Every day when we wake up we usually think about many things – – working, learning, money, etc. – – and sometimes we forget God’s presence. We put together a plan for the day and are always busy with our lives. However, there is one important thing: we need to remember that God is present in our life. God isn’t only present in church or adoration. He is living in ourselves.

For me, every day when I get up, the first I think about is God and speak thoughtfully with God. These first moments of the day are very important. They help us to remember God throughout the entire day. It is said that God accompanies us through our life. So, God is the perfect Father. I believe in Him and I trust in Him. His eyes always see us and He pours out grace His upon us to help us live and become good Christians. Through prayer we will meet God because He is always waiting for us to talk to Him. The Divine presence has been a friendly presence from the beginning. We shouldn’t forget to find God’s will in everything. Proverbs says, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”  (Proverbs 16, 9).

1. God is our Guide

God guides all of our footsteps. We should intentionally (though prayer) give our plan or purpose to God. There are many things in our life that we don’t know and there are many things will happen in the future. So, we should hope in God. Petition His help and ask Him to guide us in orderto know how we can make it. How important it is that we see God’s will in order to live for Him. In our prayer, He guides us to do good things, because it is easy for us to do things according to our will. It may be easy to slip into despair. When we do, why shouldn’t we worry about how our life will be? Because God wants these things to happen. So, although it is advancing or not advancing us we should be happy because that is God’s will. Let us offer God our sadness, sufferings, fears, and anxieties. God won’t let us face them alone. God speaks in ways that are meaningful to us. God speaks and acts in ways that are congruent with our natures and in touch with our temperaments.

2. God is Compassion

From the time He created humans, God loved humans. Because God’s characteristic is love. So although humans are sinful, God always loves humans. I feel that in my life. In the Bible, the Israelites forgot their sins many times, day after day, year after year. But God was patient in waiting to reconcile with them, because God loves His people. In my life, I also have a lot of sins like the Israelites, therefore God keeps silent and waits to forgive my sins when I come back to Him in reconciliation. God’s heart is available to give to humans who are sinful people. From my childhood up until now, I feel that much more clearly. As I grew, I felt God’s love for me. I think about that when I come before the sacrament of the Eucharist. I see myself as a little child of God. I need to come to Him in order to receive His graces and peace whenever my heart is overwhelmed by tears and worries.

3. God is a Friend

Living on this earth, everyone has at least one friend. Honestly speaking, when we live as we do and live together, nobody is on an island. Therefore, in the spiritual life, it is the same. God is our precious friend. He always listens to what we want to say. God accepts every complexity in our life, and listens when we are lamenting. He also is a truthful friend. He accompanies everyone in life. The presence of this friend makes me happy because “this presence is so immense, yet so humble, awe-inspiring, yet so gentle, limitless, yet so intimate, tender and personal, I know that I am known. Everything in my life is transparent in this presence. It knows everything about me – all my weaknesses, brokenness, sinfulness- and still loves me infinitely. This presence is healing, strengthening, refreshing- just by its presence. It is non-judgmental, self- giving, seeking no reward, boundless in compassion. It is like coming home to a place I should never have left, to an awareness that was somehow always there, but which I did not recognize. I cannot force this awareness or bring it about. A door opens within me, but from the other side…”[i] I feel very happy when I be become a friend of God.

I think that these are the three images of God that I feel the most clearly. These images are revealed when I step into relationship with God in my prayer. In our spiritual journey, we should always try to find God. Everyone should experience God ourselves. If we are truthful in reviewing many events in our life, we could discover images of God. If we think about God, it will direct us on how to live. Sometime because we are not feeling God’s love, it is easy to think differently about God. That is a false image of God.

It is easy to get in touch with what draws us to God. If we have even been touched for a moment by God’s presence in nature or people or church or though some compelling experience, we know we want more of a good thing. Over a period of time I have compiled a list of those things which most commonly seem to draw people to God. Some circumstantial, we need come God in prayer.

“Peace, a sense of oneness with the depths of life

Hope, awareness of the beauty that lies at the heart of things

Joy, integration of more of myself when I experience the healing power of God at work in my life.

A new start- forgiveness, a sense of serving a larger purpose

Awe and wonder, all is well even when it isn’t being in communion with the Divine Presence.”[ii]

In every circumstance, we also need to live with God. Because He knows what is good for our soul. So, prayer is effective and connects us to God.

When we speak about prayer it seems like it’s easy to practice. But it is really unnecessary in the life of many people in this century. They are too busy with their life. They are searching for material needs to satisfy their lives rather than God Himself. That is a pity for Christian people. For religious, prayer is survival in consecrated life. For me, we can pray everywhere, at any time of the day. We should keep in mind God’s presence.

Meditation on the Word of God is a way that we can live and relate with God. We read the Gospel in order to live fully and our heart will be nourished. The life of Christians faith has been inspired and cultivated by encountering God’s word. Christians need to read the Bible in order to be transformed. God will teach us how to live when we touch our finger to the flame of the Divine (biblical by this Divine encounter).

Finally, at the center of the Christians understanding of spiritual transformation is both the notion of God’s abiding presence in the Christian community and also God’s indwelling in every person as spirit: empowering, guiding, and inspiring the journey of the community and of each person towards an ultimate union with the divine in eternal life.

Conclusion

These are the three images I feel about God: God is our Guide, God is Compassion and God is a Friend. I hope that when I go deeper into relationship with Him, I will discover many more new images of God in my life. I am walking on the path to find God. Sometime I feel lonely or suffer because I do not know God loves me and He wants help me to carry my cross with Him in my daily life.

[i] JOHN P GORSUCH, An Invitation to the Spiritual Journey, p 96, Paulist Press, New York, 1990

[ii] Ibid p 22