A couple of months ago, Kanye West was on Jimmy Kimmel Live and during the interview he said something that has stuck with me ever since. He referred to his cousin who was imprisoned for murdering someone and said that he still loves his cousin. He followed this up with the words “You can’t explain love”. I hear these words ringing in my head whenever I think about God’s unconditional love for us. God knows everything, thus he knows everything about us. God knows our deepest darkest secrets and all our flaws that we manage to mask in a bid to appear perfect. Yet He still loves us, and His love for us is unconditional, whole and perfect. In the words of Cory Ashbury, it’s a kind of love that is “reckless”. This is the first thing we must understand when we are trying to reach out to God. God loves us. That should make us less afraid of reaching out to Him.

In reaching out to someone, one key factor is communication. How do we communicate with God? Through prayer. Sometimes this may seem like a herculean task but it’s really one of the simplest things. Firstly, pray before you pray. Tell God that you are trying to connect with Him and you need His help to do so. Then you can pray. In prayer, speak to God like you would speak to a true friend; with ease, with comfort and with trust. Remember that God already knows everything about you so you really can tell Him anything. Also, there are instances when you may not be able to find the words. Let your heart and mind do the talking; God will still listen.

Finally, it’s important that you know that anyone can reach out to God. One of the reasons why I love God so much is that He does not look at anything society looks at. God does not care about your background, your status, your colour, your gender or any of that. God sees you as His creature; a being He formed with love, and a being He would always love. Anytime your mind tells you that you are too unworthy to reach out to God and it’s better if you do not try at all, remember these words of Kendrick Lamar in his 2015 song ‘Faith’: “the devil is a lie, make a better choice”.

Prayer Request: So fairly recently,I heard the story of a hawker in Lagos, Nigeria who gave away all his goods to prisoners as an act of kindness and thanksgiving (Go read the story on HumansofNY Instagram if you want). We’re saying a prayer for this man and for people everywhere who act selflessly without thinking twice. May God reward their kindness.

You should listen to this song: Known-Tauren Wells