Prayer is relationship is prayer…
Relationship is prayer is relationship…

The very basic, simplest understanding of prayer…
Without motive there is no foundation to prayer and this is our lack.
Not what we pray or that we do pray if and when we do but why we pray.

What is the cause of many unanswered prayers and why?

Let us start at the beginning.
God was with His creation, He walked with them.
God had personal one on one relationship to them. They were one in God’s eyes.
The basis for that relationship was what God said to them.
God initiates everything. He sets all things in motion. Always and forever... he created us to desire to be in His purpose not to be initiators but to do what He initiates.

To follow! "Follow Me!"
He creates and begins by speaking to man.
The beginning of all communication with God is Him speaking.
He spoke all things into being.

The power of His speech in not in the volume of or style or any other listening attributes; it is in that He speaks to man to be obeyed. That is our role to humble ourselves before God to first and always to hear His voice… to obey. Our need of God begins by faith in obeying. This is what we need to know and do!

To pray in itself is to obey God is His calling of us to approach Him or it is to take the pure and perfect motive of God to meet us where we are and relinquish it to the diatribe and railings of our selfish demands making it void of relationship. God does indeed want us to speak to Him but first we must learn to listen. "My sheep know my voice!"

Relationship is that God is love and He loves man; His creation, so much, He desires to be with us and would that we desire to be with Him. His expectancy is that man being filled with His love and thankful will respond by his desire to listen when God speaks and then obey. This order is clearly seen in Jesus... who does what the father says and only what the father says.

This loving communication is prayer.

God loves us and communicates to us by speaking and man is to respond to God’s loving attention to us His created by demonstrating our love and thankfulness for Him which is in our obedience. God gives instruction to man in the garden and is expected to obey… this is the purpose of our being created. To have loving relationship to God through our reflecting His love in our acts of faithful obedience…

Relationship to God is therefore God speaks and man obeys. This is the foundation of all prayer.

Prayer is relationship is prayer: 

It is first, foremost and always God speaking to man giving opportunity to man to be in relationship by man responding not in speech but in obedience first.
Prayer begins in God speaking and then man obeying. All other concepts follow this basic foundation or no matter what you do or say, it is praying amiss.

Now let us look as this in light of Jesus to begin to see that man has not from this premise of obedience; His foundation of relationship; that we do not fully comply with yet we indulge ourselves in a self-centered form of prayer.

Prayer without cost…
Prayer without observation of obedience…
Prayer without relationship...
Prayer of the mind and mouth but not the heart…
Prayer that asks and asks but does not listen nor obey…
Prayer that is more show then content…
Prayer that asks and hopes someone is listening…

Relationship is prayer is relationship:

Let us observe prayer as stated above in light of Jesus.
God calls men… to follow Jesus.
First God calls… God speaks to man; the opportunity now is for man to begin relationship by obeying that call. This now requires faith. Faith is given man that he might respond and faith works by love; the love of God reaching out to bridge the gap.
God speaks love.

God speaks in His love for man “…so loved the world…” to come to Him now in the form of a man Jesus. Jesus is God’s way of demonstrating His love by beginning to bridge the gap of mans separation of sin.
Love makes a way… Jesus, is the heart of God exposed.

God calls and has two young men waiting for the appearance of Jesus. John the baptizer announced His coming and two were moved in their hearts to await His coming. They begin to follow Jesus by faith at His appearance, as He bids them come. The call continues and men gather to Him.
Each called, each follow… their intent is, they obey, to be with Him… it is an honor a privilege, a blessing and much, much more but above all, they respond to being asked.

Note:
They leave everything to follow.
They leave jobs, social position, political involvement, families, friends, homes, goals, everything to obey the call to simply follow. 
They do not ask where they are going nor for how long or how far nor what to take nor what money is needed nor is it safe nor anything they just lovingly obey… they follow.
The end comes in following Jesus in laying down their lives. Jesus sets the pattern, the called follow even unto death.
The call is to be like Jesus!

The very call of God is a call to obey… without question nor plan nor personal aspiration nor idea nor anything we can lend to the occasion… we are to obey simply in faith.
Any other reason leaves us in a half-truth or a lie as we follow. And it will find us and we will have opportunity to change by repenting or we will be removed… like Judas.
God provides the call we provide the willingness to obey and even this is accomplished by His provision of the loving gift of faith.

He calls we follow!

There are no alternatives or recourse. To follow means just that, to be like Jesus, following His footsteps, His every action. The call to obey is the call to follow perfect obedience.
He gives us His Spirit to lead us the Holy Spirit that led Him. We are without excuse. We not only have Angels to protect us we have the Holy Spirit of God in us to direct, encourage, guide, help, comfort and make us one with Jesus and every follower in the world… and yes there is more… we have Jesus interceding moment to moment for us.
This is the love of God… He never stops loving.

What follows in its very simplicity is the what, how and why we misunderstand prayer.

The twelve now follow and God in Jesus speaks.
Man; the twelve; has no other understanding but to follow.
“Ye of little faith” Jesus cries to them who have left everything to follow.
What then is great faith? To endure in faith until the end! Being with Jesus now is not the fulfillment of faith. Enduring unto the end with Him allows us to continue to be with Him in the resurrection.
Prayer is that source in hearing and giving us opportunity to obey.
Relationship is in our humble obedience.

So prayer is the means by which we declare unto God “We want to be with Jesus!” we join ourselves to Him as much as we pray and if we prayerfully labor (in what ever we do) for Him by obedience to what we hear then that is prayer as well. Not only in words but our deeds speak to God as a response to hearing.
Prayer is following. Praying without ceasing is that desire to be with Jesus and in our hearing Him we obey and that action is prayer.

Relationship always begins with God; in His creating us and in His calling us.
We are created to obey.
God’s purpose for man; is that he hear the voice of Jesus and obey.

How else are we to know and grow in the love of Jesus except by prayer… in our hearing and obeying? The love of God poured out in Jesus is made manifest in our prayer life. Our desire to be with Him causes us to deny our wants and see our need.
In prayer the cross is ever present before us and eternity is entered.

We choose to draw near to Him in prayer in every moment of the day and He meets us. But in this we can never be alone. To be alone disqualifies prayer as something wonderful but selfish for it is rent with false humility. Those who know the love of Jesus cannot help but desire to share it. Prayer like the call draws men together in the love of Jesus. Two or more!

Let’s step back and take a brief overview of Abraham.
He desires to follow God. He hears and is led and he obediently follows in faith. He spends most of his life following and obeying then God gives him opportunity to intercede. Life in faith is one of desiring to hear, hearing and obeying.
Abraham is announced by God to be the father of faith. God then builds his chosen people in line with this life example of obedience. Giving further opportunity as they obey… hence comes the law. The law is the outline of obedience.

In Christ Jesus we have not left it, it is not changed, not one dot, we in Jesus now obey because we are shown clearly the motive and He is that loving motive. He has by His love in dying for us makes a way back into that loving relationship. In the law you obeyed because this is what God gave a rebellious people, you had to. Now in Jesus just for our thankfulness sake we obey because we want to. Our willingness is awakened by the loving act of Jesus giving Himself in our place.

Prayer is the relationship of “Wanting to be with Jesus!”

Relationship is prayer and without prayer; we are saying just how much we do or do not want to be with Jesus!

Jesus Christ’s Community at Hebron

 www.jesuschrists.com