01/12/2023
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
I sometimes think we don’t have faith that our prayers will be answered because we don’t really have faith in God. I don’t mean that we don’t believe that there is a God, or that Jesus is His Son, and our savior – in short, we do actually believe the elements of our Christianity. But when it comes to believing that God listens to our prayers and always gives an answer, our faith wavers.
We sometimes come to our time of prayer thinking that God is far distant, that He is occupied with other things, or other people, we do not have perfect confidence that He is always with us and always ready to hear our prayer. Sometimes, Shirley or I think the other one is in another room and call loudly, when in fact we are in the same room, but haven’t been noticed; our reply to the call is usually, “I’m right here”. When we call upon God, we need to understand that He is never distant from us but is always “right here”. And secondly, that He is not just sort of hanging around to keep tabs on us, but is continually asking, “how may I help you?”
KNOWING THIS, not merely wishing it, or thinking it might be true, but KNOWING that it is an absolute fact, based on God’s own given word, we are prepared to believe that He will grant our prayer request. We have Jesus’ own assurance that it is so. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark. 11:24). We often work very hard to believe in the prayer, when it is really a matter of believing God and being sure of His promises.
James Edward Burnette – January 10, 2023