May the LORD answer you when you are in distress, may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. Psalm 20:1 (NIV)
Jesus who spoke worlds into existence – felt the need to pray. He devoted equal time to prayer as to caring for people. A Jew, with a history of tragedy and seemingly unanswered prayers for salvation, they stubbornly believed that God was loving, mighty, and powerful, and still listened to their prayers; believing that someday He would respond.
Jesus claimed to be that response – the fulfillment of the Messiah. Jesus was the face of God that shows me how God feels and reacts to my needs. He showed compassion to the widow whose son died, gentle love to children, unconditional love to the outcast woman who was bleeding, and even the hated centurion had His attention to heal his ill servant.
Jesus spoke of God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Was He reminding us of the difference between where we now live and the heaven where there is no evil or suffering – even death is defeated?
Jesus encourages me to cling to prayer to find the guidance and the strength I need to know and do the Father’s will. Even though Jesus gave me no supernatural proof of prayer’s effectiveness, the fact that He did it is all I need to count its worth. He said, “Ask and you will receive.†When His disciples failed to heal the boy, Jesus said, it was lack of prayer. Jesus taught by example. He taught me to pray.
Even as I write this the ‘stuff’ of my world swirls around in my head. In prayer, the world and it’s distractions and deceptions are sifted out and I am left with the truth of what the day is and what it is not. When decisions come, I trust in God’s Spirit to speak to me and to Henry and lead us in His way. When I cannot see with my physical eyes and logic and reason are unable to bring me to conclusions, it is in prayer that God shows the answers and the faith to follow Him.
The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?…
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple…
Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me…
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:1, 4, 10, 14 (NIV)
Prayer matters.
