Series: Call Me
Psalm 145:18 ESV
Psalm 55:22 ESV
Philippians 4:19 ESV
John 16:23-34 ESV
2 Corinthians 1:19-20 ESV
Psalm 145:18 EASY
I remember watching my dad pray when I was young.
It felt like he wasn’t with me…like he was off in another world.
He had his own chair in the living room and it was known as dad’s chair. He prayed as he sat in that chair. Sometimes he would pray for a long time.
I’m not sure why, but I never interrupted him while he was praying. I don’t remember being told I wasn’t supposed to interrupt him. Looking back I think I knew it was a special holy time and I didn’t want to interrupt that.
As I got older I came to realize I wanted to have a special holy time with God as well. No one told me I needed to have time to set aside to pray. I just wanted it because I thought it was important. I guess I thought since it was important to my dad it was important to me.
Psalm 145:18 tells us, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
Through the years as I’ve taught lessons on prayer I’ve thought about how to describe the holiness of the moment (the instant) I think I want to talk to God and I think of God.
When I think of God I often remember how God has been so very faithful to me.
Even though there have been times when I hurt so bad I had trouble “feeling” God was near I knew (because I had good teachers) that God WAS near and so I would thank God for being with me. I came to realize that when I embrace God and lean in I am able to give God the burden I am carrying.
I came to realize that Jesus is really sad when we are carrying a heavy burden.
Jesus doesn’t want me to be sad.
Jesus really wants to carry my burden.
The problem is I (we) often feel like I need to be responsible and carry it myself. As a child I was taught to take responsibility and that mindset goes deep. It has roots in me.
So, the thought of not being able to take responsibility means I face feelings of failure…
Even though I pray for help, when it comes I am probably reluctant to readily accept the help. In a sense, I fight God (the Spirit) about receiving it.
It’s weird really…I call on God for help and when the help comes I fight to receive it.
Thankfully, God can take care of that as well.
We have to remember there isn’t anything God doesn’t already know. God is all knowing (Omniscient).
God knows when we are reluctant to receive help and God knows why. God knows our history of being taught to take responsibility.
Because God is present everywhere (Omnipresent) we only need to lean into the Spirit and ask for help. “Help me God to receive Your help in carrying this burden.”
Psalm 55:22 promises, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
That kind of prayer is 100% in the realm of possibility.
Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
John 16:23-24 says, “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
2 Corinthians 1:19-20 promises, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”
When we think about it, that’s why Jesus died for us.
He broke down the barrier between heaven and earth making it possible for us to have full and complete access to God through forgiveness and 100% access to the Spirit.
Psalm 145:18 in another way (Easy) says, “The Lord is ready to help everyone who asks him. He is near to everyone who prays honestly.”
Every day in every way God is with us. Just think God and God is there.
Spiritual Practice: Think God
Ask God for…whatever.
In God, Deborah
Comments