Getting More of God

What do you most regret in life? It's a sobering question, one that becomes more pressing as the years accumulate. Studies consistently reveal that people at the end of their lives share a nearly universal regret: they didn't spend enough time with their loved ones. Not career achievements, financial success, or accumulated possessions—but relationships. Time with family and friends.

Here's a startling statistic: by age twelve, you've already spent 75% of the total time you'll ever have with your parents. By eighteen, that number climbs to 90%. The remaining 10% is spread across the rest of your life—decades, perhaps, but only a fraction of the time you once had.

We live busy lives. We work overtime to provide better opportunities. We commit to academics, athletics, and activities that keep our schedules packed. But somewhere along the way, we miss what matters most: quality time with the people we love.

Is there a way to avoid ending up with a lifetime of regrets?

The Unexpected Answer
The solution might surprise you: PRAYER.

Not prayer as we typically think of it—not prayer as a spiritual shopping list or a way to manipulate outcomes. The transformative power of prayer lies in a fundamental shift in perspective: prayer is not about getting more FROM God; it's about getting more OF God.

Most of us approach prayer transactionally. We need something, so we present our request. We think the right words, the correct formula, or the perfect recitation will unlock God's favor. But this misses the heart of what prayer truly is.

Prayer is about intimacy. It's about relationship. It's about spending time with the One who loves us most.

Learning from the Master
When Jesus' disciples observed him praying, they noticed something remarkable: an intimacy with the Father that drew them in. They approached him with a simple request: "Teach us to pray."

In response, Jesus gave them a pattern—what we know as the Lord's Prayer. But more than just words to recite, he offered them a framework for relationship, a way to structure their conversations with God.

The pattern contains five key elements, five movements in the symphony of prayer:

1. Father
Prayer begins with relationship. When Jesus invites us to address God as "Father," he's not asking for formality or religious language. He's inviting us to come as children come to their parents—freely, openly, sometimes even annoyingly persistent.

"Hallowed be your name" reminds us to approach with respect and honor, but not with the stiffness of a business meeting. Children don't schedule appointments with their fathers. They interrupt. They ask for ice cream. They bring their whole selves—messy, needy, honest.

2. Kingdom
"Your kingdom come" is about reorientation. It's laying down our priorities and asking God to align our lives with his purposes. When children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, they often answer with their parents' professions. Why? Because they want to be like mom or dad.

"Your kingdom come" is saying, "Father, I want to do what you do. I want to be about what you're about." It's submitting our wills to his wisdom, our plans to his justice and mercy.

3. Bread
"Give us this day our daily bread" is about honest dependence. We come to God acknowledging our limitations, our needs, our inability to sustain ourselves. And here's the beautiful truth: nothing is too small to bring to God.

Need a parking spot when you're running late? Ask. Struggling to get out of bed? Tell him. The sliced bread from the dollar store and the artisan loaf from the fancy restaurant are both bread. God cares about all of it because he cares about you.

4. Forgive
"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us" brings us to the heart of reconciliation—both vertical with God and horizontal with others.

Here's something crucial to understand: if you're a believer in Christ, you're already forgiven. Completely. Forever. Praying for forgiveness isn't about convincing God to forgive you again. It's about living in the reality of the forgiveness you already have. It's about remembering who your Father is—the one who runs toward you with open arms, not the one who keeps score.

And because we've been forgiven, we extend that same grace to others. Not because they deserve it (they don't, and neither do we), but because we've become conduits of divine mercy.

5. Lead
"Lead us not into temptation" acknowledges that we live in a minefield of dangers to our souls. We need guidance. We need protection. Like Psalm 23 describes, we need a Shepherd who leads us beside still waters and through dark valleys.

This is where prayer ultimately takes us: into complete dependence on God's leading in every area of life.

The Posture of Prayer
Beyond the pattern, Jesus taught a posture—an attitude we should bring to prayer. He used two vivid illustrations: a friend who shows up at midnight asking for bread, and a child asking their father for food.

The key phrase? Shameless audacity.

Jesus wants us to pray with the boldness of a friend who isn't afraid to disturb you at midnight and the confidence of a child who knows their father loves them. If you're not occasionally wondering whether you've been too bold in prayer, you're probably not praying the way Jesus intended.

You cannot bother God. You cannot wake him up. You cannot exhaust his patience. The God of the universe is never too busy for you.

The Ultimate Gift
Here's where Jesus lands: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't promise to give you everything you want. He promises something better: himself. The Holy Spirit—God's very presence with us.

This is what prayer is ultimately about. Not getting things from God, but getting God himself. His presence. His companionship. His voice. His comfort. His guidance. His love.

The Life Without Regret
And this brings us full circle to the question of regret. How do we avoid a life filled with missed opportunities and broken relationships?

We do it by making prayer the center of our lives. Not prayer as a religious duty, but prayer as ongoing conversation with the God who loves us. When every circumstance becomes an opportunity to invite God's presence, when every moment can be shared with our Father, we begin to live differently.

We live with more intention. More presence. More love. More forgiveness. More grace.

We live in relationship—with God and, flowing from that, with others.

The surprising solution to a life of regret isn't trying harder or doing more. It's spending time with the One who matters most, and letting that relationship transform everything else.

So come to your Father today. Come with shameless audacity. Come with the confidence of a beloved child. Come with your needs, your failures, your questions, your pain.

Come and get more of God.

That's what prayer is for.