Message #1 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"Spiritual Intimacy"

by Kaye Johns

The apostle John tells us what living the abiding relationship with the Lord is like in his letter of 1 John.

More than any other disciple, John experienced an abiding relationship with Jesus that was grounded in love and fellowship. Fellowship is an old fashioned word that we rarely hear outside church circles today. But the Greek word for fellowship-- koinonia--means more than a casual acquaintance. It’s spiritual intimacy, synonymous with the personal love relationship the Lord wants with each of us, and that He wants us to have with others.

Jesus described koinonia with His analogy of the vine and branch, and the apostle John tells us what it’s like to live that way in 1 John. He begins: "Christ was alive when the world began, yet I myself have seen him with my own eyes and listened to him speak. I have touched him with my own hands. ...we are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may share the fellowship and the joys we have with the Father and with Jesus Christ his Son." [1 John 1:1-3, TLB]

John said "the fellowship we have"--not, "had." He was experiencing that koinonia fellowship long after Christ ascended to heaven, just as we can today. It begins with, it continues through and depends upon, our prayer lives.

Pray with me now--Precious Savior, through prayer we know You. Forgive us when we distance ourselves from You and from the relationship You died to make possible, for we ask in Your name. Amen.

ã 1999 PrayerPower Ministries, P.O. Box 1368, Dallas, TX 75380-1368, 1-800-949-PRAY.
May be copied for personal or church use; please include PrayerPower name, address and phone on copies.