Friendship With God Series

Jesus calls us his friends. In John 15:15 Jesus tells us he no longer calls us servants but he calls us his friends. What does friendship mean? How does friendship work? I began studying this.

One key cornerstone of friendship is having an open two-way communication. How many have had that one friend who is always doing the talking? How many times do you try to dodge them? When you have a problem, are they the first person you call? Of course not! If you're like me, those types of "friends" drive you crazy and you go out of your way not to interact with them.

I think we can agree that we like when our friends ask us how we are doing? When they show interest in what is going on in our lives and they ask questions pertaining to us. In turn, we do the same. We ask about their jobs, kids, family, health, etc. It is what good friends do. Right?

Now, let us take a close look at how you pray. What is prayer? It is when we communicate with God, our friend. What do your typical prayers sound like? If you are like a good many of us, we start out by thanking him and praising him. We then get down to the business of telling God what we need, how we need it and when we need it. Sometimes, we may throw a few requests in for friends and family as well.

Do we ever ask God how HIS day is? How does HE feel? Do we ever ask if there is anything we can do for him? Do you ever wonder how God's day is going?? Considering all that is going on in the world, I'm pretty sure God has his good days and bad days, just like us, only on a much larger scale. Up until that realization I know I never did. I never asked wondered if God was happy, sad, angry, etc.

Like so many others, my prayers were very much one-sided. Not once did I ever stop and let God talk to me. I never even tried to listen to his voice. I realized I was talking at God and not to or with God. I decided that had to change.

I will openly admit, I felt rather foolish doing this at first. When I prayed, I made a point to start asking God how was his day? Did he have a good day? I would ask How does he feel and was there anything I could do to help him? Then, I started waiting. After I said all I needed to say and asked him those questions, I sat and waited. Listening to see if God would answer me.

About a week into this, boy did he ever start talking! Turns out, God has a lot to say...but no one really ever takes time to listen to him. When you do listen, he is more than willing to talk back.

In this collection of editorial type articles, I will share with you the powerful things God revealed to me when I changed how I pray and opened the line of communication to listen to my friend.