Prayer - a simple conversation?

Why is it that we make things so difficult? My job places me as the sounding board for lots of students who are, or who want to be in relationships. I could almost script most of the conversations in advance - "what is he really thinking" or "what did she mean by that" or "do you think he likes me; I mean, really likes me?" The games we tend to play in our interactions with each other seem to carry over into our relationship with God. It's not that God plays communication games with us - "heh, heh - I'll be she'll never figure our what I'm doing now!" or "I think I'll play hard to get now" or "Let's through a pox his way and see how he responds!" But we often relate to God as if God is playing games with us! As a result we won't just talk to God. I don't mean give a list of our wants (like a grocery or Christmas list), but really converse with God waiting for God to answer before we go seeking advice from friends who were never a part of the conversation in the first place! Why don't we just relax, grab a sandwich and head out to the lake with God for a casual afternoon chat? Why don't we just hang out with God like we do with those we love? Why don't we take God fishing? Biking? Running? Studying? To the Coffee Shop we frequent (some of us way too much)? To the concert? To the movies? To, well, you fill in the blank? Basically, we need to realize that we don't take God anywhere - God is already everywhere! I love the concept (very Biblical, by the way) expressed in the old-school praise song, "This is the air I breathe, your holy presence, living in me." The concept of God as spirit, air, wind, and breathe comes from the Hebrew word that can be translated as any of these words - "RUAH." Prayer should be as simple as breathing, as simple as casual conversation with a very close friend. The God who breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2) is the same God that, in Jesus, breathed his spirit into the disciples in the upper room after his resurrection (John), and who was the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit falling upon the church in Acts, and who fills our lungs each day with Life, Grace, Peace and HOPE! It is the God who lives; the God who breathes, the God who wants us to know him through conversation each day, all day, as we go about the live God has blessed us with living. Take time to chat today with your constant companion, your breath of life, your God!