talking with a friend

The essence of a relationship is communication. Take a moment and think about your closest friends. How do you communicate with them? How do you talk to your closest friends?

The real Christian life consists of relationships. First and foremost, our relationship with God. Then, as we grow in our relationship with Him and He grows us in our walk, we learn how to have deep, meaningful relationships with others; we can love people as Jesus commanded (John 13:34-35) and serve them as Jesus demonstrated (John 13:12-15.)

Communication. God talks to us through his Word. We talk to God in prayer. I've seen and heard a lot about prayer lately, and some of it is just weird. Are you uncomfortable comparing how you talk with a close friend to how you talk with God? I'm not suggesting that reverence be set aside and I'm not encouraging flippant informality, but I've thought a great deal about my prayer life lately and I see that it has changed from ritualistic and stiffly formal when I was younger to a continual, intimate conversation today. The author of Hebrews reminds us to come confidently, or boldly, before the throne of grace.

Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them to pray. Today he by his spirit continues to teach us to pray if we listen (Romans 8:26.) Do not despair if talking to God seems awkward; Gordon MacDonald said

Why do so many people have struggles when it comes to prayer? ... Men and women were originally created to desire communion with God. But the effects of sin have dulled most of that original human desire. Sin turned a natural activity into an unnatural function.

It is not prayer that we should reverence but God. It gets easier to talk to him as you get to know him better. Grow in your relationship with God by listening to him through Bible study--he'll reveal himself to you.

Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.
--E. M. Bounds

greater love

My friend Mike, in a recent post, apologized for several days of absence. I have to apologize for a month, and I really haven't been nearly as busy as Mike! However, life happens, and the time gets away if we're not careful to live each day intentionally.

My thoughts today are fairly simple. God has lately been loving on my family like crazy with his blessings. My son is home on leave from his service in Iraq and is doing well. My daughter has been spear-heading the formation of a chapter of a Christian fellowship sorority at her college; I don't know who is more excited, her or me! The presence or absence of such blessings does not measure God's love for us; indeed, God loves us beyond our comprehension, a fact which in unto itself is one complete expression of his character.

Jesus commands us to love each other as he has loved us (John 13:34,35.) His love might be most evident in his accomplishment on earth 2000 years ago, but the depth of his love is daily before me as he cares for me, my family, indeed, all his children. Let us strive for that level of devotion to the people God places in our lives. As Clarence Jordan said,

The measure of a Christian is not in the height of his grasp but in the depth of his love.