“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting yourself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and LISTENING to His voice in the depths of your hearts. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.” –Mother Teresa
- Being ALONE – can allow us to enter into peaceful solitude and find salvation and rest
- LONELINESS – carries with it a vague sense of not mattering or not belonging
- LONELINESS – is melancholic and nostalgic – a longing for “home” and the peace that comes from solitude.
“Home is the place where when you get there, they have to let you in.”
–Robert Frost
- “Home” – not as much as being a building but a web of relationships.
- We’re at HOME when we are with people who know us and still care for us regardless of our behavior
- Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to ME…”
- A FRIEND – is someone you know, like, and trust; one who will stand with you in a struggle.
- All of Jesus’ early disciples either knew each other or were related to one another. They weren’t randomly picked.
- Point: He knew them BEFORE He called them – warts and all!
- Jesus’ chosen friends:
- Peter– proud, tempestuous, impetuous, denied the Lord
Luke 22:50-51 – Cuts a guy’s ear off
Galatians 2:11 – “A man-pleaser.”
Matthew 17:4 – Rude and spoke out of turn- Thomas – John 20:19-25 – Unbelief
- John – The “Apostle of Love” – wanted to incinerate people -Spirit of MURDER
- James and John – “Sons of Thunder” – All Noise – No Power!
- Mark 9:38 – “Hey, you’re not from MY CHURCH-put that demon back in that guy.”
- Women with them; Luke 8:1-3 – “…healed of evil spirits….”
- Mark 3:13-15 – “And He called unto Himself those He WANTED.”
- Ephesians 3:17-18 – That we might “KNOW the love of Christ….”