“No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
KNOW THE LORD
Our sins, though many, have been forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus. We can now approach the God of heaven and earth, speak to him, worship him and have a relationship with him.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace” (Heb 4:16).
How wonderful for us to be able to converse with the maker of heaven and earth. Jesus taught us to pray in a way that feels normal to us. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again” (Matt 6:7).
We speak to the Lord about what’s on our hearts, he is now an intimate friend, a counsellor, someone whom we can confide in, someone who knows us inside out: “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matt 10:30).
That’s the relationship we have with the Lord, he knows us, and we know him. "Whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Cor 8:3).
“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:8), but still we ask, because asking and talking to the Lord is a part of our relationship with him. He knows what we need before we ask, so we note: the fact that “asking” is important. Speaking and communicating is important in any relationship. “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people” (1 Tim 2:1). Prayer has many aspects to it, as does our earthly relationships.
We can pour out our heart to some people, but other friendships we have we may like to discuss a certain subject, other friends may be there for us when we need help of some sort. The Lord is there for all those things and more. Our prayers are dynamic, covering all bases.
I have a friend who uses ACTS when he prays. A for “adoration”, C for “confession”, T for “thanksgiving” and S for “supplication”.
I have tried it and it works well, although a bit formulaic, but helpful if you need a pattern. When I read the words of Jesus I always get the feel that prayer is a living, energetic, powerful and productive interchange. And when we are inspired by the Holy Spirit prayer is an adventure leading to all sorts of wonderful possibilities. “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:21).
As we delve deeper into all that the Lord has for us, we get to “know the Lord” a little more each day, with all the wonderful experiences that knowing the Lord entails.
Let us not stagnate but move forward in the power of God, praising him that we “know the Lord”.