2025-06-06
Good morning, Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit commanded me to continue writing about other forms of worship, things like prayer, friendship, and service. I think of prayer as a doorway directly to the Lord. He wants us to open that door often, because He knows developing a relationship with Him is a blessing He wants us to have. Some people are afraid to come before God this way, for various reasons—they are frightened due to His enormous power, they think their lies can be hidden from Him, He won’t give them the answer to their prayers they want, and so on. Others aren’t in the habit of going to Him first. Still others put their human motives ahead of God. These reasons are fallacious. HE 4: 13 tells us, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.” Our Lord loves us so much that He makes every attempt to get our attention and bring us to Himself. I visit the shelter under God’s wings as often as I can for the simple reason that there is wisdom and comfort to be found there. God wants to hear our prayers and for us to listen to His wise advice and decisions. He wants us to understand why the answer must sometimes be “no” or “maybe later.” PS 91: 1-2, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God in Whom I trust.’” I’m very sure that when David was beset with physical and emotional danger, he would return to PS 17: 6-9, “I call on You, my God, for You will answer me, turn Your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of Your great love, You Who save by Your right hand those who take refuge in You from their foes. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the wicked, who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.” Two-way prayer where one asks and listens is the life’s blood of a healthy relationship with God.
We have a vertical relationship with God, Who helps us to study and understand the Scriptures, live by His ethical standards, reach out to others in friendship, and serve Him using the skills He gives us. When tempered with patience, humility, reverence, and awe, this relationship can be enormously satisfying. But as Paul Harvey always said, “But there’s more…” Yes, there is a lot more! That’s because we also need to interact with other people, animals, and the earth on which we live. In Gensis 2: 7, 20-24, God created Adam (the first man) and a female companion, Eve, for him. God knew we needed companionship from our own kind. We were never intended to be isolated from other humans or to ignore their existence. He also needed a way to know if our decisions on matters of faith were genuine, so He gave up some of His free agency to mankind for this purpose. Only, the original sin [GN 3: 1-6] led all humans to a predicament from which only the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, could extricate us [JN 3: 16]. Our loving God wants as many of us as possible to decide to accept the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior, so that we can be saved to eternal life with Him.
Friendship with others can be edifying and faith-building, if we choose our friends carefully—with God’s ethics and wisdom in mind. We can pray for discernment. JAS 1: 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” PS 119: 66, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in Your judgments.” Good friendships last and bring much satisfaction over the years. We can learn to make good friends wherever we live; God has blessed me with friends who have added a wonderful texture to my life—they have taught me how to be a good friend too. This wisdom comes from ECCL 4: 9-10, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” I can’t imagine my life without my friends in it. My experience has shown me that the basis of a good marriage is that the partners must take time to know each other and become best friends before getting married.
PRAYER: O Lord, Your wisdom knows no limits, and we need Your input to make good decisions. Just as strong emotion alone isn’t the basis of a good marriage, being afraid to reach out to others is also not wise. We appeal to You to give us the wisdom we need to make good choices in life. PR 9: 10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Our Lord Jesus tells us, in JN 15: 5, “I am the Vine and you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” We pledge to live our lives to the Father’s glory and ask for Your help. You are a loving God Who listens to all our prayers and shares Your wisdom with us. We offer You praise and thanksgiving, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I didn’t have enough space to discuss service to others and will take that up next week. Service to others is yet another way to worship God. He gives us specific skills for us to do His work. It takes a modicum of emotional maturity to come out of our self-centered world of childhood and concern ourselves with the needs of others. The great surprise is that when we have a healthy balance between self-care and care of others, our own needs get met and our lives are made more satisfactory. Remember RO 12-1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is the true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” What a loving and great God we have! Praise and thanksgiving be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2025. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives