When I was first thinking through what makes being a Christian weird, prayer was at the top of the list. I mean, it’s kind of weird that we talk to the entity responsible for creating us. For those that don’t follow Jesus, it probably seems like an imaginary friend in the sky. For those following Jesus, it probably still seems a little weird that we must talk to God. I mean, he knows everything, right? Why do I need to tell him anything? But God isn’t the only one we’re supposed to talk to. The Bible also tells us to be ready to tell our story to anyone that asks to go into the world teaching (1 Peter 3:15, Matthew 28:19-20). All of this has probably felt weird at some point; I know it has for me.
And yet, it’s something we’re called to do. So improving our talking and communication skills are key parts of growing in our relationship with God. We have to learn not just to talk with God but how to communicate our emotions in healthy ways to him and others and talk about our faith in healthy ways when people ask sincerely or aggressively. We have to be able to talk to others about how to grow in faith, probably in similar ways to how we have grown in faith. There is actually a lot of talking and communication to follow Jesus.
Now I know if you’re an introvert, you might dread talking. Trust me, I understand; I’ve teetered between introvert and extrovert my whole life. Right now, I would probably say I’m closer to an introvert most of the time. But even when my social anxiety hits and I prefer alone time and limited people interactions, God still pushes and encourages me to increase my ability to talk to people on various levels. Growing my ability and opportunities to talk to people about following Jesus is what led me to start weird souls as well. So in all the ways I have and will grow in my ability to talk, I want to help all of you as well.
There are prayer and journaling methods that help us talk to God and grow in how we trust in him to care for us. There is also general communication skills to talk about faith and life story, there are ways we are used to communicating and teaching others as leaders within the church, and there are also ways that we need to talk, and the list goes on and on.
But all of that will take time and practice. Here’s your simple challenge for today. I want you to talk to God about your past, failures and successes, your present, and your hopes for the future. However long that takes, talk to him about those three things.
You can sign-up for my newsletter and access to my free journal pages if you feel weird praying out loud or need a starting point to talk to God. But this is where we will start, practicing the habit of talking to God about life.
Stay Weird,
