While I have been presenting ideas about the development of good human relations skills, I am sure that my readers can, if they try, immediately see how these skills can facilitate a more genuine relationship with God. If we develop the skills to sustain truly genuine human relationships, we will have the skills to enter into a genuine relationship with God. As I think about it, this proves the genius of our God. It is only through our human, concrete experiences that we can develop an ability to sustain a genuine relationship with Him, our invisible God.

The next critical skill we must develop in order to sustain genuine relationships is Communication. True communication only occurs when someone understands you, not just when you speak. One of the biggest dangers with communication is that we can work on the assumption that the other person has understood the message we are trying to get across. Poor communication in our relationships can lead to back stabbing and blame, which, in turn, can affect our stress levels, especially when we don’t understand something or feel we have been misled. It has a definite effect on our relationships.

I suspect that most people never think about their their ability to communicate when they think of their relationship with God. And yet, when you think about it, if we desire to have a genuine relationship with God effective communication is essential.

I realize that many may ask how it is possible to truly communicate with God. Effective communication happens when we don’t TALK ALL THE TIME and allow the other person to respond. So in prayer, there should be pauses in personal prayer to allow for God to respond. He will respond by providing a moment of insight or a new thought that comes to you. Of course He only can respond when you anticipate His respond and when you are open to His response.

Learning how to effective communicate with others prepares us to communicate with God!