Seeking God’s face in prayer (2)

“The Lord make his face shine upon you.”

Nu 6:25 NIV

When you study the life of Christ you realize that for Him prayer wasn’t an energy drainer, but an energy giver. And it can be the same for you when you come to see God’s face shining upon you as you talk with Him in prayer. When you’re with a critic who wants to argue, you lose energy. But when you meet with your best friend, you gain energy, and Jesus said, “I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). Have you ever noticed how people in love sometimes speak to each other in baby talk? It’s immensely intimate and private—and it’s off-putting to a third party. But we do it because it is the tenderest language we know. Jesus’ prayer life demonstrated this intimacy. He called God “Abba,” an Aramaic word much like “da da” or “mama.” (Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and some portions of the New Testament are written in Aramaic rather than Greek.) “Abba” was a Jewish child’s first word, because it was so easy to say. Somehow when Jesus was with God, the tender love that an adult offers to a child to give him strength is what He received from His Father. And you can have that same experience. It’s why Paul wrote: “You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are His children, we are his heirs” (Ro 8:15-17 NLT). Your highest goal in prayer should be intimacy with God.

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