How To Pray To God in Times Of Trouble.

The prophet Jeremiah was in trouble, in prison and facing death. What words did God have for him? Would they be the same thoughts for us in our problems today?

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you did not know." Jeremiah 33:3

CALL
God is waiting for us to call to Him. To call to Him is not just a little grace prayer at mealtime but to pray earnestly with desperation as if we were calling out loud enough for heaven to hear us. The way someone would call out if they had fallen down in a well, they would call as loud as they could so anyone passing by would reach down and lift them out; that is what it is to call out in prayer. This is prayer as few experience it- but it is prayer as we all should experience it.

WHY
The Lord is not ignorant because as the All Knowing God he knows our situation; but we need to pray, prayer is for us not for Him. We need to express these dark thoughts and fears to the God of light and love. He has bound himself by the principle of prayer and waits for us to act on it so He will act.

WHAT THEN
What can we expect of The Almighty if we call to Him? We are told one of the things is that God will do is to reveal great and unsearchable things. He will open our minds to truths we would not be able to discern otherwise. He will let us in on his plans. We may begin to understand the Bible or have a perceptive on our troubles that lifts us up onto a higher ground above the troubles.

THE NEED TO KNOW
There is much going on in our lives that we are in the dark about. Much happens beyond our field of view. We are living in a world that is ruled by ungodly powers and The Lord is in conflict over the kingdom of men's hearts.

Jeremiah was the only one in tune with God in his day, but even he was blind to the plans and activities of God. God told him he needed to pray to see. It is no different today, even with our technology and social development we still need to pray, indeed more than ever.

We all have dark problems in our lives but God is Lord of all and will give us insight into them if we pray.

To learn more about having God in your life follow the link to my other blog.

(c)Adron Dozat 9/17/13

Why Can We Count on God? Psalm 86:5

Many things can be said of God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, beyond time, but can we say God is right for me?

"You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you." Psalm 86:5, NIV. 

FORGIVENESS
God is ready to forgive those things that stand between us and him. Forgiveness is an act of the will and a decision. It is a response based on character, but with God forgiveness is something more. As one who is holy and righteous forgiveness would conflict with his holiness and righteousness; but he is good and sent his son to pay for the things that offend him so forgiveness is available without compromise.

GOOD
Good is a value judgment that reflects a standard, but God's goodness is more. To say God is good is to say that there is no evil in him. God's goodness is not temporary and does not change or else it would not be truly good. We can count on God because he is good.

LOVE
To say God abounds in love is different than the emotional love we feel as human beings. Often our love is self-centered and needs gratification. God's love may have passion but it is a choice of favoring mankind. God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for our sins, see Romans 5:8.

LORD
The title given to God in this verse of the Bible is not merely poetic, it is the Lord. Lord means one who rules and has authority. It is a great encouragement to think that the one who commands the sun, moon, and stars is also forgiving and good.

ABOUNDING
Abounding is something that is overabundant, it means there is so much of something that it breaks the boundaries. God's love goes beyond all the boundaries; it is measureless and is limitless. Nothing we can say or do will use it up, nothing we feel or experience can diminish it, there is as much love for us in our worst days as our brightest.

WAITING
God's love is waiting. It is unloving to force yourself on someone- in fact, it is arrogant. God is waiting for us to call to him. To call on the Lord may be a prayer; it may be a desperate cry of anguish, it may be faith, but it must be from the heart and it must be in truth.

We can count on him, he is the God we need; he is waiting, let us call on him.

To find out more about calling on the Lord see my other blog follow this link: click here.

(c) Adron 3/1/13

Where Is God When We Need Him?

Sometimes we feel like God is so far away. We seek him, and we need him but where is he?

"The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." Psalm 145:18, NIV.

NEAR
So often we feel like we are slouching through life's dark challenges alone, but here is a reminder that "The Lord is near..." It is a fact we can count on, and rejoice in. We can be confident he understands and he cares. We do not need to say, "I wish someone knew what I am going through," because He is near; He knows.

WHO
Just who is he that is near? The LORD of the Universe, The Owner Of All things, The Creator, The All-Powerful God who angels obey and demons fear. No president, dictator, general, bully, or any other mean thing can resist him! He is the one who is near!

CALL ON THE LORD
We must remember to "call on the Lord," often in prayer. This is not just quick to the point prayer in the midst of trials, or the "Hour of Prayer, but to "Call on the Lord," has the idea of being urgent; it is here and now while the battle is fought. There is no need to fight on alone, we have a companion near actively fighting alongside us. The Lord is as near as our prayer.

All
The Lord wants "all'  of us to "call on him." He is not waiting for just the select few or the super holy people to "Call on him." he is near to all. Whoever you are, whatever you have done, or wherever you came from He is listening for you to call.

TRUTH
God does want us to "Call on him in truth." God does not like to be used any more than we do. He wants us to respect his holiness and come truthfully and honestly. God can see through our falsehoods and phoniness. We need to examine our motivations in our prayers often to see if we have some hidden agenda or pride or selfishness in them. Many times when we call on the Lord in our daily trials we find we need to bring in confession and humility with the cry.

No one truly understands the help He brings but we know that the Lord is near and waiting for our invitation for Him to join in our struggles.

(c)Adron Dozat

Finding Religion or Finding God. Isaiah 55:61

Sadly many do not find the Lord because they refuse to be humble or they want their own glory, or they want religion instead of a savior.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Isaiah 55:6, NIV.

NOW
We say “seize the moment,” we mean act now; the opportunities may not come later. “Seek the Lord while he may be found" suggest that there is a time when the Lord may be found and there it warns that a time may come when the Lord may not be found. We put him off saying, “I’ll accept Jesus, but not just yet I’ll have my fun and turn to the Lord later.” There is no guarantee that later will come. If you put Jesus off till your old age will you be able to think clearly and make that choice?

FIND
To say “Seek the Lord while he may be found…” means finding God is possible. It is not just the dream of poets but clearly taught in the Bible. God can be found and we can have a relationship with him.

EFFORT
We must put some effort to it. To “Seek” God is worth, time, energy, and sacrifice. To seek Him is not just a glance in the Bible or attending church three times a year, but to look for Him like someone who moves the furniture around, empties the closets, and upturns the drawers to find some lost treasure.

PERSON
Seeking God is not some monastic ritual fraught with penance and self-denial. The Bible says “Call on him while he is near.” What is easier than to call out to the Lord? This is a prayer. Pray earnestly confessing your sins and admit you are not able to pay up for them; that your sins have separated you from God and put you in judgment, but Jesus is God’s substitute for your sins; he took them and paid for them on the cross. Tell God you accept Jesus’ righteousness in exchange for your sins and that you receive forgiveness based on what he did.

NEAR
God is “near,” because the gospel is free to us, (though it cost Jesus everything). A God of love makes salvation simple for a child, cheap for the poor, and easy for the weak.

If a doctor found a cure for a deadly pandemic and kindly offered it to every person free so that all humanity would live would you say, “No I will go to medical school and become a Doctor and build a research institution to find my own cure for this lethal plague?” That would be foolish. To reject what God offers in Jesus is just that.

(c)Adron Dozat