12/20/2018
Do you feel inadequate in faith, spirituality, and in what you do for the Church? If so then let me ask you a very simple question... how is your prayer life? If our prayer time is weak and disjointed; sometimes good but often forgotten, then this may be the root of the problem. Prayer isn’t simply a time to give the Lord your wish list... it is the root of our relationship, and the source of our strength.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV
When I was a new Christian I used to pray for things. This was pretty much the total substance of my prayers. I treated my prayer time like a child views a letter to Santa at Christmas... “Lord I have been good, but forgive me of my sins, and I need ____, and _____.” This was the entirety of my prayer life; fill in the blanks with your needs today and see if it sounds familiar to you. Don’t get me wrong, we should ask God to provide for us, and for other things, but the real purpose of prayer is to establish and strengthen our relationship. This is where our strength comes from. There is a well-known passage of scripture in the Bible that we quickly become familiar with, and all we seem to hear when we read it is that God gives us what we want, but let’s read it again....
“"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 ESV
Sure enough it says ask and it will be given, but there is far more here. It also says that if we seek we will find, and if we knock it will be opened, seeking and knocking are referring to things found in relationship. Seeking and knocking are answered by working our way through life together with God, and are those discoveries that we come to realize together... sure He knows the answer, but He doesn’t just give it to us, He thrills in our discovery, and the time we spend with one another.
Best friends... how valuable they are to us. These are friends that go way beyond the simple friendships we have, and become so trusted that you feel comfortable revealing even your most personal secrets to them. Do you have such a friend? Did you have a friend like this as a child? Jesus is a best friend, He is there to hear your darkest thoughts and lead you out of them, He is there when your heart is breaking to console you, He hears your confession and doesn’t think less of you because of it, He comes to your side in times of trouble, and He talks with you and helps you work through all the other issues in your life... He helps you seek, and He answers when you knock. Jesus is worthy of our trust and most intimate relationship. When we pray we should talk with Him as we would talk to our best friend, because He leads us before God, and when we allow Him into our hearts He will be that most trusted friend to us, and help us through life, revealing the depths of our Father’s will to us, and leading us into a strong and perfect faith in God.
“Think how the hour of prayer may become the happiest time in the whole day, and how God may use us there to share in carrying out his plans, making us a fountain of blessing to the world around us.” - Andrew Murray
So when your faith, spirituality, and service to the Church is lacking turn to your prayer closet, redouble your prayer life, and do more than ask, but seek, and knock as well. Form a relationship with God and Jesus Christ that is more than just a recitation of a memorized prayer, or a wish list, and let it become a true conversation with your father, and Jesus... your best friend.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the intimacy of prayer, and for hearing me in it as your child. Thank you for your Son Jesus who is not just my brother and joint heir, but my friend, and He who intercedes for me before you. Holy Father, I long to hear your will, and to knock at your door of understanding. Help me to do those things that you desire of me, and walk with me as I accomplish them. I am so thankful for Jesus, at whose feet I can sit and learn, and your Holy Spirit who comforts me, and tutors me as I seek to know your Word. Through my prayers strengthen my relationship with you Father, and allow me to prosper your kingdom as my understanding of you deepens, and my friendship with Jesus reaches new heights. Provide me Gracious Father with those things I need in the world, but more so with the gifts of the Spirit that I will need to advance your will. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who desires me to walk with Him, and great is your love that is manifest in prayer. Praised be your name, and may all I do as a your Son, and as a friend of Christ, bring you glory!
“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Galatians 4:6-7 ESV
Rich Forbes