Many of us unconsciously feel that God is far away when we pray.
But we are wrong: He is with us.
Should that make a difference? I believe it should.
If God is far away, it makes sense to make a big commotion to catch his attention. If he is far away, it is natural for us to anxiously wonder if he hears us.
Yet Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that "I am with you always."
As well, we know that the Spirit of God lives within us and prays to the Father for us (Romans 5:5, Romans 8:26-27).
So, that should lift the weight of anxiety from our shoulders. God knows our needs and if he is for us, who can be against us?
Of course, there is the danger we will put up our own barriers to God's work in our lives. We may willfully take a different path from the one laid out for us by the Lord. Asking God to help us along this wrong road is asking too much.
Yet, even then, God delights in welcoming us home as the father did in the great story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.
We don't have to struggle to get God's attention. He knows every thought that leaps into our minds as David said in Psalm 139.
In fact, all we need do is turn to him and rest when we are battered by life.
I love the way the psalmist puts it in Psalm 91:1: "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty."
Sometimes in prayer, all we need do is rest in his presence, wordless.
But we are wrong: He is with us.
Should that make a difference? I believe it should.
If God is far away, it makes sense to make a big commotion to catch his attention. If he is far away, it is natural for us to anxiously wonder if he hears us.
Yet Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that "I am with you always."
As well, we know that the Spirit of God lives within us and prays to the Father for us (Romans 5:5, Romans 8:26-27).
So, that should lift the weight of anxiety from our shoulders. God knows our needs and if he is for us, who can be against us?
Of course, there is the danger we will put up our own barriers to God's work in our lives. We may willfully take a different path from the one laid out for us by the Lord. Asking God to help us along this wrong road is asking too much.
Yet, even then, God delights in welcoming us home as the father did in the great story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.
We don't have to struggle to get God's attention. He knows every thought that leaps into our minds as David said in Psalm 139.
In fact, all we need do is turn to him and rest when we are battered by life.
I love the way the psalmist puts it in Psalm 91:1: "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty."
Sometimes in prayer, all we need do is rest in his presence, wordless.
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