Today I experienced God in a new sort of way.

My prayer life as of late has been pretty one-dimensional.  As in I list a bunch of things I want God to do, telling Him what I think I and others need, pausing for .2 seconds in case He has a response, and wrapping things up with the traditional “in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Every once in awhile, though, I sit a few minutes longer and ask God to speak to me.  But He usually doesn’t, and I get frustrated.  I want to hear from Him about something specific, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say He’s ignoring me.

Those kinds of experiences with God make me mad.  I get all little-kid about it and subconsciously say, “Fine! I don’t want to talk to you ANYway!”  I march off, pout, and hesitate to come back to Him in prayer for several days.

But that’s not what happened today.

Today something new – something PHENOMENAL – happened while I was praying.

I put my kids down for a nap, and I laid on my face on the floor.  I closed my eyes and pictured Jesus and me sitting on a couch.  I asked Him for something important, but He didn’t answer me.  So I began to tell Him why I wanted that something.  At some point Jesus got off the couch, came around to face me, and we were transported to a coffee shop.  (I say “transported” because it wasn’t me directing this visual; it was the Holy Spirit taking control.)

Jesus and I were sitting facing each other in some super comfy brown leather chairs.  I knew it was a coffee shop, but I couldn’t see anything else except Jesus in His chair.

And here is the awesome part: we dialogued just as quickly as two humans.  We had an extended conversation that was just as fulfilling as one I might have with any of you over a cup of coffee.  It was two-dimensional.

I felt a closeness to Him I don’t typically feel during prayer.  His love for me was palpable.

I prayed for some friends, but it wasn’t “normal” prayer in the sense that I did all the talking.  It was “dialogue” prayer in the sense that I’d say one sentence, and then Jesus would verbally acknowledge that He heard me.

For instance, when I told Jesus to protect my friend spiritually, He immediately replied, “I will,” with a smile on His face.

When I told Jesus about a problem I was having, He immediately responded, “I’ll fulfill you; you serve others.”

The results of our conversational interaction are that I became more impassioned in my praying and more convinced of the power of my praying because He was instantly responding.  And because I was encountering Jesus personally and directly, I trusted more fully in His counsel than I otherwise would have.

My heart felt connected to our Savior’s.  I felt spiritual and emotional fulfillment in that moment.

I don’t know if this makes any sense at all, but praying in this manner – as opposed to one-dimensional prayer – is something I can get excited about doing.

Give it a try.