18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever. Psalm 145:18-21  (NKJV)

It seems that with all that we are facing in the world today, no one really seems to know what is going on. Ideologies, politics, planning, governments all play a part in leading the people entrusted to them, and yet, we are still unsure about anything going on.

In these uncertain times, it seems that no one has the answer as to when people will be able to return to work when businesses will reopen when we can return to church, or what things will look like in our society.

With social distancing in place and basically being locked out of our church by the government in the name of public health, does not mean that we are socially distanced from the presence of the Lord.

In fact, there is no time better than right now to draw close to the Lord and allow His grace and work to be evident in our lives.

The world we live in is always changing. It is not the same today as it was yesterday.  Who knows what it will look like tomorrow?

But here is one thing for sure.  Our Lord and Savior is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 No matter what is going on today in the world, our Jesus Christ is not any different.  Our Father’s plan has not changed.

Some say that what we are going through in the world today is a part of God’s plan.  These moments we live are part of the unfolding of the “End Times”. Hard to say for sure.  One thing we do know is that no matter what happens God’s will, will be done. 

We be can rest assured and have peace of mind knowing that no matter what happens will stop God’s will from being completed.  All things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

What we do know is that no matter what is happening in the world, whether it is COVID-19 or something happening in your personal life God has a plan for you and is present in your life.  Jesus is always available through the Holy Spirit and is available through prayer.  Jesus Christ, our great high priest is continually interceding for us and pleading through His blood for those to be saved and desires to hear from you.

John says that if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father and reminds us that Jesus is our propitiation, meaning He alone paid the ransom for us and appeased the penalty for sin through His blood at calvary. Not only is He our propitiation

With God being as close as He is, He is available to us to cry out to Him, adore Him, worship Him, and bring our most difficult aspects of life to Him, and ask the simple most pressing questions we have through prayer.

We can focus on what is going on today in our life and world and be somewhat dismayed at the level of chaos that has permeated our world, or we can take refuge in our Lord and enjoy the fellowship we have with Him through prayer.

God is Closer Than You Think

Think about the last time you ran into a prayer warrior, someone who spends time with the Lord in deep supplication. I run into people who call themselves prayer warriors and the thing they say that surprises me is that they don’t pray enough.  What is enough? Do you have to be a “Prayer Warrior” to be able to effectively call upon the Lord?

This point is being made that while some people are called to prayer and intercede this is not a prerequisite calling upon the Lord through prayer.  You might find that as you do call upon the Lord that you too are called to be an intercessor.

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him V18. This is no exception.  All who call upon Him.  God is impartial and no respecter of people.  It does not matter who you are, God cares enough to be as close as you will allow Him.

The only way God could be close to you and His people was to pay their ransom.  You were bought at a price, and that price required a blood offering only Jesus Christ was worthy and acceptable of providing.

When this ransom was paid it was God’s plan and desire to be close to us in our bodies and make it possible for His Holy Spirit to take up residence in us.

Jesus’ desire to be in us and us in Him not unlike the relationship (John 17:23-25) God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have. Our relationship and intimacy were made possible through the atoning sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Here we are two weeks out from our last celebration of Easter and as you can see the celebration and thanksgiving become a daily event in our lives.  We can’t just recognize the eternal work of forgiveness and restoration at the cross as an annual event, but as our relationship grows it becomes a daily recognition and reason for thanksgiving.

If we pray for nothing else but to honor, glorify, and give thanks to our Lord it would be more than most people do.  In fact, this should be the beginning of every prayer. 

David says in verse 2 and 3 “every day I will bless you and will praise your name forever, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is searchable.

Because of the work at the cross we can stand in the holy presence of God and give Him praise.  When we do this all other things begin to pale in comparison to the consuming fire of God.

God is available to ALL who call upon Him

I want to emphasize All.  God does not take a prerequisite inventory before we come to the throne of grace.  It is at the throne of grace where transformation and restoration take place.

God did not send His Son to the cross in our place to turn us away, but instead so that He could make us into the New Creations in Christ.

The Lord knows your every need at every moment you have. In God’s hand is the sustenance every living thing needs for life.  God knows what is needed in every situation we face, even now, when things can seem so disjointed in our world.  He knows what we need and when we need it most. It is through this process of getting to know God through His Son we are able to be in His will.

Jesus invited us to come to Him, especially those who are weary and heavy burdened. It is these times when we will humble ourselves and come to Jesus that we begin the fellowship of prayer. 

We begin to grow and His graces.  Even if you have fallen away, it is never to late to come to Jesus and allow Him to restore your faith.  When we come to the Lord and bring Him the weight that overwhelms us we find that we in His presence.  And there is not a better place of refuge than in the presence of the Lord.

God wants to hear from you

God wants to hear from you.  He wants to hear your petitions. He wants us to recognize and honor His authority with respect to the cause we bring before the throne.

Whatever we ask God will respond if what we ask is in His will (1 John 5:14-15). When we ask for God’s will to be done we begin to take an intimate interest in God’s heart and desires.  We begin to share the same values as God which puts in step with His Spirit.

We are promised that if we delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts, which are actually the same desires of God’s heart. When we begin to pray in this manner the most amazing things happen.  God begins to respond in the most beautiful way to our prayers.

One of the main reasons for prayer is to discover God’s will for our lives.  As we seek and find Him, He guides us in His word to develop the understanding we need in our situations.

God has granted us the ability and privilege of participation in His work by simply spending time with Him and talking to Him.  When you look at this way, we don’t make things happen through prayer, we simply make our requests and petitions known.  God does the heavy lifting.  All we have to do is come to Him in prayer and faith and let Him do the rest.

In ourselves, we don’t have the ability to save unbelievers, heal the sick, or overcome evil.  What we can do is have faith and certainty that when we pray God will mightily intervene in our lives, homes, churches, and world.

Everything we face in life is another opportunity to come to God in prayer and allow Him to work and minister on our behalf.