The Intimacy of
Prayer
I
would like to start out this morning by reading James 5: 13-16
Is any
one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of
praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray
over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer
offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If
he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other
so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective.
At the end of July my family and I returned from Staff Conference for Campus Crusade for
Christ at Fort Collins, CO. We were with about 5,000 other missionaries from
Cru. Every two years all of the Cru staff come together for a time of training,
worship, and encouragement. We had several speakers that challenged us in many
different ways.
One
of those was the value of discipleship. (Priceless)
Many
of you here have invested your time and knowledge into others throughout your
life. There is no value that can be put on that. People that you have discipled
during your life could not walk up to you and pay you any amount of money that
would be equal to the value of what you gave to them. When I look back at the
people who have discipled me along my path, I can't repay them for what they
gave me.
But
what I can do is repeat what they taught me. I can duplicate it. I can do for
others what they did for me. And that is
something that I have devoted my life to doing.
For
me, I have to say that what captivated me the most during our week at Fort
Collins, was the intentional prayer that went on throughout the week. My wife, Tonya,
and I pray quite often. We pray together on a daily basis. And, I have always
believed that the Lord hears our prayers and answers them. However, this past
week gave me a completely new understanding of prayer. As we were walking back to the dorm after one
of the main sessions the Lord impressed on me how intimate our prayers are to
Him. How our prayers make Him feel close to us. It was very clear to me at that
moment that I had only been going through the motions before. He opened my eyes
to the fact that when I pray I’m not simply praying to a distant god that's out
there somewhere. I’m actually talking to my best friend. When I pray I'm having
a conversation with my best friend who is standing right next to me. He's right here.
He is a friend who delights in answering my pleas. But He's more than a friend.
He's
my Father. My Abba Father.
He's
your Friend. Your Father.
My
brain is too small to comprehend how it all works, but I do know that our God
loves to spend time with us. The same way I love to spend time with my
children. I enjoy every precious moment. My children give me a joy that I can't
explain. From the moment they get up to the moment they go to bed. I want to be
with them. I want to hold them close to me. Their hugs energize me.
When
I put it in that context it became clear to me why we pray. Our Father wants to
spend time with us. He wants to spend intimate time with us. This is what
brings Him joy. It makes Him happy. It puts a smile on His face. It's why He
created us. And in return, in return for our attention, He fills us with His
Spirit which gives us a joy that surpasses all understanding.
Philippians
4:4-7 Reads:
Rejoice in
the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident
to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We
don't have to understand every minute detail when it comes to our relationship
with the Lord. All we really need to know is that He loves us. And when we love
Him in return, that creates a relationship that nothing can tear apart.
Romans
8:35-39 says:
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As
it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as
sheep to be slaughtered."
No in all
these things we are more than conquerers through Him who loved us. For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
I
Love my Father. I love my God. And, I want to spend time with Him. Don't you?
We
serve a loving God! We serve a personal
God! We serve a mighty God!
Now when I pray, it changes me. It fills me up.
It’s no longer something I have to do or should do. It’s something I GET to do.
And I look forward to it! I get to talk directly with the creator of the
universe and He listens to me. He not only listens, He’s excited to hear from
me. What a concept! What a God!
