An Intimate Relationship with God

Our first reading is taken from Matthew 22.37-40 “Jesus replied ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Our first call from God, our utmost and highest priority in life – to Love God with all we have. To give Him our highest devotion before all people and all things. This love is to be more than an expression of our mind, more than the words we speak. A sincere, intense and passionate love expressed through the emotion of the heart. A heart of submission to Him, and a soul consumed with an eternal longing for fellowship with Him.

And so, today as we meditate on the meaning of this first commandment from our Lord may we be challenged as He calls us on to a deeper walk with Him.

Genesis speaks of the intimacy with God experienced by the first created couple in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:8 ‘Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man ‘where are you?’

We see in this passage of Scripture the plan of God for His creation to walk in close fellowship with their Creator, to speak with Him in a personal and intimate way, to have communication between one another.

Jesus spoke in parables – in simple, illustrative stories -- to convey His message. John 10: 3-11.“The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what He was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

The relationship of God to His people is compared to the care and protection of a shepherd to his sheep and the sheep of the Lord will know His voice intimately and obey the voice of the shepherd. He calls His sheep by name, giving each one individual attention and leading them into green pastures of refreshing.

To know God in this way requires of us a high commitment to Him – in prayer, a two-way communication with our Creator. For the experience of prayer as described in His Word is not a one-sided conversation.

For many believers, conversion to Christ comes through experiences in Sunday School or family sharing as a young child. The way of salvation and reconciliation to God is shared and a commitment is made. I became a Christian late in life and attending a local church was a new experience for me. Enjoying the fellowship and new way of life, I had much to learn. Scripture reading and prayer devotion became a daily commitment. However for some time I did not experience the presence of God, or the reality of knowing His voice.

Our local church sponsored a prayer seminar. We were challenged to devote one hour each day to prayer. The Scripture Matthew 26.40 was emphasized in the teaching sessions. Jesus prayed in the Garden before His crucifixion vs 39” My Father if it is possible may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will but as You will.” Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour”, he said to Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

I felt challenged to pray one hour each day, rising one hour early before my family on most days. Using the prayer model – ACTS –

A	Adoration	spending time in praise, expressions of delight in the Lord
C	Confession	personal repentance, seeking His forgiveness and restoration
T	Thanksgiving	giving thanks to Him for salvation, His goodness, answered prayer
S	Supplication	bringing personal prayer requests and supplication on behalf of others.

For some days, I felt no reality in my prayers. James 4:8 became my personal promise from the Lord “Draw close to Me, and I will draw close to you”. Then the presence of the Lord came as I entered my prayer session and suddenly it was as if someone had entered the room. My prayers no longer seemed to bounce back to me. The conversation was not one sided. For in the room with Me was the reality of the presence of another. And suddenly, prayer for one hour took on new meaning for me. To just sit in His presence and enjoy Him became a reality of my prayer life. The presence of the promised One, the comforter, had come. And how much we need His presence, for in the presence of the Lord is healing, power, strength, inner peace and restoration. At these times, we can sense the will of the Lord in the situations we bring to Him for direction; we can hear the still small voice of the Spirit.

What is our commitment in prayer to our Lord today? Will five or ten minutes be sufficient? Are we ‘too busy to pray’ or ‘too busy not to pray’?

For some of us, He may be saying “Will you not watch with Me for one hour?”

Our World is in need of prayers for peace, our families need prayers of protection and guidance, our community needs prayers of healing, provision and deliverance.

May we hear His challenge today and may the blessing of the Lord be on each one as we seek Him and trust in His unfailing love.

I will close with a personal experience. Recently, my spouse and I visited a lake nearby on a fishing trip. We set up our folding chairs and threw in our fishing rods and settled down to a relaxing wait for our ‘first bite’. Spending time in quiet meditation with the Lord I watched as a flock of noisy pink galahs flew past, flapping their wings rapidly. I felt the Lord impressing upon my heart that there are times in our lives when we deal with problems and situations in this way, with much stressful effort, drama and anxiety. And as I reflected on my own personal experiences, from across the lake on the right hand side, came a pair of eagles. The eagles soared effortlessly and majestically together in a ‘dance’ of harmony – from above the water across land they soared in my direction. I felt the Spirit of the Lord speak into my heart, the words of

Isaiah 40:31
But those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength
They will soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not be faint.”

The prayers of the saints soar upwards towards God, heavenwards, on eagle’s wings. The mind, heart and soul of a praying saint are lifted upwards, towards God. The power, presence and love of Jesus call us to look up, and to know that our deliverance is near. For the Jesus we remember at Christmas has promised to come again.

And there is a place, even in the midst of all our suffering and trials, as we look to Him, where we can be taken out to soar with Him, above even our trials and circumstances. A peace that passes all understanding, a peace that the world cannot give.

Ps 26:8 “I love the house where you live, O Lord,
The place where your glory dwells.