I called upon the Lord . . . and my cry reached his ears (Psalm 18:6).
“Prayer is the link that connects us with God. It is the bridge that spans every gulf and carries us safely over every chasm of danger or need.”*
*L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, p. 412.
Jesus went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone (Matthew 14:23).
“Oh, the thought of having God all alone to myself, and knowing that God has me all alone to Himself!”*
*Andrew Murray as quoted in Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman, p. 403.
We are small. Our earth is the white dot at the ten o’clock position between Saturn’s bright main rings and the thinner grey-brown ring.
I ask, “What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention (Job 7:17)?”
I wonder why when, “I call to God, he hears my voice (from Psalm 55:16-17).”
And then I remember, “God is love. . . . For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (1 John 4:16; John 3:16).”
Photo credit: Infrared, visible and ultraviolet light by the Cassini Imaging Team at NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.
Due to circumstances beyond his control, a winsome young man has found himself in a disappointing job. Day after day he enters a prison-like gray cubicle. He doesn’t see sunshine. Or clouds.
He struggled with depression. Until now. Every morning he enters his cubicle and pauses to imagine Jesus. Sitting there. Waiting for him.
He is finding joy.
The Lord has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).”
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habbakuk 3:17-18).
It is as if the writer were actually saying, “Even if I am forced to undergo the extreme condition of not knowing where to find my next meal, and although my house is empty and my fields yield no crops . . . ‘yet I will rejoice in the Lord.'”*
*L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, p.307.
“What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning (Job 7:17-18 bold mine).”
When you open your eyes at the beginning of your day, Jesus is there. Take time to notice Him. Treat Him like an honored guest. Listen to what He says in His Word. Thank Him for coming.
That’s what prayer is all about.
Before his arrest, Jesus went to Gethsemane, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as you will (Matthew 26:39).”
We know how God answered that prayer: “It was the will of the Lord to crush him . . . He bore the sin of many (Isaiah 53:10-12).”
Those who pray “Your will be done” often find the path to joy is through pain.
