Does God want a personal relationship with us? Is prayer a one-sided conversation? These are two question that we are going to attempt to answer over the course of the next post. Again, if you are new to what I am doing, I ran across and article that you can get to it from my previous post and was really intrigued by some of the questions that it brought up. So, the previous three posts that I have written, have attempted to answer those questions. In this final post on the subject, I will attempt to answer the two questions presented above. May God guide our steps as we continue.
In the post that began my writing, the author asserts, “I have yet to run across a verse in the Bible that makes me believe that God wants a personal relationship with us. Mostly when it comes to salvation, I read about it as a group of people who believes in God. Where in the Bible does it say that God wants an intimate, personal relationship with each and every one of us? I can find plenty where it implies that God wants each and everyone of us to follow and believe in Him, but nothing that implies he wants a personal relationship. A lot of wishful thinking!” As I read this, my heart broke, especially when I read the line, “I have yet to run across a verse in the Bible that makes me believe that God wants a personal relationship with us.”
My first question would have to be, “Have you read the Bible?” I mean, the very fact that there is a Bible inspired by the God of the universe implies that He is a relational Being. If He were impersonal, why inspired a book? Yet, glory be to God, that His Scriptures are not the only way that He has demonstrated His desire for a relationship. In reading His word we understand that humanity was helpless, lost in the sin that it chose. But God sent His only Son, the Living Word, Christ Jesus, who revealed the Father to us (John 14:6-11) and saved us by His death and resurrection. You might say that these verses apply only to salvation, but my question would be, “Why would God save us if He wanted nothing to do with us?” You might reply because it was good and right to do so, but such an idea is completely un-Biblical. Romans 5:6-11 makes very clear that the only motivation for God saving us, was His infinite love; and love implies relationship. Finally on this point, the fact that God’s Spirit dwells in each believer (1 Corinthians 12:7) means that we are in constant communion with God (2 Corinthians 13:14).
As far as prayer being a one-sided conversation, I don’t know where the Bible presents it as such? Scriptures makes it extremely clear that God hears the cries of His people and responds (Psalm 46:1). I would suggest reading the entire book of Psalms. If you can read that without believing that God hears our prayers and responds, you are reading with a heart that will never believe until broken. We are told to pray ‘without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17) not because God wants us to look like babbling fools, but because there is power in prayer (James 5:16) and in prayer we are not alone; the Spirit is interceding for us (Romans 8:26-27).
The questions that were put before us were wonderful questions that I believe to have been genuinely asked. Regardless, I pray that the answers that I have set before you have helped in some way. God most certainly wants a relationship with each of us. The problem lies in the fact that without the work of the Spirit, humans by themselves do not want the same relationship. If you are truly seeking, begin praying continually and seeking God through the reading of the Bible. If you are truly seeking, the Spirit is already at work in your life and God will reveal Himself to you through the means He deems best. God loves you. You need look no further than the cross to see that. I pray that your eyes would be opened to the wondrous God that we serve and have fellowship with daily.
