“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
Have you ever had a time when you needed to call on the Lord? It might have been when you were going through a really tough time. Or maybe you just felt the need to praise the Father for everything He has done and will do. If you read through this entire Psalm, you'll find David (surprise! David wrote this Psalm too) doing this exact thing: calling to God in truth and praising Him for His greatness.
You may find it easier to pray to God in difficult times. I'm not saying that that is a bad thing! Please pray in your difficult times - I promise that He does hear you and, no matter what, He will come through for you. It might not be in that exact moment, it might not even be two years from now, but that does not mean He is not listening.
But don't only pray in difficult times. I know that I still sometimes struggle to pray when everything is going okay (no I did not mean to rhyme, it just happened that way). You get through those difficulties and all of a sudden everything smooths out and you don't feel the need to pray at all. It just sort of slips your mind and you forget. Your life is busy and it feels like God won't even mind if you skip that day. "Oh, I’ll make sure I'll get to it tomorrow." But then you don't and it becomes a pattern. It’s hard. I get that. But it’s also important to pray even when you don't feel the need to.
The second half of the verse is about calling in truth. What does that even mean? If you take a look at the verses that surround verse 18 you see the picture that David paints of a faithful God who fulfills the desires of those who fear Him and watch over the people who love Him, but who destroys the wicked. So, what is the truth? The answer is and always will be that God is God and He loves us enough that those who call on him in this truth, in His truth, will be near to Him just as He is near to us. How are you praying in truth today?
Talitha Schroth
THIS SUNDAY
KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: Unlocking the Parables
The Parable of the Yeast
Erin Jamieson
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