Experiencing Jesus in Friendship and Prayer - John 4:4-43
By Laura Matthews
Prayer is an ongoing conversation and a desire for living water…
Have you ever felt this before? Have you recognized when you’re getting thirsty because you’ve neglected to enter the conversation? For me, spiritual thirst can come upon me like a sneak attack! I think I’m doing well one moment, and the next, there is an overwhelming awareness and desire for water— a need for time with Jesus.
On Sunday, Pastor Norm Allen spoke these words in relation to the story of the Samaritan women who went to draw water from the well. Upon arriving she meets Jesus, who asks her for a drink. Given the context of that time, Jesus shouldn’t have been conversing with her. She even calls him out on this and says, “How can you ask me for a drink?” But he continues the conversation, not allowing cultural expectation to get in the way. He reveals his true identity, speaks truth about the woman’s life, ends up staying in Samaria for another two days, and makes friends with many who become believers.
What a fascinating picture this history paints. What are the important stories we can tell, (or re-tell) to help shape the future? –another question Pastor Norm asks. When we look at this story and compare it to our own story, it reminds us that Jesus enters in. He gets below the surface of our personal world and really sees, desiring to be our friend. Often, my reaction is similar in tone to this woman’s, “How can you ask me to be your friend Jesus? Why do you care about me?” It is often in these defensive and defeated moments that I really become aware of my need and desire for living water—for Jesus’ spirit to come and work gently and deeply within me (Eph. 3:20 MSG).
Pastor Norm reminds us that prayer and friendship with Jesus can simply be inviting Jesus to stay with us for a time. I liked the image of having my morning coffee with Jesus—just sitting and speaking together.
The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is a story to re-tell and build into our daily rhythms for years to come, as we drink deep the living water Jesus offers us in friendship and prayer.
Listen to this sermon here!
3 Comments
Well put, Laura, amazing how Jesus simply abides with us despite our attempts at resistance.
Thanks for sharing your reflection with us, Laura. It’s encouraging to see how often Jesus went out of His way to talk with people who others looked down on. And, as you mentioned, it wasn’t just polite conversation. He always connected with people on a deeper level. The good news for us is that, when it comes to experiencing Jesus in friendship and prayer, the door is always open.
Laura, thank you for sharing this summary overview of Pastor Norm Allen’s sermon. Jesus obviously anticipates and accommodates our human resistance as shown in His interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. Her resistance did not impede Jesus from revealing Himself as the Living Water and long-awaited Messiah. His interaction with her creates enough thirst so that she enters into this life-giving relationship with the Messiah. It doesn’t stop there, because as she exits from Jesus she begins to share this Living Water with others who are spiritually thirsty!