friends with God

Isaiah 41:8 “But you, Israel, my servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend..."
Job 29:4 "Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house..."
James 2:23 "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend."

We are meant to be friends of God. As Paul might word it: If, in the old testament when the law was given to few, God chose to be friends with some, how much more ought we be friends with God in the new testament where grace was freely offered to all!
God wants to be in a relationship with us. We're married to him in Christ!
God is full of virtue and perfect. When talking with us he will not be proud of his high position but will listen to what we have to say, will listen to our prayers and pleadings, and will listen to our requests and cries for help.

John 14:14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

Well, some of you may think that 'in my name' basically means 'if I was already planning on it'. Yes! But that's only because he can see into the future! Of course you can't ask for a free Ferrari or for Jesus to come back. But for one thing you can ask to be sanctified in certain ways. I have just started realizing on what a personal level God works on our hearts and have been asking him to change me in specific ways. I kind of forgot about it, but I just woke up today and realized that those things had been granted!

Matthew 7:11 "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

At an even more surprising level, thing of the verses in Genesis I read that triggered this whole post. Genesis 18:16-33. Moses stands next to God and pleads with him to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he finds only fifty people in the city. And in fact, he keeps asking again until he wheedles the number down to 10. What audacity! Yet God listens to him and pulls Lot and his family out of Sodom before he burned it with sulfur. Amazing! At least from our time-bound perspective, God can change his plans by our asking.

Finally, I would like to quote the notes below the text in my NIV study bible: "Abraham was God's friend. And because he was now God's covenant friend, God convened his heavenly council at Abraham's tent... He thus even gave Abraham opportunity to speak in his court and to intercede for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah... Here, Abraham exemplified the great privilege of God's covenant people thought the ages: God has revealed his purposes to them and allows their voice to be heard (in intercession) in the court of heaven itself."