He sounded surprised that I was calling. I hoped I wasn’t intruding too much on his good graces. “Won’t take too much of your time,” I promised. “Just need some clarification on prayer, and I’m not near my computer to e-mail you.”

“Okay, go for it,” he said. I could almost imagine him shoving his chair away from his desk and propping his feet on the blotter.

“I’ve been thinking about how you prayed at the services, and the times we talked. And then I read Matthew, and Jesus said to use the Lord’s Prayer. So what’s up with that?”

He chuckled. “An excellent observation. Did you like Matthew, by the way?”

“Yeah, actually. The whole second section—New Testament, right?—is pretty cool. Except Revelation. I don’t get all that, and it kinda freaked me out.”

He laughed outright. “That’s pretty common. It can be a difficult book for even the most learned Christians. We can talk about that one sometime, if you’d like. But I’m glad to hear you read it.

“Now, the prayer thing. Here’s the deal: the Lord’s Prayer isn’t a magic charm; the form and words aren’t special in and of themselves. It’s the principles they symbolize that are important: worshiping God, confessing our sins, thanking Him for His blessings, and bringing our needs and desires before Him. The way we do those things can vary, and we don’t always have to do them every time we pray. But if you want a balanced relationship with God, you need all those parts on a consistent basis. Does that make sense?”

“Uh … ” I was still processing, wishing I’d brought pen and paper with me in the car. “I think so.”

“Bottom line is, just talk. And then, just listen. Don’t worry about the words or the structure. He knows what’s in your head, anyway; trying to be fancy won’t impress Him, and not being honest isn’t going to fool Him. That just puts a wall between you both, because you’re not being completely open.”

I was ruminating on this for longer than I realized, because finally he asked if I was still there or if he’d totally lost me. I assured him that I understood, I thought, and just needed to think a little more. “Sounds good,” he said. “Call again if you need anything.”

“I will, thanks.”

We hung up, and I drove back to the cabin, my mind churning the whole way. The “just talking” part I was pretty sure I could handle; it was the “just listening” part that confused me. Listen to what? God wouldn’t actually talk to me, would He? Then I remembered my first encounter with Grace, her firm belief God had talked to her through a vision. I’d thought she was nuts; now I almost hoped for the same thing.