Face To Face Prayer In A Text Messaging World預覽

Praying with Intimacy Once we start praying with honesty, intensity and intention, we can’t help but find intimacy with God. Our God is an intimate God and we were created for relationship with Him. The relationships have been described as that of a groom towards his bride, a father towards his son, a brother towards his brother and simply just a friend.  I love the idea of the Church being the Bride swept off her feet by her Groom. Surely the relationship between the Bride and the Groom is the very definition of intimate, but even so, I feel this particular relationship is a picture of the collective Church with a capital ‘C’, not each of us as individuals.  God desires a deep relationship with each of us one on one, face to face. Think of how some of the heroes of the Bible are described. Abraham was a friend of God. David was a man after God’s own heart. John was the “one Jesus loved”. After Jesus’ resurrection, he is quick to point out his Father is now our Father. We are family. Everyone needs and relates to different aspects of Godly intimacy at different times of their lives. For me, the fatherly aspect is the most comforting.  Perhaps you have children. If you do, I’m sure you have a treasure trove of drawings and other arts and crafts stored somewhere. After my own parents passed away, while going through their things, I found a jewelry box. I opened it expecting to find all sorts of treasure, and I did, but not the type that would typically be in a jewelry box. There were papers of all shapes and sizes. There were drawings, notes, poems, paintings and essays, all created by my brothers and myself. This was my parent’s treasure. And I felt so very loved. God has something like this too. Malachi 3:16–17 tells of God hearing us speak to one another and writing it all down in a Book of Memories. He goes on to call us his special treasure... His jewels.  God is a relational God who treasures you. He desires and deserves your complete wholehearted face to face focus, not impersonal text messages when you think of it.