The passage we’ve just read today is prayer – when a man meets God and talks to Him. It is, the Bible says, “as a man speaks with his friend” (v.11).
We will not fully understand prayer if we think about it only as something to do with asking something from God. Prayer is not just about asking, although we do have many things to ask from God. If we are creature, and He is our Creator God, then obviously there are many things we need Him to give us.
But prayer is more than asking. Moses set up a tent, calling it the “tent of meeting” where man can meet God. When the people see His presence, their first response was worship. They all stood and worshipped Him, each at the entrance to his tent.
And the Bible says, “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” It’s a figurative expression showing how close they were, and their conversation was open and intimate.
And that is prayer. It has to do with building a relationship with God. Just like any conversation we have with our friends. A relationship is built with the person to whom we talk to. Otherwise we will call the other person a stranger. No matter how much I read about him in the newspaper or magazine. Prayer is a privilege God gives us, through which we can come to know Him and appreciate Him. This is a relationship God wants.
The Bible shows us in a few ways how we are related to Him.
• First, it is the relationship between the Creator and creature. We’re the created by Him and He is our Creator.
• It’s a relationship between the Almighty and the weak, between the divine and the mortal.
But it is not just that. It is not just the One who is “high up” and us who are “down here”. If you think of God only like a boss and we are His workers, then you have not fully understand Him.
• Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven…” (Matt 6:9). It’s a relationship between a parent and child. It tells us about His protection for us, that He guides and provides for us.
But that’s not all. The Bible shows us in a couple of places, that God relates to us as a close friend.
The passage we read here tells us that it’s a relationship between friend and friend. Jesus once told His disciples in John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
We are invited to converse with Him as friend with friend. You see, our relationship with Him did not stop at the relationship of Creator and creature, between the Almighty and powerless, between parent and child, but ultimately, what God desires with us is a friendship.
And when we talk about friends, I think we all understand a little bit more. We all have friends, good friends, close friends. We appreciate them. We treasure them. We spend time with them.
What we really need from God are not things, but a friendship. A close relationship with One who will never fail us or forsake us.
There is a Chinese short chorus 好朋友 Jesus is my best friend.
我有一位好朋友，他的名字叫耶稣，他是一位真挚不变的朋友
不论黎明到黄昏，还是黑夜到白昼，他是我终生常伴的好朋友
每当别的朋友都离去，只有他愿意留在我身旁
给我安慰，给我得温馨，他是我最好的朋友，耶稣
(I have a good friend and his name is Jesus. He is a faithful, unchanging friend. From dawn to dusk, from the darkest of night to the bright of day, He remains to be my true, lifelong friend. Others may have left me, but He stayed by my side, to give me comfort and warmth. He is my best friend - Jesus.)
Is He your friend today? Do you share your heart with Him the way you would to a good friend?
You don’t just ask from your friend, you talk with your friend. You share with your friend. You give to your friend.
God wants friendship with us. What does this tell us about our God? It says something amazing about the nature of God - that He is a personal God – an intensely personal God. The God that the Bible reveals to us is not an impersonal force, or just a Spirit. He is a Person whom we can relate to as a friend.
This is important because people believe in strange gods – gods that they do not know and yet have power over our lives. People believe in Feng Shui - impersonal forces which seem to control our lives, over which we have no authority or power. They make things happen to us, and they can do what they want. They have no feelings.
Yet the God we know from the Bible, is One who is a Person. He revealed Himself to us through the prophets and His Word, as One who is caring and compassionate, someone whom we can talk to. He knows us and He wants us to know Him. Right at the beginning in Genesis – Gen 3:8 describes Him as walking in the garden with man. It was only after Adam and Eve sinned, that they started to hide from God. It was man who ran from God, not God from man.
We are created for relationship. God reaches down to us and looks for us. He came eventually, revealing Himself in Jesus. He moves in our direction, and speaks our language. Before we even took a step towards Him, God took one giant step and moved towards us, took our form and became a man, so that He can relate to us.
And this is our God. He wants to make contact with us. And He wants to do it today. Dear brothers and sisters, God wants to commune with you. Make time for Him. Don’t hide from Him in the midst of all our workloads and commitments.
God wants us to be His friend. Not just an acquaintance. Not just one of our fans. Not just part of the crowd, but our friend.
Like the tax collector, Zacchaeus. He wanted to see Jesus one day as Jesus entered his hometown of Jericho. But Zacchaeus was small and hated by the crowds, and he found himself at the back of the crowd so he climbed a tree to see Jesus pass by. And Jesus did pass by – but he didn’t. He stopped. And he looked up and he said, "Zacchaeus!" He knows his name. "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." (Luke 19:5)
Jesus spends time with him. And that relationship changed him forever. It was not the moral teachings of the religious leaders that transformed him. It was a relationship with the One he knew who loved him when no one else did. Our relationship with Him changes us. That’s why prayer is important. The more we pray, the more we understand His heart. The more we become like Him, the more we reflect His character.
In Isaiah 41:8 the Lord also called Abraham his friend. Abraham’s friendship with God was close. When he heard that God was going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness, Abraham intervened. Listen to the dialogue in Gen 18:23-33
23Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing - to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?"
"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."
29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?"
He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."
30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?"
He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?"
He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."
32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"
He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
God was not offended. It was a conversation between two close friends. Because of this close friendship, Abraham was free to speak to God. He simply told God what was in his heart.
We see this kind of prayers in the Psalms. The psalmists talk to God the way they would to a friend. God is our best friend, so develop this friendship this year by spending more time in prayer. Don’t just come to Him to ask for things. Are you going to pray only when you need help?
Does that mean that you won’t pray if you have no problem or no need?
We all need friends, but this is one friendship we cannot afford to let go. The Lord wants us to spend time with Him. Heb 13:5 God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So don’t leave Him waiting.
In Rev 3:20 the Lord said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” It is a picture of fellowship. Friends eat together. It is a relationship that the Lord is looking for. So keeps the conversation going, whether in good times or bad times, whether you’re in great need or everything is fine. The Lord wants to spend time with you as His friend.
Of course, it does not mean that He ceases to be our Creator. He is still our Almighty God, yet at the same time, we can draw close to Him as a friend. Isn’t that amazing? That this great God longs to know us, and be known by us? The Lord says, “I want to be your friend.” Let’s spend more time with Him this year.
