Encouraged

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. Rom. 1.11-12

Friendship and fellowship are vital ingredients for a Christian life. In meeting together with friends we are enabled both to give and to receive encouragement.There are times when we all need this. And we receive it in Christian friendship and fellowship.

There is an old saying: No man is an island unto himself. This is so true. Certainly there are times for aloneness and solitude, but God made humans to live in harmony and relationship – with Himself and with each other.

I thank God for the friendships He has openend up for me. They are many, and so varied. And in these friendships I see so clearly the give and take of Christian living, the interchange of faith through which we edify and mutually encourage each other. There are times when I need to receive. There are times when I am able to give. I thank God that He is the divine coordinator of both.

Lord God, Holy Father,

I thank You for relationship. I thank You first for the relationship I have with You. I ask You to draw me even closer and take me deeper. I thank You for the many friends You have blessed me with. I appreciate each and every one of them. Strengthen these friendships, please, and bring more as it pleases You.

May we continue to uphold and mutually encourage each other in Holy Spirit power, in the love of the Father and in the name of Jesus.

I thank You for those times when You allow me to meet with my friends face-to-face. I thank You for the times when our meetings are by telephone or electronic means. In each and every meeting, You are there. My prayer is for this to continue. Lead me always, Holy Father, in Jesus name I ask.                                                                                                                Amen.