Talk With Him Often
10 Practical Ways to Show Your Love for Jesus — Devotion 4 of 10
Psalm 116:1-2 — “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.”
Opening Reflection
Love and conversation are inseparable. Those who love someone want to talk with them, and they want to know they are truly heard by them. The psalmist ties his love for God directly to this: "I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice." Not because God is powerful, or distant and impressive, but because God listens.
This is prayer as the natural language of love rather than a formal religious ritual. The psalmist doesn't approach God the way one might file a request with an official; he speaks the way one speaks to someone who bends down to listen - because that is exactly what God has done, inclining His ear.
Taking a Devotional View
Notice the psalmist's resolve: "therefore I will call on him as long as I live." This is not a single desperate prayer offered in crisis and then forgotten. It is a lifelong commitment to keep the line of conversation open, in good seasons and hard ones alike.
The rest of Psalm 116 shows a full range of honest conversation with God - distress, deliverance, gratitude, and vows all mingled together. Love for God is not expressed only in tidy, formal requests. It is expressed in ongoing, honest, varied conversation, the kind that happens naturally between two people who care about each other.
Key Thoughts & Takeaways
Key Thoughts
- The psalmist's love for the Lord is expressed through, and rooted in, ongoing conversation with Him (Psalm 116:1-2).
- Prayer is the natural language of love, not merely a religious duty.
- "As long as I live" pictures prayer as a lifelong, continual line kept open with God.
- Honest, varied prayer - distress, praise, and commitment - flows naturally from love.
Ask Yourself
- Does my prayer life feel like conversation with someone I love, or a checklist?
- What keeps me from talking with God "often" throughout an ordinary day?
- Am I honest with Him in prayer, or only formal?
- What's one thing on my heart right now that I haven't yet brought to Him?
Lord, thank You that You bend down to hear my voice. Let prayer be for me what it was for the psalmist - not a duty performed but a conversation treasured, carried on as long as I live. Teach me to talk with You often, honestly, and gladly throughout this day. In Jesus' name, amen.