Prayer: Cultivating Fellowship

Prayer: Cultivating Fellowship

One of my favorite activities is a date night with my wife. The best date nights are the ones that have no ending. The date nights that we start at 8pm and act like we did before we had kids. The ones that we can take time to talk, enjoy a nice dinner, and possibly a walk after. The date nights that don’t have a time frame, they lack rush, and there is no plan. The reason these date nights are so special is because we have time to cultivate and build our relationship. We aren’t comparing calendars, crunching budgets, prepping meals, or dividing homework responsibilities. These special date nights are times for us to cultivate our connection, live in the moment, and build on our relational foundation to make it stronger.

Prayer is our primary way to cultivate fellowship with God. It is a way that we can show our love for him and receive his love for us. Prayer is a mechanism to cultivate fellowship with God. It is that special time, when there is little rush and little concern of the outside world. Prayer is a time to truly build on our relational foundation with God that we are either starting or developing. 

Another reason God wants us to pray is to deepen our fellowship with him. God truly loves and delight in our fellowship with him. When we truly pray, we are relating to God as a person, in the wholeness of his character. God delights in this activity and desires us to spend time with him.

Psalm 194:4 says, “For the Lord take pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.” God takes pleasure in His people. He takes pleasure in connecting with us. We find joy in his presence (Psalm 16:11).

So, why should we pray? To cultivate a deep fellowship with God that builds to a strong relational foundation with him.