Have you ever been in the presence of someone sassing or speaking disrespectfully to someone in authority, and then hearing the authority say, “Do you know who you’re talking to?” As a child, when I would verbally disagree with something Mother said, she would say, “Don’t you dispute my word.” In other words, “Do you know who you’re talking to?”

But let me turn that around a bit. When we pray, do we really think of Who we’re talking to? Do we really consider who He is? Do we ever dispute His Word? Do we really know Him? Do we really trust Him? Do we ever need to be reminded, “Do you know Who you’re talking to?” If we know Him and remember who He is, then we will pray faith-filled, fervent, and effective prayers filled with love and peace.

The first real reminder of who God is can be found in the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NKJV). He made everything and everyone, making everything and everyone His: “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). He is sovereign over us and reigns over all because He created us. That’s Whom we are talking to!

Jeremiah’s prayer tells us what creation teaches us about God: “‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You’” (Jeremiah 32:17). Creation revealed and still reveals God’s power, wisdom, and authority (Romans 1:20). That’s Whom we are talking to!

God is “‘The LORD, the LORD God’” (Exodus 34:6). He revealed Himself to King Jehoshaphat, which caused him to say, “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” (2 Chronicles 10:6). That’s Whom we are talking to!

God is able to do what He said He will do (Romans 4:21). “He does whatever He pleases” (Psalm 115:3). He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). “‘[W]ith God all things are possible’” (Matthew 19:26), and He finishes every work He starts (Philippians 1:6). That’s Whom we are talking to!

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from” Him (James 1:17), and He never gives a bad or imperfect gift. He is consummately good, and there is no darkness in Him (Psalm 106:1; 1 John 1:5). “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22). That’s Whom we are talking to!

“Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13). “For the LORD of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who shall turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27); and “whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). That’s Whom we are talking to!

As for His counsel and wisdom, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” (Proverbs 19:21 KJV), and “[t]here is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30). That’s Whom we are talking to!

He also said of Himself: “‘Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand’” (Isaiah 14:24); and “‘I work, and who will reverse it?’” (Isaiah 43:13). That’s Whom we are talking to!

I could go on and on about Who God is, His magnificence, His superiority, His authority, and His being Most High God, all of which remind us to speak to Him reverentially, not demanding, but sharing and asking in faith believing, knowing He understands our hearts and minds, knowing He loves us, knowing He only wants what is best for us.

I could go on and on about how we can completely trust Him, even when what we see doesn’t match what He’s promised and we can’t even imagine how it could ever be set right, because that’s Whom we are talking to. There is no disputing His words, because they are always truth, so we can take Him at His Word and trust His wisdom, power, presence, attention, and His great love for us and our prodigals.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). That’s Whom we are talking to!

I will close with a passage we can pray for ourselves and for our prodigals. It is rich with things we all need in our lives, hearts, and minds:

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:17-22).

That’s Whom we are talking to!