When Good Friends Come To Visit – Pt. 5 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. What do you do when good friends come to visit?

Each morning this week, we’ve been talking about this topic. It’s such a practical topic and the Bible has things to say about it.

When good friends come to visit, friends who love God and you haven’t seen them for a while, how should you spend that time? First of all, celebrate. God just loves celebration. Sometimes we think, oh, that’s not spiritual, that’s not whatever. That’s so wrong. God loves to celebrate, and He wants us to celebrate when we have a chance to see good friends again. Secondly, share with one another the spiritual lessons you’ve been learning.

As you talk about what’s been happening in your lives, just inject the question – What do you think God’s been teaching you through that? It’s going to make your time together and your conversations so much more meaningful. Third, don’t try to put on a front like everything’s great. You’re doing fine. No, this is the person you should be sharing your pain and struggles with. You want to be there for one another. They want to know what’s going on, what you’re struggling with, so that they can support you in that.

And then yesterday we saw that when you get together with good friends you haven’t seen for a while, that’s the opportunity to clear up anything that is obstructing your good relationship with each other.

Sometimes a little thing can come up in a relationship, but you know it’s sitting there in the background and it’s damaging your relationship. Bring it up, even if it seems insignificant, just get it out in the open, ask for forgiveness, and make your relationship the best it can be once again. And today we look at the final lesson, and that is this – pray together for one another.

When the apostle Paul had spent several years in Ephesus building deep relationships with people he led to faith in Christ, and who ended up being leaders in the church.

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He was later on his way back through the area, and he called them to come see him. Acts chapter 20 tells us how he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him, and he just starts talking about this deeply meaningful time that he had with them over the three years.

In Verse 31, he comments, therefore, be alert, remembering that for 3 years I did not cease night or day to admonish you with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Verse 36 says, and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. There was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken that they would not see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship, while Paul heads out from Ephesus, and he stops in the city of Tyre, and it says, having sought out the disciples, that’s the Christians who he had known from his time there, we stayed there for 7 days. Here’s another reunion with meaningful friends.

When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all with wives and children accompanied us until we were outside the city, and kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home. Well, this is one of the most significant things we can do when we’re finishing our time with good friends who have come to visit.

Pray together. You’ve been talking. You’ve been having these meaningful conversations. You’ve been sharing what God has been teaching you through those things. You’ve been sharing your pain and struggles, crying together, supporting one another. Now sending off prayer is so important. Stop and take that time, you see. They knelt down on the beach and prayed. There were tears. They said farewell to one another.

And when you’re saying your farewell prayers, you’re just saying to God, God, my friend has shared with me this and this, and you start naming the things, and I want to lift them up to you as they go back into this situation they’ve shared with me about, and you’re talking very specifically about the big things you’ve talked about. They’re struggling with this, and I want to pray this for them.

And then they’re gonna pray for you. These things are like a seal on your friendship as you part again that keeps it strong and helps you go out of that encounter, loving each other and loving God.

I’m John North.

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