I began a new course today on the topic of "Intimacy With God." I am happy to say that the opening class was well worth the money I paid for the entire course. I wanted to record some notes here on what I took away from the class because it really blew me away.
Speaking of prayer, Jesus told his followers, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." More than this just being three ways to petition God, it is a pattern for prayer which leads us into deep fellowship with Him. One way to look at this is in terms of Israel's temple. "Asking" is the Court, "Seeking" is the Holy Place, and "Knocking" is the Holy of Holies.
When we pray, we start by asking. The tragedy is that many stop at that. So at the end of our prayer time, we have done nothing but laid out our problems to God. We have not necessarily received anything other than peace, and peace is good, but peace is not fellowship with God. For some people, the asking can take five minutes and for others it could be hours, but we will not grow closer to God or receive directly from Him if we stop there.
When prayer extends beyond asking, it becomes seeking. Having laid out our troubles to God, we then seek Him, to feel Him and his presence, to know him, hear his voice, etc. This is us drawing near to Him and trusting Him to respond by drawing near to us. But if we stop here, we have still not actually met Him in deep communion.
When we diligently seek Him in prayer, He will meet us. This becomes the knocking stage of prayer, where we have arrived at His house and enter in to dine with Him. This is where we hear from Him and receive more than we could ever ask for. This is the wellspring of a life like Jesus. This is the point of prayer, this is fellowship.
The goal of prayer is fellowship with Jesus, but unless we press in through each step, we will not find the fellowship we were made to enjoy. For some this might take hours of prayer to move from asking to seeking to knocking on a daily basis. Fellowship is to be had everyday. This is where diligence and passion come in. If we are passionate about meeting God and diligent to seek Him all the way into fellowship, we will find it is easier and easier to meet Him there. What might have taken hours of diligent prayer might only take ten minutes to one who have been passionately and diligently fellowship with Jesus every day. But if our loves grows cold and we let up from seeking Him daily, it will take longer and be more difficult to reach that deep place of fellowship.
Many ministers begin their ministry out of deep fellowship with God, but then over time lose the fellowship while maintaining the ministry and just going through the motions. Many even are unaware that they have little or no Spirit in what they are doing. But those with discernment will notice that something is missing.
It is our place to draw near to God, to get so close that we understand the "fear of the Lord." Not that we are afraid of Him, but that we get so close to Him that those things in our lives which are not totally surrendered to Him must drop off of us or we must step back from his presence. It is in that deep communion and fellowship that we become the people that God has made us to be.
I have decided to follow You, Jesus, and I will press in daily for that deep fellowship with You. I will let nothing hold me back or distract me from You. There is nothing in life more important than You and I know I will never truly be love to everyone around me unless I receive your love in the secret place. I am yours and You are mine, and I love You, I love You, I love You. Take my heart and let it be, consecrated Lord to thee.
Amen
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