Trusted Friends

This morning I had a dream about some religious community focused on prayer,  where I happened to be working.  I think it was some sort of cloistered monastery or convent.  Somehow their phones and all outward communication went down for a whole weekend, and no one realized.  However, in talking to the members, it was clear that the Lord had been bringing people to mind specific people and inviting them to pray for issues that would normally have come in via the phones and email.  They hadn't missed a beat, and everything seemed normal, inspite of their communication failure.  I expressed a bit of surprise at that, and one of the lead women responded saying, "Why do you find it surprising that our sweet Lord shares the concerns of His heart with us, those who so ardently love Him?"

What a great definition of intercession!  When we go throughout the day and have individuals or issues pop into our minds, could it be that the Lord is sharing His heart concerns with us?  I am often amazed at how regularly I will think about someone I haven't seen in quite a while, and I will hear from them or hear about them, without my reaching out, or inquiring.  I know I am not the most spiritually aware person, but I definitely believe these are not coincidences

It is not that He needs our prayers, or our belief to act, like some sort of "tinkerbell", but rather He invites us as His friends, into that intimate knowledge of His heart and mind.  Jesus speaks of His apostles being His friends in the following passages - John 15:11-17 NIV:

[11] "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. [12] My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command. [15] I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit---fruit that will last---and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. [17] This is my command: Love each other."

I believe that He is indeed sharing with us His "business".  He is sharing with us what He sees and knows, what the Father is revealing.  Oh that we would be sensitive enough to hear His voice, to hear His direction, to hear His invitations, that we might bear fruit, fruit that will last!

Sometimes when I read verses like verse 14 and the language used there seems a bit harsh, or even devoid of relationship, for I think commands are impersonal and "obeying" a command somehow demeans my role.  The original Greek word used here is entéllomai, and it is defined as: to command, emphasizing the end-objective, i.e. reaching the purpose (consummation, end result) of an order – i.e. as envisioning how or where it ends up.

As I reflect on this, I am reminded of doing things as a group of friends, and one of those friends having the "master plan" and we all had a part to play to bring that plan to fruition.  We would gather around them as they revealed their plan, and we took no offence when we were given a specific task, for we were part of the team, one of the trusted friends!  This is how I read these verses today!  He is inviting the Apostles (and us) into that place of being a trusted friend!

Going back to those verses from John, it is important to look at Jesus' actual command, we are commanded to love one another as He loves us!  We are called to lay down our lives for our friends!  This is not "every man for himself" but rather every man for each other, or as the Musketeers would say, "all for one and one for all!  Our lives should be lived in such a way that our lives become interconnected with others, and our love for one another becomes evident.  This can be challenging for us, for we prefer our independence and freedom, and sometimes think that living this way would be inconvenient and limiting.  The reality is that we will be challenged in preferring one another, and laying down our lives, our time, our money, our attention, our care, but we will bear fruit in doing so! 

The reality is that we are all part of the Body of Christ, and we need to start learning to live in that reality!

Oh Lord, help us!  Oh Lord, help us to hear Your invitation into the intimate ways of Your heart!  Help us to respond as true and trusted friends!

Amen!