The Necessity of Divine Intimacy
I believe that we all know that prayer is an important part or Christian living and our walk with God. I would even venture to say that many view it as something that we would need to do, Right? How many people would say we need to talk to God?
I would submit to you today that although we know this is true and many believers think it is necessary, it is rare that we hear people talking about how much they need to pray unless in a joking or passing manner. In our modern day Christian lives, and especially in the great United States, prayer is viewed as needed but it is a discipline that is almost shrugged off and forgotten.
Yes, prayer is needed but we pray to start our day and before we go to bed and at church and we have met the minimum requirement, correct?
I mean that must be what prayer is about, and when else would we talk to God anyway. The Bible says pray without ceasing but we’ve all been taught for so long that it doesn’t really mean never stop praying and it doesn’t have to be crazy prayer just a God conscientiousness. I would like to talk to everyone for just a little while and teach why the opposite is true. Prayer is absolutely essential. There is a necessity to divine intimacy and intentional prayerfulness where we are communing with God.
As a matter of fact, I believe this is the entire purpose of the cross. If Jesus did in fact die to restore that which was lost, then He died to restore the relationship and communion that He and Adam had together in the Garden. Jesus died so He could once again walk and talk with us. So, today I would like to teach us how to do exactly that…what praying without ceasing truly means and how to live an intentionally prayerful life where we commune with God daily and truly become intimate with our coming King, our savior, and the lover of our souls, our Jesus.
Let’s start with someone who truly desired God everyday and in every aspect of his life. He’s a singer songwriter, a mighty leader, he killed a couple giants, made a ton of mistakes, but he was a man after God’s own heart. Let’s start with David.
David wrote these words in Psalm 27:4
David wanted to know the Lord and to be in His presence day and night. He wanted to stay in the temple and just learn from Him. Spending time with His savior and the one He loved for all time to just stand in amazement and awe of who God was. David says this is the one thing that he desired. I believe this is exactly what God was meaning when He says that David was a man after His own heart. And God desires that kind of love and wanting from all of His people. God wants to be with us as desperately as He wants us to be with Him. If you do not believe me then just take a look at your Bible. From the beginning to the end it is a story about how the Creator of everything wants to walk together with His creation but because they messed it up He now has to create a way to restore that opportunity once again. Through His death on the cross He does exactly that. So, what does that look like? How do we get to the point where we want God that way? Or that we can talk with Him that way?
I just want us to look at three points that will help us get there today. There are so so many more and there are so many awesome resources out there to help us with prayer but today I want to show us how easy it is and how much God wants us to do it. So, the three ways we get better at it are Intentionality, Vulnerability, and Consistency.
Intentionality:
The first place we are starting is intentionality. We have to be purposeful and focused when we pray. Being intentional about prayer means that we are setting aside time, focus, and energy specifically to talk to Jesus. Just us and Him. We are making a point to say, “Jesus this is your time and I am talking to you.” Know before you say, “Bro. Kajun, that's easy for you to say you have places you can go and be and get alone,” that is the beauty of it; intentionality can be executed even in silent prayers when you are quickly focusing your mind on Him. When you are saying Jesus, thank you for the food that you have provided for me for lunch.
I thank you for keeping me strong and healthy by providing me something to eat. There are times and places that need to be set aside for communication with Jesus but divine intimacy comes when we can connect with God at any time just to talk with Him.
For example, let’s look at my wife and I, we do not get to go on dates a whole lot but when we do they are awesome; however, we have moments together often and if we focus on enjoying those moments with each other than we do not have to go on a date to continue making our relationship better and better right?
This is exactly what prayerfulness looks like with Jesus. The times we set aside to talk with Him in those quiet and special places are oh so valuable to Him but so are the times throughout the day when you “shoot Him a text” to say I am thinking about you and I love you. I know this may seem a little odd to some but this is what God desires in relationship with us and this is what David meant when he said I wish I could just be with you all day, everyday in your temple.
There is a little story I would like to tell I heard recently about intentional prayers, this is a true story told by a Pastor who knew the man. The story goes like this, there was a gentleman by the name of Bob. He had a very unique way of talking with the Lord. Everyday for 1 hour a day Bob had a prayer appointment with God and he never missed it. He would always start off by saying, “Hello God, this is Bob.” Bob became very ill and went into a coma for 30 days. No one knew what was wrong with him and they could not figure out how to help him. There was one hour a day however where Bob’s vitals and everything were perfect it was as if there was nothing wrong at all. Bob eventually came out of the coma after 30 days and was healed completely. The docs questioned and explained what happened during that one hour a day during those times. Bob replied by explaining that everyday at the hour of prayer Bob heard a voice call out, “Hello Bob, this is God.” And God would talk with Bob for their hour together since Bob could not speak.
This is an amazing and interesting story but it shows how important our intentionality is with God, it is so important that when Bob was unable to make it to the hour God still came to Bob. Prayerfulness is essential to our walk with God and it keeps us going.
This is what the scripture Pray without ceasing is referring to. Every chance we get to talk to God we must be intentional in connecting with Him. When we pray for our food not just a quick prayer so we can eat but a genuine moment where we are saying to Jesus, thank you for this meal I am about to eat Lord. This idea of continuing in prayer throughout our day and walking together with God is divine intimacy. It is what praying without ceasing means and it brings us to our second point which is vulnerability.
