01/11/2018
How do we begin our day? Do we read the Bible? Do we pray for forgiveness, and all the active prayer requests on our list? Do we read a morning devotional? Maybe we write one or add an entry in our prayer journal? All of these things are good, but do we take the time to secretly have an intimate conversation with God? God wants to hear more than our wants and the needs of others... He desires to be in personal relationship with us.
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:6 ESV
Each morning I rise very early to go through my morning ritual of prayer, reading scripture, reading a devotional, and then going to God in prayer. Following this I write my devotional for you, and then begin to ready myself for going to work. This all begins when my alarm sounds, and I take my morning coffee and retreat to the quiet of my prayer chair, closing the doors of the room behind me.
Having a quiet place to seek God is important, preparing our minds to commune with Him by reading scripture and a devotional message is good, praying for forgiveness and all those people in our lives, our church, the country, the world, is excellent, but what God really seeks from us is that time of secret relationship and personal conversation. Do you spend your morning caught up in the mechanics of preparation and dutiful prayer, but neglect to talk with God about those intimate things which friends speak of?
“and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God.”
James 2:23 ESV
I have written volumes regarding prayer, but if I could boil it all down for someone who only had time for a few minutes of prayer, I would tell them to have secret personal conversation of prayer with God. Without a relationship the other prayers and things are quite meaningless. This year I am reading “The Andrew Murray Daily Reader”, and as I read this morning’s message I received confirmation of this in a few words that Murray wrote; let’s listen...
“The one essential in the morning watch is fellowship with God. Of course, there is the danger of substituting prayer and bible study for fellowship with God.” - Andrew Murray
There is great temptation to substitute the mechanics of faith and religion for the all important relationship that God wishes to have with us. We often speak of walking with God, but there is more to this than just following after Him... when we walk with Him we are His companion. Traveling together implies the development of relationship, perhaps even holding hands.
“"Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?”
Amos 3:3 ESV
If we have personal time with God... not as the emissary of another, or in intercession for other causes, but as close and intimate friends, then God will take great pleasure in us, and we in Him. Enoch walked with God and it pleased Him. Do you please God?
“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”
Hebrews 11:5 ESV
Are you someone who others would refer to as being a member of the “inner circle”? Do you have God’s ear? If not, then you have neglected your relationship because we should all be this close to God, and He should hear each of us as friends. We listen closest to those who are closest to us. We trust those who we know best, and we confide our deepest secrets in our most intimate friends. This is true in our personal relationships with one another, and it is equally true in our relationship with God.
We are all familiar with someone who wants to know all about us, and for us to reveal our innermost secrets to them... yet they are unwilling to share those same things about themselves. These people are not our trusted friends, but merely busybodies who look to take advantage from our openness. God doesn’t want you to be a busybody, He wants to know you in the most intimate of confidence. He wants you to be willing to share with Him your darkest secrets, and most embarrassing moments without fear, and at that point He will speak to you regarding the hidden secrets pertaining to Himself. God already knows your heart, but He desires that you willfully open it up to Him in trust, and love. Are you a close friend of God? If not, are you desirous of, or willing to, enter into one?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for allowing me to walk with you, and it thrills me to think that you would call me friend. My greatest desire Father is to know you better with each passing moment. I wish to reveal my deepest secrets to you in trust and ease, and in our secret conversations I pray that you reveal yourself to me. Holy Father, thank you for our intimate times together, and for reaching out to me. Let nothing stand between us Lord, and may you always recognize my voice when I pray. Hear me Holy Father, and know that when I make petition to you in intercession that it is your child, and friend, that asks. Give me open access into your confidence as I come to you in secret and seek you in humility. Hear the sincerity and love in my voice Father, and walk with me always. I praise you Merciful Father, and reach out to you as more than my acquaintance, but my closest friend and confidant. How great you are, and how amazing is your grace... that you would call me friend.
Rich Forbes