“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them”
(Psalm 145:18-19)
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could pick up the telephone and talk to the President of the United States and share our problems with him? Wouldn’t it be even better if he could actually give individual attention to each and every one of us?
Of course, there is no way the President could address the individual concerns of over 300 million citizens. The current President and others have gone to the scene of some calamity to share in the sorrows and to comfort the stricken, but even as the national leader arrives at one scene, other scenes of loss and distress are occurring elsewhere.
Now let’s consider that we do have the “open access” privilege with the King, the great God, our Father in heaven, who can indeed help us and who can and does care in a very personal way about each and every citizen of His Kingdom.
We have a Ruler in heaven who has power to deliver us from every evil, for He has loved us and sent His Son to redeem us. We can come to Him with all our hurts, all our concerns, and He promises to hear us. He sympathizes with us in our weaknesses and in our sorrows.
How wondrous it is that our Heavenly Father cares about and has compassion for each of us. No matter where we may be or what our trouble or affliction may be, He promises to hear our cry and to deliver His own! The deliverance He grants may not be as we envision or wish, for we do not know what is best for us in the eternal scheme of things—yet with childlike faith we know that the Lord our God is always good to those who come to Him, hearing each and every prayer brought to Him in Jesus’ name.
Therein is the key to this special privilege—it is Jesus! Jesus has paved the way. By His innocent suffering and death for us, Jesus opened the way to the throne of God’s grace. He has made it possible for us unworthy ones to be “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Thus He, and He alone, is our Mediator and Intercessor before the throne of God
(see 1 Timothy 2:5).
Our Heavenly Father is at the same time our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier. As such He cares for the members of His household and desires to hear all that is weighing upon our minds and hearts. As our psalm text says, He has promised that He will hear us and act upon our faith-filled prayers.
At times people are heard to joke about Christians having
“a connection with the Man upstairs.” …
by God’s grace we honestly and actually DO have such a connection!
God has issued many other invitations and promises in the Bible. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). Our Savior Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you” (John 16:23). “And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22).
At times people are heard to joke about Christians having “a connection with the Man upstairs.” Far from being a joke, by God’s grace we honestly and actually DO have such a connection! “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
May the Holy Spirit lead us to appreciate what a high and special privilege we have with “open access” prayer to our loving Heavenly Father. And may His promises encourage us to make full use of this privilege. Amen!