Prayer - Relationship versus Fellowship ...relationship versus fellowship

Relationship

Our relationship with God is positional.  By believing with our heart and confessing to God and others who Christ is, meaning His death and resurrection, that forms our relationship with God, bringing us into eternal salvation spent with Him. The Bible uses several terms for this process - born again, saved, converted, believe, etc.  It is a heart change that happens within a person from unbelief to a heartfelt belief in who Jesus is and what He has done for us.  The Bible tells us that  once we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, we have then been passed from death unto life.  We have positionally become a Christian and our position with God is our relationship with Him.  We are going to heaven after we leave this earth – but while here on earth, our relationship with Him may lack meaning and substance unless we choose to grow in our faith.  The Bible refers to simply having a relationship without fellowing means living a carnal (fleshly) faith.  Sadly, most Christians live in this position with God and miss out on God's best for them.

Fellowship

Fellowship, on the other hand, is the fulfillment of a meaningful relationship with God, through Christ (Lord) – it is experiential.  It is important that we to go to the Lord to build that relationship into a meaningful fellowship.  Fellowshipping with the Lord is not taught, but something that is caught.  When you begin your relationship with the Lord, it is vital that you CHOOSE to fellowship with God.  That means you choose to spend time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer.  When you do, you will find yourself beginning to hunger after the things of God, and you will desire to fellowship with Him in prayer.  It is a natural response to wanting to know more of God.  That fellowship will continue to grow deeper as you commune with the Lord in His Word and in prayer regularly, which will give you meaning to your relationship and fellowship.