This is part of an old hymn of ‘What A Friend We Have In Jesus’ and it still remains true today: ‘Take It To The Lord In Prayer.’
We may ask what do we take to Him? There is no situation in our lives that is too small or too big that our God is not concerned with.
We may deceive ourselves thinking that we can handle our day by day experiences, good or stressful. Trying to do everything on our own can open the door for the devil to invade our minds, resulting in taking us down the slippery slope of despair!
Sometimes we can make praying to God harder than it needs to be! Looking at the criminal that was on the cross next to Jesus while being crucified, he didn’t call for a pharisee or priest, no fancy words, he simply talked to Jesus.
Luke 23:42-43 (NLT) Jesus answered him.
“Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
‘Take It To The Lord In Prayer’ as Jesus has told us in praying to our Father to use His Name. In faith believing or in the conviction as that the criminal had, his answer was received within a matter of hours or maybe minutes. ‘IF’ our answer is delayed, we have two choices, to have faith or unbelief questioning God’s response to us.
This reminds me of the beggar that settled into a life of begging daily sat the gate called Beautiful that opened into the temple. How many times had Jesus passed by him, not restoring his body?
We find his healing in the Book of Acts 3:1-7; after Jesus had ascended into heaven, that Peter and John while going to prayer, through that same gate, Beautiful was confronted by the beggar asking for silver or gold (a handout). Peter then spoke to him, saying: “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” It was his time to be healed!
Like that beggar, we can be so consumed with our daily lives that we forget about the love that God has for us, and His desire for a relationship with us!
If we haven’t already, let’s all give Him praise! Have a conversation, talking about our aches and pains or what is of a major concern. Jesus died to give us that access to God our Father.
Once again, let’s ‘Take It To The Lord In Prayer’!
— Ron Witbeck is the associate pastor at Resurrection Life Church in Big Rapids.
