FELLOWSHIP AND PRAYER

I JOHN 1:3

A. "THAT WHICH WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD DECLARE WE UNTO YOU, THAT YE ALSO MAY HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH US; AND TRULY OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER, AND WITH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST"
  1. Dear ones, has the idea of fellowship with the Godhead ever occurred to you?
    1. Fellowship in prayer
    2. Communing with God
  2. A prayerful study of the word of God:
    1. Reveals, gloriously, that in true prayer, we have fellowship with the Godhead, with the Father, the Son, and with the Holy Ghost - 2 Cor. 13:14
    2. When we view prayer in that light, it takes on a new dimension
B. FELLOWSHIP IN PRAYER
  1. Fellowship - what is it?
    1. Community of interest, partnership, friendly association, constitutes fellowship - in the highest sense
    2. When we are born of God, we become a part of His family; we have community interest; we become sons and daughters in the truest sense
    3. When fellowship is viewed in this light it becomes the foundation of true and persistent prayer - or communion with God; it becomes as natural as breathing
  2. Let us consider the fellowship of prayer:
    1. It reveals kinship with God; He becomes our heavenly Father, and we become sons and daughters
    2. It links us with the royal house of God's kingdom
    3. It makes us representatives of the Godhead in this sinful world
    4. We represent the interests of heaven, and that means royal privileges and obligations
    5. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts is our credentials to witness for God
  3. What a new and enlarged concept this gives us of the prayer life:
    1. It gives us the basis for the prayer life
    2. It shows why God is eager and anxious to have us commune with Him in prayer
    3. It is a close family fellowship between God and men
C. BLESSINGS OF THIS FELLOWSHIP
  1. They cannot be measured by man's narrow and faulty concept of the meaning of prayer:
    1. So many of us pray because we feel in need of Divine aid - which is true, but does not express the full meaning of prayer
    2. To some of us there is a measured distance between us and God because we realize our own unworthiness even to approach God in prayer
    3. There is a measure of truth in that, but it is not all the truth
    4. The distance, caused by sin, has been removed and now we are very nigh unto God by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord - Eph. 2:15-16
  2. The prayer fellowship with the Godhead rests on a new and eternal foundation:
    1. Christ is that foundation, when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we become sons and daughters of God, we become an integrated part of the family of God; all barriers are removed, all things are new
    2. This new relationship creates a new and happy atmosphere between us and the Godhead; we now have free access to the throne of God by Jesus Christ our Lord
    3. We are no longer left to ourselves in prayer; we have an advocate with the Father, and more, the Holy Spirit becomes our aid when we pray
  3. Oh the height and the depth of God's mercy:
    1. Prayer becomes no longer a formality to soothe our conscience
    2. It becomes the door to the heart of God
    3. It becomes an outlet to the thoughts of our heart
    4. It becomes the channel of communing with our best friend in the universe
    5. It becomes the occasion of holy joy - a feast of spiritual blessings
  4. Dear ones:
    1. Do you see the new dimensions of prayer
    2. Has it broadened your concept of the prayer life
    3. If so, prayer will become a joy to you and no one can measure the effect of such fellowship


Design © John Bryant 2011