In the garden, God walked with the first humans, seeking communion with them. Daily, they enjoyed the presence of God walking through the garden that was their home. God’s coming was not an interruption but the most natural rhythm of life in the garden. To speak with God was as effortless as breathing. He spoke to them, and they breathed in His word. They responded, breathing out their hearts to Him.  Nothing was more ordinary than these encounters with the communion-seeking God. Life was communing with God, and communing with God was life itself.

What was true in the garden is now truer still for us in Christ. The Father and the Son come to us by the Spirit, making their home with us. Attentive to our Father as dearly loved children in Jesus, we cry Abba Father with Jesus. God is not distant or waiting to be invited. He is present, indwelling us by His Spirit, for relationship. To commune with God is, once again, meant to be as natural as breathing.

However, this often does not feel like our daily experience. Instead of prayer being as simple and life-giving as breath, it becomes as complicated as living itself. Prayer becomes something we do rather than a way of being with the Father in the Son by the Spirit. We try to get God’s attention rather than resting in His nearness. What we need is not better techniques, but deeper awareness. God is, and always has been, a communion-seeking God. When we grasp this, prayer becomes less an effort and more a response, and everything else flows naturally from this living reality.