God Hears Our SOS

 Psalm 118:5,6
I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

In the early 1900’s, the letters SOS were used to signal that someone was in distress or in need of saving. The distress was given out in Morse code and later became the standard signal to let others know that help was needed. Even though the signal has been replaced with other forms of technology, it is still used to communicate that someone is in distress, someone is in trouble and their life is in danger. When we cry out to the Lord in distress, He sees our SOS. Distress is an emotional, social, spiritual, or physical pain or suffering that may cause a person to feel sad, afraid, depressed, anxious, or lonely. Like David, we face situations in our lives that we don’t have control over. We become anxious when we find ourselves without answers to problems that we are not able to solve. The Lord will sometimes let us get to the end of resources, so that we can turn to Him. He is there ready and desiring to answer our distress call. In prayer, we signal to the Lord our SOS, and He is there to meet our every need. We need not fear evil, for He is with us. We need not fear the circumstances that come our way because He knows what we are facing and going through. Distress is a human emotion, but it does not have to rule over us. In times of distress, He can give us peace that passes understanding, and contentment in knowing that the Lord is in control, and He will come to our rescue at the right time.

The Secret Place

 Psalm 91:1
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Where is this secret place? Jesus talks about a secret place. “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." The secret place is where you and God meet, it is the place where the world is shut out, the things of this world are put aside, and all your attention is given to worship and time spent with God. Prayer is not done like the Publicans who stand on the counter in the public arena and pray so that they may be seen by others. Dwelling in His presence is to constantly be aware that Jesus is the center and focus of what you do. In the presence of the Almighty,  we are careful what we say, how we act, and how we think. This is our permanent residence, this is home. We may not seclude ourselves in a literal closet, but the Holy Spirit abides in our heart, and we allow Him to dwell within us and we in Him. We can have confidence that whatever comes our way, we are in His care and He does what is good and best.

Heartfelt Prayers

 James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].

Praying from the heart is made possible when the heart is right with your neighbor and with God. It is difficult to pray when you have ought against your brother. A righteous believer is able to pray fervently with clean hands and a pure heart. I often hear words like, “Say a prayer for…”. I sometimes wonder if “saying” a prayer can accomplish much. How heartfelt are our prayers? To be heartfelt is to be sincere, feelings are deep and strong. It is a prayer of passion and earnest desire. Saying a prayer must go beyond the words spoken from the lips. For it to be effective, it must be heartfelt and persistent. God who sees the heart, is not impress with our articulation of our prayer, He wants our prayers to be heartfelt. 

He Is Our Daily Bread

 Matt 6:11
 Give us this day our daily bread.
Prayer takes many forms and what we pray about depends on what we seek. We may be seeking to have more of God, the healing of a loved one, the spiritual well being of a friend, direction in how we should proceed, or for our daily bread. The material needs and provision we need, or things we need is important to God. He does know exactly what things we need, so we may not always get what we ask for.  Jesus says, “Ask and ye shall receive…” but our asking should always end in, “But Thy will be done”. Our daily bread is not necessarily speaking of food, but it speaks to the needs of our entire being. Our emotional, metal, and physical state. He is the bread of life, and He is all we need. He is our daily bread, and in Him we can find peace of mind, calm in the storm, healing and nourishment for the body. “Give us this day “Jesus”, and all these other things we ask for will fall in place.

Prayers That God Hears

Rev. 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

They call it bottled up prayers. Prayers that have ascended to the throne of God and appear to fall on deaf ears. Prayers seemly that never reached heaven in our life time. But John saw that the prayers of the saints were unleashed to the throne of God. Sometimes there are good reasons why our prayers are not answered. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” These prayers are more of a “Wish list” of things we want or think we need. God sometimes grants these prayers, but they often result with leanness of heart. But prayers that fulfill the purpose of God and glorify Him eventually find their way before the throne. Prayers for the souls who are lost in sin are at the top of the list. God desires that all will come to repentance. Prayers that call on God to make us pure and clean. This is the will of God, even your sanctification. For God to answer these prayers, calls for hearts to be open to truth. God continues to work in the hearts of men. He knocks, but we must be willing to open. We have a charge to pray for the sick and well being of others, but He knows what is best in every situation. Prayer is an essential element in the sustainability of the Christian life. It is our responsibility to pray, the rest is left with God who knows best.

The Spirit Utters our Prayers

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought…

Learning to pray is more that being able to say the right words. It is not the vocabulary of the words we speak that bends the ear of God, but with the heart, we are able to express our desires to Him. The infirmities of our humanity often hinder us to utter the words that need to be said. That is when the Holy Spirit takes that which was spoken from the heart and translates it into a heavenly language. This does not mean that we should not make efforts to learn how to approach the throne of God for He invites us to boldly come to His throne and make petition for our needs and the needs of others, but after our efforts are made, the Spirit takes our feeble efforts and utters them in such a way that God hears and answers.