What Does it Mean to Commune With God?

Communing with God means to live a life of prayer and meditation. But it is not just daily prayer and meditation while quietly seated; it also includes contemplation while we experience things. Through questioning the meaning of these writings and seeking answers, I’m communing with God in spirit.

When we believe God is the sovereign Lord, we believe that He has power to arrange things in our life and that He does as He pleases. We have God in our hearts and we care about what He tells us. We ask questions in prayer, have a quiet mind to observe the things around us, constantly ponder on the meaning of things we observe, and try to connect them to the questions we asked. 

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In his book “The Hidden Words,” Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith, wrote: 

O Son of Light! Forget all save Me and commune with My spirit. This is of the essence of My command, therefore turn unto it.

He also wrote: 

O moving form of dust! I desire communion with thee, but thou wouldst put no trust in Me. The sword of thy rebellion hath felled the tree of thy hope. At all times I am near unto thee, but thou art ever far from Me. Imperishable glory I have chosen for thee, yet boundless shame thou hast chosen for thyself. While there is yet time, return, and lose not thy chance.

There are many questions these writings raise for me. What does it mean to commune with God’s spirit? What will this communion lead to? And what kind of love does God have for me when He says, “I desire communion with thee”? 

What Does it Mean to Commune With God?

When we start to associate with someone, we get to know them through communication and collaboration. Can we say this type of interaction is a “communion”?

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To me, the answer is yes. We get to know people not only through words and actions, but also by getting to know their spiritual values and perspectives. In the same way, when we start to ask questions from the Word of God, we commune with God in spirit.

Can God Answer Us?

Most of the time, spiritual understanding comes through seeing spiritual meaning in physical conditions. The more we practice our spiritual vision through understanding the Word of God, the more we can understand what Baha’u’llah means by “the essence of My command.” We find that life truly is under God’s hand, and see purpose and wisdom behind everything that happens.

Baha’u’llah wrote:

Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves—a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you.

Through communing with God, we see how God arranges things to guide us; we see God’s love and mercy in different situations; we see how powerless, how poor, how needy we are; we see how we obstruct His work when we limit ourselves; we see how much He has forgiven us of our ignorance; and we see the difference between living in our own will and God’s Will.

Why Does God Desire to Commune With Us? 

The Baha’i writings say that God wishes for us to know Him, to be near to Him, and to love Him:

O Son of Man! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.

Humans are the only creatures of God who have been given the gift of rational power – the ability to consciously choose to commune with Him and to know Him. 

Baha’u’llah brings to us not just heavenly knowledge, but practical steps towards a spiritual life. When we learn to commune with God, to understand His words, and to know the wisdom behind those Words, we can begin to live in a spiritual reality.