Restoring Intimacy With God

July 13th, 2003

THE RESTORING OF OUR INTIMACY WITH GOD

Through Prayer

I can’t tell you how many sermons I’ve heard and done on prayer. In fact… it seems almost overwhelming.

· We are told to pray to a God that we cannot see.

· We are told that He answers prayer.

· We are told that He wants us to come to Him as a Father.

· We are told that He desires an intimate relationship with us.

Quite honestly… I want all of that also. However… it just seems that a lot of stuff interferes with our intimacy levels with it comes to talking to God.

The Bible says that Adam walked with God in the cool of the day.

It also says that Abraham was a friend of God.

Enoch was so close to God that God just took him up into heaven.

Over and over we read of people that had this intimacy with God. If you are like me – you ask – How can I have that also.

I was reading the Song of Solomon the other day. Notice the depth of their intimacy. (This could be likened to what our relationship needs to be with God.)

How many romantics do we have in the room?

Song 1:2 Young Woman: "Kiss me again and again, for your love is sweeter than wine.

Song 1:3 How fragrant your cologne, and how pleasing your name! No wonder all the young women love you!

Song 1:4 Take me with you. Come, let’s run! Bring me into your bedroom,

Song 1:15 Young Man: "How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful! Your eyes are soft like doves."

Song 2:3 Young Woman: "And compared to other youths, my lover is like the finest apple tree in the orchard. I am seated in his delightful shade, and his fruit is delicious to eat.

Song 2:4 He brings me to the banquet hall, so everyone can see how much he loves me.

Song 2:5 Oh, feed me with your love--your ’raisins’ and your ’apples’--for I am utterly lovesick!

Song 2:6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.

Song 2:8 "Ah, I hear him--my lover! Here he comes, leaping on the mountains and bounding over the hills.

Song 2:9 My lover is like a swift gazelle or a young deer. Look, there he is behind the wall! Now he is looking in through the window, gazing into the room.

Song 2:10 "My lover said to me, ’Rise up, my beloved, my fair one, and come away.

Song 2:11 For the winter is past, and the rain is over and gone.

Song 2:12 The flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come, even the cooing of turtledoves.

Song 2:13 The fig trees are budding, and the grapevines are in blossom. How delicious they smell! Yes, spring is here! Arise, my beloved, my fair one, and come away.’"

Song 2:16 Young Woman: "My lover is mine, and I am his. He feeds among the lilies!

THIEVES OF INTIMACY WITH GOD

· Weariness

· Laziness

· Wandering mind (boredom)

· Busyness

· Problems

· Guilt

· Worldliness

· Unbelief

· Etc.

Last week we talked about how our spirits get clogged up and we have a difficulty “connecting with God.”

Today… I want to further our understanding of the spirit man and how it works.

Go with me first to 1 Thessalonians 5:23…

1 Th 5:23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

Man was created with a three –part nature – not a two-part nature as many people think.

Many people think that the spirit and soul are one and the same. This isn’t true.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Body – The dimension of man that deals with the physical realm. The house in which we live!

Soul – The dimension of man that deals with the mental realm. Man’s intellect.

It is the part that reasons and thinks.

It is where our will is – we choose.

It is where our emotions (reactions) are.

This is where the war over sin and temptation take place.

Spirit – The dimension of man that deals with the spiritual realm. It is the part of man that knows God.

It is interesting…

· Man works this way… Body – Soul - Spirit.

· God works this way… Spirit – Soul – Body.