Vulnerability
When we look at David’s example throughout the Psalms it is a picture of divine intimacy. David was always talking to God. In the morning, at night, in the middle of the day, when he couldn’t sleep at night, when he messed up, and when the Lord gave him victory. David was always talking to God but he was not just randomly talking small talk with God. No, David talked with God about everything. Absolutely everything. This is where vulnerability comes in and we have to humble ourselves before the Lord. We are all familiar with the following scripture:
God was saying that the people needed to humble themselves before God and turn from wickedness but what does that mean? And what does it look like? It means that we must be faithful and bold to go to Jesus even when we have messed up or done something that’s not pleasing to Him and talk to Him about it. When David sinned with bethsheba and committed adultery he wrote Psalm 51 which said things like, “my sin is always before you, I have sinned against you God, and then He begged the Lord, “cleanse me, create in me a clean heart and give me a right spirit.” David talked to God about everything. Even things that other people did to him that were hard to talk about. In many psalms we read where David said my enemies have come against me and I am unbearably sad and I need you Lord or they have attacked me and I am so mad I want you to demolish them with the full force of your wrath. It is true.
David talked with God about all of His emotions but he always ended by praising God and telling the Lord about how awesome and gracious He was and that He would protect David and bring him joy and help him. David was vulnerable with God. Part of walking with God and the necessity of prayer is being able to talk to God about literally everything. Communicating to Him how you feel and why you feel and how happy you are to know Him and how much you need Him. We must allow God to be our singular inner circle that knows the thoughts and intents of our heart because we tell Him not just because it is in His ability and power.
Talking to God is showing Him that we need Him. When we remain silent it is like a rebellion, an open declaration to God that we have it figured out. That we can overcome this sin on our own, we can overcome guilt and shame, hate, evil thinking, all without ever asking God for the help He so readily provides to escape these things that may bind us. This is the God we serve. Our ever present help in time of trouble and our prayers must be focused and filled with purpose that humbly show every aspect of our lives to Him. This is being intentional and vulnerable looks like with God but the final piece we will discuss today is what makes the paramount difference in our relationship with Jesus and that is consistency.
We need divine intimacy to survive. In Him we live, move, and have our being as the author of Acts reminds the early church. Without Him we can do nothing. But with Him anything is possible. Prayer is essential in our relationship with God; it must be a vital aspect of our communion with Him. He is desperate for us and we must seek after Him with a similar desperation.
Consistency
The idea with consistency is repetition and faithfulness. Not in words spoken or the times you pray but day after day making talking with Jesus a priority and the way by which we live. We can consistently choose to be with Jesus. The concept of consistency is a little more practical however it is not to be used alone.
Many of us would say that we are consistent in praying for our food or before bed but how many of those times have we actually been intentional with our prayers to talk to God about how we feel and truly connect with Him. Consistency is only good whenever it is applied to good principles and effective practices. We want to consistently connect with God when we call on His name. So, with consistency there are two ways that I think we can be consistent. The practical way and the more abstract or, for lack of a better term, flowy way. Let’s start first with the practical.
Let’s look back at our friend Bob for a minute. Every day at the same time and for the same amount of time Bob met with God and prayed in the secret place. This type of prayer is extremely valuable and is a necessity for God. Set some time aside that is specifically dedicated for Prayer and pick the place too. At that same time and place EVERY SINGLE DAY pray. This appointment with God will never be missed by God and both you and God will enjoy it tremendously. It will not be very long that after you implement this practice that you notice your relationship with God beginning to flourish. You know His voice much better, you work together with Him easier, things that used to be a struggle are becoming easier, sins and temptations that used to have a hold on you are beginning to fade away because the Lord has given you the insight, power, and wisdom to overcome them. This practical consistency is where you share the vulnerable parts of yourself with the Lord. It is in a safe place between just you and Him.
Consistency in the abstract way is being intentional with the time that you speak with the Lord throughout the day. As you are praying without ceasing or thinking about your daily life intentionally including Jesus in every part or that on a routine basis is where consistency comes into play. For many of you it would look like this as you walk into school, “Jesus you know I do not like this place, but I know that for my benefit I need to learn and you desire us to learn and grow so as I am here today let me learn effectively and encourage those around me. Let me be a light in this school for your purpose and glory.”
For me it looks like “Jesus, please let this email make sense and not hurt anyone’s feelings and give me the strength to continue to love my boss the same way that you love Him.” This consistency is important and what makes divine intimacy so important because what would have been a bad day with a bad attitude because of my outlook has now turned into a day submitted to God’s purpose and glory because I humbled myself to intentionally pray through my frustrations with the Lord until He has changed me through that consistency and now I am having a good day. This is the necessity of divine intimacy.
Prayer is essential because it opens the door to the deep places of our relationship with God. It restores that which was lost and allows us to walk with Jesus. We must pray; and the beauty of it is its simplicity. Jesus wants desperately to talk to you. So talk to Him. When you do it with intent, being vulnerable with Him, and day after day all of a sudden you have a very close relationship with God. Just like if you spent every moment with your best friend and shared everything with them you would be closer. You would say this is my best friend, he's like my brother or sister. Jesus desires that same kind of time and closeness with us. So, Pray without ceasing. Desire one thing. And walk in divine intimacy with Jesus.
Let's build together.