In the beginning, man walked with God, and God walked with man. There was no separation. Union and harmony existed between the two, though they were distinct. Sin came and changed all that, but that is what getting back to union is all about.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Genesis 4:26
So, in the beginning, prayer not, as we understand today, part of the package. Man began to call upon the Lord after the time of Adam, after the fall, and after the time of Abel’s more righteous sacrifice.
Imagine for a moment, a man’s courtship and subsequent marriage of his wife. When he began courtship, he had very little relationship with her. To get a date began as a big ordeal, perhaps. One would have to call her up, arrange times, schedule activities. But, you see, after a few years of marriage, while hopefully the excitement of those first times is still there, there is more between the two. No longer must the man ask about everything, but they begin to think together, function together, and act alike (like it or not!). While much comes into the routine of daily life, to have a conversation with his wife, a man does not need to go through the formalities of a pre-planned phone call, set up a time, and follow through, but rather, he simply calls her by name and has a talk.
This is how we are to come to know the Lord. Once we come to know Him, come into His fellowship, and learn to abide in His presence, Spirit, and love, we are married to the Lord, if you will. We no longer have to have the separation, the distance, or the lack of fellowship. When we need to speak to Him, we call His name. When we desire closer fellowship, He says to draw near to Him and He will draw near to us.
Now, let us take this back a moment. Does this mean we never pray? Of course not. Jesus, who was in perfect communion with the Father at all times withdrew regularly to pray. The psalms and proverbs are continual examples of a life of prayer and devotion. So, what does this mean?
Perhaps what it means primarily is this. How we pray to God may be different than what we’re used to.
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 11:41-42
Jesus’ words after praying to the Father before commanding Lazarus to come forth out of the tomb might sound like a different kind of prayer than to most. In fact, it does not say that He was praying, but merely that He spoke to the Father after raising His eyes. “I Thank You that You have heard Me”, were His words. He spoke with authority and knew with absolute certainty that His prayers had been heard on high. There was not doubt, there was not wavering. There was faith.
Communion with God begins with God and ends with God. There is no separation, if it is really prayed from the heart of God. This is the principle creation of man, to be under authority, with a delegated authority. While every impulse of the fleshly man may be inherently against this kind of thinking, of a Truth, when it is of the Spirit, there is no greater fulfillment, for it is our original intent.
So, what then is prayer? It is talking to God. It is communing with a God that is with us. It is laboring at times, and wrestling according to Paul, and, to Jesus, it produced such a physical strain that He sweat as it were great drops of blood. But, at the center of it all, it is staying in the heart and center of the Father, in the will of God.
Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of MethuSelah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of MethuSelah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Genesis 5:21-24
A man lived the same number of years as there are days in a year. His first 65 were not indicated what type of life he lived, but for the remained of those years, for three hundred years, this man walked with God.
What is prayer? Yes, we make our requests and petitions known to God, and yes, we pray without ceasing as Paul exhorted us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, but if our prayer does not become a continual, habitual leaning on and breathing in, and living with God, we have only begun! This man lived this way for three hundred years, at which point, God chose to let him never see death, but took him!
Imagine Jesus’ prayer in John 17. Jesus prayed that we might be one, even as He and His Father were one (John 17:11). This is talking about the restoration of the continual fellowship and tabernacleing of the divine with man, even on a scale that Adam had not had. For, the disciples walked with God. Adam had that in the Garden. But, Jesus said it was better if He went away, that the Holy Spirit might come and be with them always, to be in them, and not just nearby.
This continual fellowship is the udending river that Jesus spoke of to the woman at the well in John 4:14. This is the communion that the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary of when he said His name would be Emmanuel. This was what the prophet Hosea said when he spoke of the coming New Covenant when we would no longer call Him Baali (meaning, Lord or Master), but we could call Him Ishi, “Husband” (Hosea 2:16).
Even with a marriage relationship, things must constantly be worked on. A fire untended eventually dies, and all too many marriages have lost that initial spark of flame and inspiration, the creativity, from which it was born. For those who know that all too well, God is the resurrection and the Life. For those who have not yet lost it, don’t! But, with the Lord, though Christ is our only Eternal, perfect sacrifice, every day, and at designated, speical Kairos times in our walk, we may be called to make great strides in our relationship. And, everything lost or given up for the cross of Christ is sure to be repaid. But, the daily, intimate walk with the Lord becomes one of a lovingly submissive bride. While we must continue, like Jesus, to spend much quality time with the Lord, we are also at the same time, in increasing levels of truth, coming into unity with Him, walking in Him, and growing closer to Him.
He is always God, and He is always King. There is no other, and there is no equal. He alone rules the heavens, and He is Lord on High. Yet, He walks with us in the cool of the day, and the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (Isaiah 53:5). What does prayer look like, when you know that He hears your every request? To Jesus, that meant hours in the morning alone with Him. Think about it….