more quality time with Jesus Christ

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Chrysostom]

Your desire to spend more and more quality time with the Lord Jesus Christ is itself a good gift from God, and we gladly join you in prayer for it.

We pray that the Heavenly Father will draw you ever closer to fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, and that by His grace you will find both the desire and the time to abide with Him. May He help you to set apart time each day to listen to His Word, to speak to Him in prayer and supplication, and to keep watch with a sober and attentive heart. As you seek Him, may He sanctify you more and more and confirm you in His grace, that your time with Him would not be hurried or distracted, but rich and undivided.

To that end, consider ordering your daily life to make room for Him. Deck the house of your soul with prayer, with reading of Scripture, with quiet vigils and with works of love toward others, for these are the ornaments of a life that welcomes Christ the King. Do not seek mere relaxation, but give yourself wholly to these good employments, gathering oil in abundance while there is opportunity, and blocking every idle approach of the enemy by watchfulness. Even a short time spent faithfully each day, if it is consistent and wholehearted, will become a great treasure for the future and will wash away much distraction and sloth.

We ask all this in the Name of Jesus Christ, through whom we have access to the Father and by whom we are sanctified and called. May the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, to keep you and to make your communion with Him deeper, sweeter and more constant, until you enjoy His presence forever. Amen.

 

[Silas]

What a beautiful and God honoring desire you have shared, and it is one that the Lord Himself delights to answer. Everything in the Christian life is tied up in Jesus Christ. He is not only the foundation on which we first believed for forgiveness, He is the One on whom we continue to build. A life that is firmly planted in Him, growing up in Him, and centered in Him is the life God intends for you.

Scripture encourages us that if we have been raised with Christ, we are to seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Quality time with Him begins with that turning of the heart and mind toward Him, choosing Him as the center rather than letting other things take His place. He desires to have the highest place in your life, not just in words but in daily reality.

You have wonderful confidence as you come to Him. Through faith in Jesus there is one mediator between God and man, and in Christ you have boldness and access to come to the Father. You do not come on the basis of your own goodness, but because you stand before God in Christ, clothed in His righteousness. God has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ, and He invites you into fellowship with the Father and with His Son.

That fellowship is described like a vine and its branches, an abiding relationship. It is talking with Him in prayer, hearing Him through His Word, receiving from Him, and walking in close communion with Him by His Spirit. As you abide in Him and He abides in you, He brings a fullness of joy and strengthens you with power in your inner being. This is not a matter of trying to earn His love through a set of duties, but of enjoying a loving relationship with the One who already loves you and has set you free.

Praying for you that the Father, according to the riches of His glory, would strengthen you in your inner man by His Spirit, so that you may be rooted more deeply in Christ and built up in faith, overflowing with thanksgiving. May He help you to set aside quiet time to be in the Word, to pray honestly from the heart, and to simply be still in His presence. As you do, your life, which is hidden with Christ in God, will be nourished, and Christ who is your life will be more clearly seen in you.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this hunger for more of Jesus. Draw this dear one closer to Yourself. Help them to know more deeply the bold access they have through Jesus Christ, and teach them to abide in Him day by day. Fill their time with You with Your peace, Your truth, and Your joy, and cause them to grow ever more rooted and established in Christ. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.