Prayer Intimacy

Why don't some Christians turn right away to God when their burdens grow overwhelming? One would think that God would be their first avenue for relief, but often He isn't. Perhaps He hasn't answered prayers in the past the way they wished. Perhaps it is because they don't feel His presence, and they are afraid to try again. Perhaps that time of prayer, which had once been like a close friend, now seems so old and distant. Whatever the reason, they feel alone and separated by a wall that has grown in its immensity.

God is still there, and however large the wall, it can come down. One chink in that forbidding structure, and it can tumble into pieces. One prayer from a heart-worn cry of the spirit, and the barrier is gone. We might not know what to pray, but the cry of the spirit does. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26). It is in surrender of myself to God.... it is in the surrender of my spirit to His spirit, when no words can express the pain in my heart, that I finally release my pain to God. In that spirit-to-spirit closeness, there comes a peace that passes earthly understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). I am protected, and loved completely. I am safe in His presence.

If it has been awhile since you have prayed from the heart, He is still there. If it has been awhile since you felt His presence in prayer, He is still there. If it has been awhile since your heart has known one-on-one, spirit-to-spirit release, He is still there. Prayer is like an old friend who has never tired of the delay, but has waited patiently for you to discover the joy of release in that friendship once more. That precious friendship returns when you once again open the pain in your heart to the Holy Spirit. In that moment of intimate release, you know Him as He has always known you.... completely and as one.