Friendship With Our FatherSample

Day 4: Let's Talk Face-to-Face

Anyone who wants to be friends with God has to seek out and study the lives of those who were considered His friends. One of God's friends mentioned in the Bible was Moses: “No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10 CSB).

• “The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend, then Moses would return to the camp. His assistant, the young man Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent.” (Exodus 33:11 CSB)

It is possible to speak to God without being His friend, but it is impossible to be friends with God and not talk to Him directly—without intermediaries and without riddles. God continues to speak today—through His prophets, through His Word and in many other ways—but there is nothing that transforms the life of a person more than having God speak directly to him or her. Adam had no Bible, but he did speak directly to God, and the relationship they both had was perfect. 

The garden of Eden reminds us of God's design from the beginning—we were designed to have fellowship with God and to speak directly to Him. Having a friendship with God in which you have fellowship and talk to Him directly is not impossible; on the contrary, we were designed for that purpose.

We learn from Moses that God's friends have fellowship with Him, and their communication is without mediators. Before God gave Moses the tablets of the Law (Exodus 34:27–28), Moses was with the Lord for forty days and forty nights. I do not think that writing the Ten Commandments took forty days. What I do think is that the main purpose of that meeting was to spend time together in communion; the Ten Commandments were only one of the results of that encounter.

If we are designed to have direct communication with our Father, then why can't we develop a friendship with Him? Why do we find it hard to hear His voice? The answer to this question is in the history of the people of Israel, which is partially found in Exodus 19 and 20. God had said that He wanted to meet with the people and speak directly to them as He did with Moses, but the people's response was this:

• “[They] said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’” (Exodus 20:19 NIV)

One of the main reasons why we cannot develop a friendship with our Father is because we think it is easier to rely on another person for God to speak to us through. If we want to be friends with God, we must pay the price, as Moses did, and present ourselves before Him to have fellowship face-to-face. This requires a level of daily commitment that not everyone is willing to pay. Prayer is the tool that allows us to develop communion with the Father and talk to Him.

Meditation 

Having a friendship with God requires a different level of commitment, and the price in prayer and communion with Him is different. Today is a good day for you to plan better and to be more consistent in your prayer time.

• How is your life of prayer?
• How consistent are you in your fellowship with the Father?

Prayer

Thank you, Abba, for designing me to have communion and direct communication with You. I promise to be more consistent in my relationship with You. Being Your friend is a privilege I value with all my heart.