Jesus is the Only Way to a Relationship with God
OPENING PRAYER:
Lord, this week as we consider Jesus Christ as the only way to life eternal guide us in our pursuit of knowing him intimately. Amen
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:3-7 (NLT)
REFLECT:
In the past year my wife and I have felt that our prayer life has become very stilted, praying the same prayer concerns over and over. It was done in a very mechanical way and not resembling anything like a conversation we would be having with close friends. We knew that this had to change if we wanted to have a loving, growing relationship with God.
We realized we are not alone in this respect. The disciples must have felt the same way about their prayer lives. After observing Jesus on his many prayer retreats, they made the following request:
“Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”” (Luke 11:1 NLT)
Ken Hemphill, in his book The Prayer of Jesus states, “Somehow from observing Jesus they knew that prayer…. was the key that gave him the strength to do all the miraculous things he did. Jesus knew a level of intimacy with the Heavenly Father that did much more than transform prayer from a ritual into privilege, but from privilege into raw living breathing power. He knew what prayer was, and his prayer connected!”
Hemphill goes on to say, “They craved to experience the intimate communion Jesus had with God.”
My wife and I have realized that if we wanted to have the relationship with God the disciples craved, we must intimately know Jesus the way the disciples did. Knowing Jesus intimately is the key to our having a relationship with God. This will then move our prayer life to one which is true communion with God. In John 14:7 Jesus states, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
APPLY:
To Improve our relationship with God and our prayer life, we needed more time in the Word observing Jesus. We also have spent time reading some quality books on prayer like Hemphill’s, Allister Begg’s Pray Big, and Gregg Pruett’s Extreme Prayer.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord, help me to grow more intimately with you so that I can improve my relationship with you. Amen
CONTINUED READING:
Romans 5:1-12, 1 Timothy 2:5-6