Prayer & Intimacy with God

So many believers seem to portray an inconsistency with what they believe in the aroma, or aura of their lives. I am certain that the peak of our existence as created beings is intimate relationship with our creator, the Trinitarian God, Yahweh. But it does not often appear the case when you spend time with Christians. I am sure there is a multitude of causes and I am nowhere near insightful enough to list all of them, but after this weeks sermon to our church I do know one element that may lead to this 'downcast Christian spirituality.'

A lack of the intimacy created by prayer!

In my time preparing and delivering a message on our fifth value: Authentic, Vibrant Personal & Collective Prayer (watch the set of 4 videos here) it became so obvious to me that a vibrant, authentic prayer life goes miles to enabling and maintaining intimacy with Christ.
One of Christ's most beautiful statements was in John Chapter 15 where he states that He is the Vine and we are the branches. He was making it clear that for us to know life, for us to flourish in our relationship with Him we had to be intimately connected with Him, we had to know communion, reach a conscious state of oneness even.

Prayer, particularly personal word-based relational prayer (between God and worshiper) is essential for us to relish this marvelous faith won for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. I will be the first to put my hand up and say that I am nowhere near that place of ongoing, dynamic prayer. But I feel more motivated more challenged that I must pursue it, for the joy of my soul and of course for the glory of God.

Simon