unconditionally loved through the all-you-can-eat buffet of questions and frustrations we carry is the only way we can experience the full life God has for us without trying to be God.

Let’s go to Jesus openly, humbly, willingly, and curiously, and admit: I don’t get it, God. Maybe I never will. But I’m with you, and I know you are with me. I trust you, however shakily, so let’s do this.

Take a moment to prayerfully CHAT with God about your deepest questions, following the CHAT Conversation Guided prayer format.