6. New Testament Walkers and Talkers

1.. The Letters - Galatians - Jude

In the letter to the Galatians, we read, "Because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" (Galatians 4: 6). Perhaps the phrase "conversational prayer" is even too formal. God wants us to chat with him like a child to his or her father. This is the basis for Paul's teaching about living by the Spirit found in chapter 5 of the letter.

Listening

My son, remember it is my teaching. Paul was communicating this on my behalf. In the same way, I want my people today, including you, to spread this message.

Praying

Thank you for this word today, Lord. This is a holy task, and I thank you for asking all of us to be part of it.

Thinking

In his letter to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul wrote, "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him (Ephesians 1: 17). There is a similar greeting in Colossians 1: 9-10. For me, I have come to realise that the spirit of wisdom and understanding relates in part to discernment and awareness about when a thought is from God rather than self. It follows that the spirit of wisdom and revelation is a key faculty contributing to conversation with God. In the same letter, Paul wrote, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4: 30). This refers to getting rid of bitterness, rage anger etc (V.31.), but it must also grieve the Spirit when we turn a deaf ear to his voice.

We need to confess to our Lord the many times that we must have grieved him by not listening to the voice of his Spirit speaking within. There have been many times when he had to shout. We need to hear the whispers.

There are several places in the Bible where God promised to answer people who call on him (Psalm 91:15, Isaiah 49: 8, Jeremiah 33: 3, and Zechariah 13: 9). Calling on God and hearing his response is a key part of conversational prayer.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, " ...in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4: 6). It may be reading too much into this specific text, but it is curious that Paul appears to distinguish between prayer and petition. In the same way we need to distinguish between formal corporate prayer, and intimate conversational prayer, but both must come with worship and thanksgiving.

Paul also wrote about the need to test things. "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5: 19-22). This is an acceptance of our humanity. One day, it won't be necessary to have to test everything because we will know for certain, but today we need to be careful. We must listen to the Lord's voice, but also be careful to distinguish it from other voices. John also wrote about testing in 1 John 4: 1-3.

The writer to the Hebrews began by acknowledging how God spoke through the prophets and then "in these last days, he has spoken to us by a Son" (Hebrews 1: 2). We often read on past this text very quickly, but shouldn't. The fact that God has spoken to us through his Son, or as the Son, has to be the greatest revelation of all time. May we never forget the awesome love, truth and purpose that are encompassed in these words.

Later in the letter we are reminded that Jesus came to make men holy. "For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters" (Hebrews 2: 11). Families talk to each other. The letter goes on to warn - "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts... etc'" (Hebrews 3: 7-8, 3: 15, and 4: 7). Hearing the word of God is a natural and expected thing that happens when we are part of his family. Further, "Indeed, the word of God is living and active.... it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4: 12).

The Letter to the Hebrews continues by describing the credentials of Jesus and then quotes from Jeremiah the nature of the new covenant that was to be set in place. Some of the key words are - "I will put my law in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest" (Hebrews 8: 10-11 and 10: 16). This covenant describes a way of life in which every person, not just the leaders, can have a conversational walk with God.

In Peter's second letter, we read his version about the way he heard the voice of God when Jesus was transfigured (2 Peter 1:16-18). He wrote a little about the role of the Spirit in prophecy. ".men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1: 21). He then went on to warn about false prophets. Peter didn't seem to need to expand on these matters. To him, they were reality with no need for discussion. We must pray today that we too will all come to accept these things without doubt.

Jude reminded us about Enoch who walked and talked with God. He then cited a prophecy from apocryphal writings attributed to Enoch (Jude 14). His more important teaching comes in V.20. "Build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit." Do you notice how all the New Testament books are saying the same thing? Conversational prayer with God is triggered, enabled and encouraged by the Spirit and is a contributor to the growth of faith.

Listening

More than a contributor my son. Conversational prayer, as it is triggered, enabled and encouraged by my Spirit, is key and is essential to growth into me. Remember that I want to walk and talk with you, to reestablish with each of you the fellowship I once had with Adam, and then lead you on in conversation with me - into Eternity.

Praying

I bless you Lord, and pause again to worship you, to thank you, and to love you.

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Thank you, Lord, for leading me through these many verses. In hindsight, they hold together as one word of encouragement to listen to you and speak with you. I pray that each of my readers will grow in awareness of this and work it out in their own lives - growing deeper into you.

Copyright Howard Smith 2002. All Rights reserved.

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