What Does It Take To Have A Vibrant Relationship With Jesus?

People ask me how to maintain a vibrant relationship with Jesus. What they are asking is how they can feel strong all the time. I am not sure that we can feel anything all the time. We can't feel joy all the time, but we can be joyful. We can't feel content all the time, but we can be content. We can't feel strong all the time, but we can be strong. We have a source to find what we need when we need it and it is found in our relationship with Jesus. There really is only one secret to maintaining a vibrant relationship with Jesus but it's not even a secret. Everyone knows about it but it is simply something we don't make allowance to do. We need to pray.

People give all kinds of excuses why they don't pray, forget to pray or mean to pray but just don't get around to it. I have lots of excuses as well. But the truth is we find time to do whatever is important to us. If we want to watch our favorite TV show, we make time to do so. If we want to hang out with a friend, we shift things around to make it happen. If we want to spend hours on FaceBook or Tumblr, we manage to find the time, often at the cost of other important activities like sleep. So prayer isn't all that important to us, even though we like to think it is.

Some people don't pray because they don't know how. They don't understand it is a conversation. A one sided conversation you might say. Hardly. Anyone who has developed any measure of habitual prayer will tell you that it is a true communion with Jesus and answers are given, direction is made clear and rich fellowship is enjoyed. Prayer is done in an attitude of worship, with singing and maybe even some dancing. It is filled with expressions of adoration. There are times of talking, others of listening,and periods of incredible silence. It involves the Word and a list of petitions. It is filled with insight and revelation. It is always enjoyable. For each person it takes on a different method or form but the foundation is always the same: spending time with Jesus.

Some people don't pray because they feel they have not yet earned enough favour. They think their life does not merit any response from Father and so they look around for a righteous person to pray on their behalf. They fail to understand that Father has declared us all to be righteous according to how he sees us. We are to walk in righteousness, desiring to be obedient but we need to understand why we go to him with our requests and petitions. Daniel, the prophet, knew why, maybe better than some and the longer you spend time with Jesus the more you will understand too:

O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.  (Daniel 9:18)

And that is the truth of the matter. We don't have a leg to stand on. We have no right in ourselves to be able to approach the Throne. There is no reason in us why Father should even entertain our requests. But he changed all that. We don't approach him in our natural selves because he changed all that. We approach him in the blood of the Lamb, in relationship with Jesus Christ, adopted as the children of the Father. Mercy is when we do not receive what we have earned, which is death, but in his mercy and goodness Father gives us good things. We pray with confidence because of who he is. It is not about us and all about him.

Nothing is going to happen in your life, nothing is going to change, there is no way you will become what he desires of you unless you develop the habit of prayer. Let me put it this way: You are not going to get to know Jesus and become like him unless you spend time with him. Do you want a life of conviction and power? Then spend time with the King. Make it your number one priority every day. Carve it into your schedule. Treat it like eating or hanging with your best friend. It must become essential to your day. Not a hurried two second prayer but a coming aside and sitting in his presence for an hour or two if need be. Work at it. Develop it. Allow it to grow. It is awkward at first, even difficult, but the longer you do it the more natural it will become and the more sensitive to the Spirit you will be. Whatever it takes, however long it takes to remain connected to our Vine of life. Just do it.

Increasing The Power Of The Spirit In You

We all have this great desire to know Jesus. Our longing is to be close with him, to sense his presence all the time, to be filled by his power and to represent him to those around us. We want to express our love to him over and over again. We want to make him our everything. These are great desires but if they only stay as desires they will have no eternal purpose. Our desires need to take on flesh.

Every person in our Holy Scriptures who was blessed and used by Yahweh were those who had a great relationship with him. This relationship came from time spent in prayer and the Scriptures. There are no short cuts. I have just finished spending time with Daniel and I am once again impressed by this man of faith and loyalty. The angels told him that he was "treasured by Yahweh". He had a great relationship that came by huge amounts of time in prayer and fasting. Out of these times came great visions and understanding. He had what we want yet he did not have the Holy Spirit in him and we do.

