I was out for a run recently, listening to worship music on my iPod. I was talking to the Lord, asking why I was feeling distant from Him. I acknowledged that my times with Him had been rushed, and I had been feeling the distance that comes with lack of contact.

As I ran, it was as if He replied, “You feel distant from me because you have been relating to me in the third person.”

Do you ever find yourself relating to God as “Him,” “He,” “the Lord, “Jesus, the Christ”? These kinds of third person names keep us one step away from real relationship. In the third person, the Lord becomes a proposition or idea—a topic or concept, at arms length.

What would it feel like to more frequently relate to God in the second person: “You,” “Jesus,” “Father,” “my God.”  That’s how we relate to our friends and family when we are talking or enjoying their company. A second person relationship with God moves from idea to relationship, from head to heart, from arms length to an intimate walk (or run).

Psalm 16:11 says, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

What keeps you from relating to God in the second person rather than the third person? Start now, at this moment to move into the presence of “Father,” “Jesus,” “friend.”