Father, Friend, and Judge by Robert Henderson

Author:Robert Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780768443172
Publisher: Destiny Image, Inc.

CHAPTER 6

APPROACHING GOD AS FRIEND

REMEMBER THAT JESUS PLACED PRAYER IN THREE dimensions. We have talked about approaching God as Father and the secret place it opens to us. In this chapter we will look at approaching God as Friend. As Jesus taught on prayer in response to the disciples’ request to teach them to pray, He brought this realm into sight in Luke 11:5-8.

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.”

This story that Jesus told in response to the disciples’ desire to learn to pray is loaded with ideas, concepts, and understanding. First of all, Jesus is revealing that God wants to be our friend. What a novel and overwhelming thought. Most of us would be comfortable with the idea that God is our Father. However, the familiarity of God being our friend would not be a common thought. Yet this clearly is a desire that the Lord has toward us. Jesus would later in John 15:15 actually tell the disciples He considered them His friends.

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

As a result of their friendship, Jesus promises to tell them secrets from the Father. We will look at this in more detail in a moment. There are others in Scripture who were considered the friends of God. I would say the primary one was Abraham. In three distinct places in Scripture Abraham is called the friend of God. Second Chronicles 20:7 list Abraham as God’s friend. It connects Abraham in this capacity causing God to give his descendants a land and an inheritance.

Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?

We see that whoever is considered the friend of God, their descendants are blessed after them. One of the best things we can do for our lineage is to be considered a friend of God. It appears that God rises to protect, defend, and even war on behalf of those and their descendants who are His friends. Isaiah 41:8-10 gives further insight to what it meant for Abraham to be the friend of God.

But you, Israel, are My servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

The descendants of Abraham My friend.

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