June 4: To all who call upon You...

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You I cry all day long. Make glad the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and give heed to the voice of my supplications! In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, for You will answer me.   (Psalm 86:1-7 — New American Standard)

This prayer is a sincere cry to God based on His promises and on what has been revealed to us about our Father in heaven. It is made by a person who has every right to pray and expect an answer. He says that he is devoted to God, that he is His servant, and that he calls on the Lord all day long. This man knows the promises of God and prays with faith, with the confidence that God will answer him.

You can pray for God’s help when you are afflicted and needy, for protection when enemies or disease threaten, for joy and peace instead of fear and unhappiness. You can cry out for His help all day long because He doesn’t get tired of our prayers. Exactly like this man had confidence in a God that answers prayer, you can have that same confidence — because your God is the same as his God. Prayer should never be a cute little poem or a few memorized phrases; it should be a sincere cry to the Almighty, to the One that makes all things possible through prayer and faith.

Living in this world is not easy. Scripture compares it to a battle we must fight, to a race we must win, and to a hardship that we must find our way through. But God is there to help us, Jesus is interceding for us, the angels are serving us, and the Holy Spirit is a powerful force inside of us. So keep praying and be certain that God will answer you.

So many, even Christians, blame God for the bad things that happen, and wonder why He doesn’t stop them. But the truth is that we share this world with demons and the devil, and they will never stop tempting and attacking us. And yet, these hardships are good for us. They stimulate faith and produce miracles. On the other hand, many things can be avoided when we make sure we are always close to God. The verse above says that God is “good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all” who call upon Him. But so many do not call upon God. We feel like our right hand is cut off if we go through the day without a cell phone, but have no problem going through the day without talking to God. No wonder we have problems. — Let’s make sure we call upon God both in good times and bad.