We are extended the incredible invitation to have a divine partnership with God. Partnership is a focused and committed relationship where we are in it together. What sets this partnership apart from other relationships is this all-in commitment, not only to each other, but also to a common goal or purpose. I personally refer to this wonderful all-in circle of divine partnership as our DIVINE US. I love losing myself in this “divine us.” It is ironical that it is in losing myself in “Us,” I actually find my true self. Galatians 2:10 says “In Him you have been made complete.”
We were created to be in partnership with Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “You were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ.” The word translated “fellowship” is koinonia means “communion, community or intimacy, a sharing of life together.” “Us” is also what I love most about my all-in partnership with my husband Kim. I love us! I found this magnet board that hangs in my kitchen with just those words cut out. It is a constant reminder of what I have in Christ and in my marriage. It is also a continual reminder to function daily in committed partnership.
There is a crazy wonderful dynamics in this circle of divine partnership with God. God pours ALL He is, has and does into “us,” then out of THAT we draw the “all” we pour into our partnership with Him. In 1 Chronicles 28, 29 David had been in overdrive preparing for the temple that God promised him his son would build. He drew up all the plans that according to 28:19, David said, “All this the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me all the details of this pattern.” It all came from God. He had been saving for years towards this project, then the people wanted to get involved resulting in a mind-blowing abundance. David’s recognized that too all came from God. “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.” (1 Chr. 29:14)
It ALL comes from the Lord. Not just the plan and the resources, but the strength to do it. Philippians 4:13 is a very familiar verse. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This verse is even more powerful in the Greek, which word for word reads: “All doing is by the empowering of me by Christ.” He makes “US” possible – He makes “US” functional. He needs to be at the center of this partnership. “This is the assigned moment for Him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sideline.” (John 3:30 MSG)
The number one way we partner with God is through prayer.
I don’t understand prayer, but I believe in it. Faith opens the faucet that allows the power of God to flow. Things happen when we pray, and don’t when we don’t! When we partner with each other in prayer to accomplish His will for His glory and the outpouring of His grace, He promises to answer as He partners with us. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. (Matthew 18:19,20) This is not about ganging up on God, but agreeing that it the right request to ask – in line with His nature and will. This is the confidence, which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.(1 John 5:14,15)
There are times, situations and seasons in our lives when praying is all we can do – ALL we are called to do. Prayer is not just our partnering with Him. It is the Lord partnering with us. In Romans 8:26,27NIV, we are told that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” And in verse 34b, we are told that, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” When we pray we join the divine partnership of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we partner with the Triune God, He fills our prayers with His presence, His insights and His word.
There is another aspect of partnership that comes into reality when we pray. When we pray for others – intercessory prayer – we not only personally partner with God, we are partnering with those we are praying for, and partnering them up with God. We create this divine triangle within this divine circle of partnership.
When you pray for others, when you circle them with prayer, you are circling them with your faith – who you believe God to be and entrusting them into His trustworthiness. When you pray, you are drawing them into your divine circle of partnership with your God.
James 4:2 makes a harsh statement (the Book of James is notorious for stomping on our toes): “You do not have because you do not ask.”In other words, we are not praying. God works in partnership and we aren’t partnering. Why don’t we ask – why aren’t we praying?
There are two answers and neither one is pretty:
1) We really do not believe it makes a difference.
We will not pray if we do not believe our personal prayer has purpose and power. Actually, James 5:16b NIVtells us, “The prayers of a righteous man is powerful and effective (literally energized or empowered).” “Righteous” doesn’t refer to perfection, but being in an actively functioning right relationship with God – partnering – unhindered by selfishness, and wanting God’s will, purpose, pleasure and glory.
Jesus invites us to ask. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:14) If you can honestly hand it to Him to sign His name to it, ask. That is the wonderful power and privilege of partnering with Him. You know what He wants. You know what pleases Him. You know His heart and mind. You ask accordingly. There are no impositions within a partnership. Since both are all in for and with each other, ask.
2) We don’t care.
Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.(Jn. 15:12) He upped the ante of the previous Old Testament commandment, which was to love others as we love ourselves. We are to love others as He loves us. The word translated “love” is agape, which means to genuinely care about someone and prioritize what is best for them. We are never told to feel something. We are told to care. We are to care for and about others just as Christ cares for and about us. Care = prayer. When you really care, you will pray.
There is an innate “side-effect” of caring: a feeling of uneasiness, deep concern, even worrying or nervousness about someone or something. These are the definition of “anxiousness.” What do you usually do when you are anxious about something or deeply concerned about someone? What should you do? 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” He not only cares about you, He cares about them. We need to let that sense of “anxiousness,” that deep concern, caring, be prayer prompters. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6) The part “be made known” is the word gnorizo, which literally means to lay out before. It was a common in ancient times to take the legal charges, the bill, the threat, the need and spread it out before the authority when seeking intervention or mercy. One of my favorite examples of this is in 2 Kings 19 when Hezekiah received this threatening letter from Assyria. “Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed before the LORD …”(2 Kings. 19:14,15) Praying isn’t letting God know; it is letting God have it = an act of entrustment.
Praying for one another is our responsibility. James 5:16 tells us to “confess your sins to each other”– be open and honest about our struggles and shortcomings - “and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” This isn’t just physical healing, but restored wholeness.
I don’t know how familiar you are with the man named Samuel for whom 1 and 2 Samuel was named. His story began with his mom, Hannah, praying for a son, then dedicating him to serve God the rest of his life. He became the last Judge in Israel before they demanded a king like the other nations. (We will be talking about him more in the next few lessons on partnering.) Samuel took very seriously his partnership with God and the role of prayer. 1 Samuel 12:23a sums up Samuel’s attitude toward prayer: “Moreover, as for me, far be it that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” Are we sinning when we become aware of a need and neglect interceding for them? James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Ouch!
Prayer is a privilege. It is actively, faithfully, partnering with God, and drawing others into that incredible blessing. Let’s draw a circle around one another – literally if necessary – and pray: partnering with God, with them and them with God.
