Become An Active Learner
How To Mature in Christ
1st Stage Spiritual Infancy – Babes
LESSON 5: FELLOWSHIP: The Relationships in Spiritual Growth
INTRODUCTION
It is very important to give careful attention to the means whereby we grow in Christ considered in Lesson 3 as well as the conditions necessary for growth in Christ in Lesson 4.
It is also necessary and important to understand the relationships in Spiritual growth. The term scripture uses to designate these relationships is “Fellowship”.
God has provided Fellowship to give us Balance and Stability.
III. FELLOWSHIP: The Relationships
NKJV: 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Fellowship is joint participation: two or more sharing a common interest and relationship.
Biblical fellowship is sharing in common with others. It is enjoying a relationship with God and His children, in which you can grow to understand God’s mind and His will: his plan and His purpose for you, for the church, and for the world.
God desires to have a relationship with us. When a person embraces the Lord Jesus Christ through repentance and faith, he or she is born again by the Spirit and called into fellowship with God.
NKJV: 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
NKJV: 1 John 1:6-7, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
FLOURSHNG:
Fellowship with God through His Son is holding communication with Him by walking with Him in obedience, listening to Him commune with you through His Word, and your communing with Him through prayer.
1. PRAYER:
Prayer is vital to fellowship with God. God wans His children to talk to Him, to praise and thank Him, and to worship Him. Learning to Pray is the first step.
NKJV: Luke 11:1, “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
When we pray, let us be careful how we come to Him both in our mind and our spirit. Let us respect Him for he is our God, our creator and Master of all things.
(i) The Way to Come: is clearly indicated in Scripture. God’s Word indicates what He expects the way in which He wants His children to come to Him; in an attitude of reverence, and in restraint in the use of excessive and repetitive words. We are urged to come in Retreat, Reverence, and Restraint.
(A) In Retreat: The Lord Jesus Christ set the example and gave instructions on the need for Retreat when we pray.
NKJV: Matthew 14:13, “When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself…”
NKJV: Mark 1:35, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”
By following His example, we will seclude ourselves when we pray. We need to retreat from the hustle, bustle, and hubbub of life and get alone with God when we pray.
NKJV: Matthew 6:6-7, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
You would observe the rules of the court, come properly attired and with polite respect. Why should we give less respect and reverence to the King of Kings and the highest court in the universe?
God’s unalterable principle is, as written in NKJV: 1 Samuel 2:30, “…for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.”
In the midst of increasing irreverence and disregard for the holiness of God today, it is incumbent upon true believers in Christ to give God the respect and reverence due Him by observing the ordinance of honor when we go to Him in prayer.
(C) In Restraint: we need to exercise restraint in what we say to God in prayer. God does want to hear us pray and ask Him for our requests. He does not want to hear us go on excessively nor to ask over and over again many times. But we may come again often and remind Him we are still waiting for that request.
NKJV: Matthew 6:7-8, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
(ii) The Way to Pray: How does one approach God? What should be included in prayer? Is there a form to follow? How do you go about making your requests known to God.
The lord Jesus Christ taught a form or pattern to follow for His disciples. Here is an outline for prayer.
(A) Address God: When Jesus prayed He addressed God in various ways: “Our Father”, “Holy Father”, “O holy Father”. David used various means of addressing God in the Psalms: “O Lord God of my salvation”; “O Lord”; “O Lord my God”; “O Lord our God”
You can select one or many ways in which you respectfully address your God and Father in prayer.
(B) Confession: In order to have fellowship with God and have Him hear you and answer your prayer, we must confess our sins. Look back and reflect over our lives since we last prayed; acknowledge the sin, name it, and admit we were wrong. We need only to confess and thank Him for His grace.
(C) Give Thanks: We give thanks for the forgiveness received by our confession. We give thanks for answered prayers. We give thanks for our salvation. We give thanks for his love, His death for us, His resurrection.
NKJV: Ephesians 5:20, “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
NKJV: 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
(D) Ask: God wants us to ask him for our needs. He wants our fellowship and this is His way to be sure to have it.
NKJV: Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
NKJV: Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
(i) Ask According to God’s Will: Jesus prayed,“Not My will, but Thy will be done”.
If the requests we make are not according to God’s will we have no assurance we will receive them and we must not expect to receive them.
NKJV: 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
NKJV: Luke 22:42, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
(ii) Ask in Faith Believing: Jesus taught that when you pray, you must have faith, believing that what you ask you will receive.
NKJV: Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
NKJV: Mark 11:22–24, “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
NKJV: James 1:6-7, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;”
(iii) Ask in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ has taught, that when we pray, to ask in His name, which makes the request as though Jesus Himself were asking it.
If, when we ask of God, we ask in God’s way, according to His will, in faith believing, and in Jesus” name, we can be assured that we are heard and will get an answer.
NKJV: John 14:13-4, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
NKJV: John 16:23-24, “ And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
(iv) Ask for Others First: Pray for your parents, your children, your relatives, your friends, your local church and its pastor, officers, teachers and leaders, missionaries, those in authority in government, the sick and the shut in, the unsaved, and anyone else the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.
NKJV: Ephesians 3:14-19, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
(v) Ask for Yourself Last: Pray about your specific problems, for your needs, strength, guidance, and direction. Especially pray for wisdom.
NKJV: James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
(e) Conclude Your Prayer: Remember you are speaking to your Heavenly Father. God wants you to speak to Him from your heart and not express what someone else has written.
How Often to Pray: There are two Old Testament saints, David and Daniel, who prayed three times a day. Can you follow their example?
(1) King David prayed three times a day.
NKJV: Psalms 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.”
(2) Daniel: even though the edict was signed by the king that no one should pray to any god or man but only unto the king or be cast into the den of lions, Daniel prayed three times a day. Consequently, he was thrown to the lions, but God saved him.
NKJV: Thessalonians 5:17, “pray without ceasing,”
Conclusion:
If you are going to grow in Christ and have fellowship with Him and God His Father, It is vital that you develop a prayer life that is pleasing to God.
When you pray, address god reverently and properly. Search your heart for sin you have committed and confess it. Thank God for His forgiveness and give thanks for your salvation, and for God’s love.
Then make your requests to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Make fellowship with God a priority.