David also understood this great fellowship and it caused his heart to yearn for Yahweh. He was a man full of faults but the motivation and desire of his heart pleased Yahweh. He was blessed, favoured, protected, corrected, broken, built up, encouraged as he constantly fellowshipped with Yahweh. David gave us this treasure of understanding in Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
    Nor stands in the path of sinners,
    Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (Psalm 1:1)

That's what he doesn't do, which is also important. He doesn't allow himself to be tempted by the shortcuts of life, listening to Satan's invitation to bow down to him for perceived success. This is not our measure of success. But now consider what the blessed man does do:

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    And in His law he meditates day and night. (v. 2)

He gives priority to Yahweh. He is consumed by him. Daniel was consumed by prayer. Three specific times of the day were set aside exclusively for prayer. He fasted, which is suppose to be an intense period of prayer. Daniel stood loyal to Yahweh no matter the cost. He petitioned for his people, in prayer. Look at the result David speaks of when we become consumed by our relationship with Yahweh:

He shall be like a tree
    Planted by the rivers of water,
    That brings forth its fruit in its season,
    Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper. (v. 3)

This is seen in Daniel, the most favoured man in the captivity of Israel. Every king of his day turned to Daniel for help and everyone of them heaped great blessings and favours on him. This favour did not come because of Daniel's intelligence but because of his relationship with Yahweh.

Those who have rich fellowship with Jesus Christ, who are consumed by prayer, worship and the Word, have a river of life flowing through them. Everyone who accepts Jesus' invitation, is spiritually born a second time, and is baptized by the Holy Spirit, has this river of life flowing through them, but those who make themselves sensitive to Jesus are made aware of it. Because of this fellowship, the desire of their heart, their submission to Father's will, their obedience and loyalty; because they talk with Yahweh all the time, fruit will be produced through them, they will always contain life and whatever they put their hand to will succeed. We are possessed by the power of the Spirit.

Too many of us are in love with the idea of this kind of relationship but most of us are not willing to put in the time. We have lots of excuses but if Jesus was honestly our "everything" we would find a way to spend time with him. I am not talking about the fifteen minutes we set aside for our quick list of requests. I am not taking about a conversation throughout the day - although this is important too. I mean the same attitude that Daniel and so many others of the greats had. The same attitude as Jesus. Time set aside for complete concentration on Jesus will bring us to the place where we want to be in our relationship. There are no short cuts.

Examine your life and make a list of the things that contribute to your walk with Jesus and the things that do not. Then start reducing the "do not" list and you will be amazed how quickly you find time for Worship, prayer and the Word every day. When you do this you will find your relationship with Jesus and the desire of your heart rapidly changing. May you discover the warrior he has called you to be. Pray!

Prayer Warrior

If prayer means as much to you as it does to me, you understand the feeling that I get when someone tells me they have been praying specifically for me. I especially like hearing what they are praying. Prayer coverage is incredibly important in the work we are doing as God's workmen in this place. We desperately need to be praying for each other and not just assuming that all is well; not taking God's provision for granted. There is a reason the Spirit provokes us to pray.

Imagine the joy felt by the Colossians when they read in Apostle Paul's letter:

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you,that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (Colossians 4:12)

Oh the joy of hearing that someone is praying for our success; that someone loves us that much to be wrestling in prayer for us. Look at the content of Epahras' prayer: that they may stand firm in God's will; that they would be mature; that they would be fully assured. Epaphras desired the spiritual success for his people and covered them in the greatest possible manner.

Christians too often curse with their tongue instead of bless. It is not that we are worse than anyone else, but we aught to be better. Our mouths are not intended for cursing. What I mean by curse is when we complain about people, tearing them down, belittling their effort, secretly desiring their failure. We have to ask what is wrong with us? What is wrong with our relationship with Jesus? If we are really possessed by the Spirit we should be dying of conviction if we curse instead of bless. If we do it easily enough, without even realizing what we are doing, we need to examine if we are possessed by the Spirit.

Being possessed by the Spirit, we will be provoked beyond out human nature and prompted to pray specific things for people. When this happens, don't keep it to yourself, but tell the person. Tell them specifically what you are praying for so they will be encouraged by your prayers. We need to stop listening to our old nature which no longer has power over us and listen more to the Spirit. We need to stop talking about people and start praying for their success.

Be purposeful in your prayers. Keep a prayer journal. Write down names, dates and specific topics. Pray until the Spirit prompts you to stop. Set aside a time in the day to specifically pray for the people on your list. Be open to be provoked by the Spirit at any time of the day to pray as he prompts you to pray. Be attentive. This is warfare and we are the soldiers. This is God's strategy and we are to follow his directions. Be watchful, thankful and pray.