Let's Call To The Lord

THEY CALLED TO THE LORD AND HE ANSWERED THEM. Psalm 99.6.

The other day, I was talking to a believer in the church who was retrenched from his company. He was in great distress. He couldn’t find a job to keep his family going. I told him, “We have so many CEOs, managers and proprietors of companies in our Church. They could easily get you a job!” With a sad face he said, “Yes! We may have all the big guns but nobody is there to help when one is in need. You are wasting your time and breath asking them for help!” So no one bothers to ask them. They may have their reasons not to help but still it is great pity!

But God is our ever-present help in trouble (Psa 46.1). Have you ever wondered why people, especially the desperate and the needy, pray to God? Why do they seek God’s help? It is only because everyone knows God answers prayers! He answers the prayers of even the unbelievers who are praying to idols in their ignorance!! If God didn’t answer prayers or He couldn’t answer our requests, no one would have continued to pray to Him. But God does hear our prayers and answers us. The Psalmist David said, “Because you answer prayers, people everywhere will come to you” (Psa 65.2).

The Bible is a continuous testimony of people of all walks of life whose prayers and petitions the Lord answered. It is full of the stories of princes and peasants; kings and rulers and prisoners in the dungeons; the rich and the famous and the destitute widows and orphans; people in trouble and those in sickness, whose prayers were answered by God. In the gospels, none that came to Jesus with any request went away disappointed. He helped them all. The history of the Church during the apostolic days and since then, is an unbroken record of people calling on the Lord and He answering them.

Friend, dear believer, you may be in some kind of need. You have more than enough proof to show that God hears your call; he listens to your cry; and answers your requests and prayers. Often you doubt whether God will or can answer your ‘difficult prayers!’ They may be difficult for you and even be impossible for you! But not for God!

Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt 19.26). If you know it only as a doctrine or teaching, it is of no benefit to you. You need to know it as an inviolable truth! You need to experience it every day in life. Only then will the doctrine of the ‘omnipotence of God’ (almighty power) become a reality in your life.

The way to do it is to keep asking God for everything you need and all the time. The more answers you receive from God, the more you will trust Him. When God works in small things, your faith will begin to grow! When He performs miracles now and again in answer to your prayers, then your faith grows in leaps and bounds. The more answers to prayer you receive, the more you will trust God. The more you will begin to tell others like King David, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble” (Psa 34.4,6). They too will come to the LORD for His help!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, from of old You had been faithful to all who called on You. You have always heard the prayers of those who trusted in You. Hear my cry and answer me in Your mercy and grace. Amen.