PDL Lesson 11 Becoming Best Friends with God

PDL Lesson 11… Becoming Best Friends With God


Jeremiah 9:23-24

23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
(from New International Version)

Think about your best ‘human friend’ here on earth. That person would probably do just about anything you asked of them. They would listen to you even if it was not a convenient time. Your best friend probably knows things about you that hardly anyone else knows. You trust this person intimately. You know you can count on your best friend. Well, God wants to be best friends with us. But for that to happen we have to spend more time with him. You can not really be friends with someone whom you do not know that well.

But spending more time with God doesn’t mean spending more time alone with Him. We have to learn to include God in everything we do 24 hours a day. This is called ‘Practicing the Presence of God.’ God rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything. (Ephesians 4:6) So we just need to invite him into our activities and carry on a dialog with him all day long. That is a best friend. Someone who hangs with you all day through thick and thin.

I mowed my yard earlier today and practiced the presence of God during that time. God was with me every step of the way. I like working in the yard with God. I want my yard to look as good as I can because God has entrusted this little piece of earth into my hands and to not take good care of it would be to dishonor HIM. Working in the yard has become a spiritual, prayerful experience for me.

The PDL Chapter 11 stresses two points. One point is to spend continual time with God in conversation and prayer. The other point is to meditate on His Word. It is impossible to be God’s friend apart from knowing what he says. You can’t love God unless you know Him and you can’t know Him without reading His Word, the Bible.

So what is meditation…? It is simply focused thinking. Dr Warren tells us that If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate. You just need to switch your attention from your problems to bible verses. The more you meditate on God’s Word then the less you will have to worry about!

If there is one thing that Sam Chadwell is good at it is worrying, so if I can just apply that principle to my bible study habits then I will really begin to see my relationship with God deepen.