Friendship with God

Before the Lord set out to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He appeared to Abraham, the man of faith. Some say this was a pre-incarnate vision of Christ. However, the text says this: “And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant . . . .” (Genesis 18:1–3)

Were all three representing the triune God? Perhaps. After their meal together, these visitors prepared to leave:

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (Genesis 18:16–18)

Chambers points out that this describes what it means to be a friend of God; He reveals His will to His people. His description takes two parts, which I paraphrase . . .

The delight of real friendship with God is not the same as having occasional feelings of His presence in prayer. When I reach that level of friendship, I don’t need to ask Him to show me His will. This is a final stage of discipline in a life of faith. That is, when rightly and deeply related to God, I will enjoy a life of freedom and delight because I am God’s will. I can make commonsense decisions in my friendship with Him, knowing that if they are wrong, He will check them, and when He checks them, I will stop at once.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Part of the reason for this deeper relationship is “delighting in God.” This verse does not mean He will give me everything that I want, but as I delight in Him, the things that I want will be desires given to me from Him. All my I-wants will be His will, not mine.

The second part of Chambers’ description is the difficulties of this friendship. It is shown in the way Abraham stopped praying. He was told what the Lord was going to do, and thinking of his nephew Lot who lived in Sodom, he began to intercede. However, his intimacy with God was not deep enough and he failed to boldly pray until God granted his desire. That indicated something missing in the relationship.

Whenever I stop short in prayer because I’m not sure I’m asking in the will of God, I’ve not yet reached the oneness that Jesus prayed for when He said, “That they may be one even as We are one.”

The way to evaluate this level of oneness is to think of the last thing I prayed about. Was I devoted to my desire or to God? Was I determined to get some gift of the Spirit or to get at God? Did I go on and on in my prayer as if God needed to understand what I was asking for, or did I express myself knowing that He knows all about it? 

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7–8)

Chambers says that the point of praying is to know God better. The deeper my prayer life, the more I understand Him, the more I can pray with confidence that my prayer is in His will. This is the ultimate in developing a friendship with God.

Jesus, my Friend

Yesterday God showed me some ways to evaluate true friendship. One is how friends respond to sudden wealth. Lottery winners say they are inundated with “friends” who come out of the woodwork. They act as if they are long-lost buddies, but are really after a share of the cash. True friends rejoice instead of hold their hands out.

Today’s reading from Spurgeon points to the other friend-test — adversity. How do people respond when I am in trouble? Do they run away or do they stick by me? True friends are revealed when I have trials.

However, true friends also are revealed when they have trials. A gentleman in our church became ill while on vacation last month. He knew that he would not make it home, so he made a video. He spoke to his grandchildren and to several young people he called his “adopted grandchildren.” He pointed them to Jesus and sang to them. This video, played at his funeral, revealed a heart that thought of others. Even in his last days here on earth, he was following the example of Jesus.

Jesus knew when He was facing death also. He took His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane where He prayed about it. When Judas and the soldiers came to arrest Him, He was ready, but He was thinking about His disciples too.

So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” (John 18:7–8)

As Spurgeon points out, this is love, constant, self-forgetting, faithful love. Yet as the devotional writer also says there is far more here; these words are the very soul and spirit of the atonement. The Good Shepherd is about to lay down His life for the sheep. He pleads that they must therefore go free. The Substitute is bound, and justice demands that those for whom He stands as a substitute should go their way. Yet in this, Jesus is more than a substitute. He is my Friend.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15:13–17)

*****

Lord, when I am in trouble, my world tends to get smaller. I think of myself and my situation, and maybe those closest to me. While this may not be overtly sinful, it is certainly not what You did in Your greatest trial. This year You gave me a focus verse and remind me again today that I need to grow in my love for others and in selflessness.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. Look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

You counted others more significant than Yourself. You did it as You walked this earth, and You did it in the garden and on the cross. Obedience to the Father was Your consuming interest, so You took care of that, but dying was also for others, for me. Your death gave me life, and with that life the ability to bear fruit in Your name. Because of Your great heart, You can now call me Your friend. Grant me grace to be a true friend — to You and to those around me.