Where is God?

When we come to pray, often we need to pause a moment and ask, "Where is the God to Whom I pray?"

If He is far above and out of reach, our conversation with Him will reflect that condition, and our prayer will be stiff and formal   ---   but we know from the Incarnation that He is not "far away and out of reach."  He is closer to us than the air we breathe in and out.

Jesus is Emmanuel -- God with us!  He is closer than our thoughts and our breath, or closer than a brother, as Scripture says:  We live in him and move in him.  He is here.  You know when I sit and when I stand; before a word is on my tongue, Behold, You know the whole of it! (Psalm 139).

When Jesus appeared to the Apostles the second time after His resurrection, He echoed the words  Thomas spoke to his friends when they told him they had seen the Lord:  Unless I put my fingers into his side, I will not believe it!  

Jesus came back a second time:  "Thomas, come and put your fingers into my side."

The Lord is with us.  If we missed His first visit to us, He will not hesitate to come a second time -- or even a third or fourth time if needed.  When we come to pray, we need to know that He has not abandoned us, but is closer to us than our very thoughts.