Not Forsaken

“Eli, Eli, lem′a sabachth′ani?”  That is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?  How many of us have ever asked God this question?  I know I have.  Of course, looking back I can see that He didn’t’.  There have been many times in my life where praying seemed to get me nowhere.  I felt God really wasn’t listening and He was going to do whatever He wanted to do anyway so why pray at all? 

I could not have been more wrong!  Prayer is a life line to the Father.  He cares about us and wants to hear from us.  Yes, He already knows what we need but that’s not the point.  We have to be in a position of submission and humble ourselves before Him if we expect Him to hear our prayers.  Praying while we’re driving, doing chores or a million other things is not spending quality time with Him.  Yes, it’s time spent with Him but we are not giving Him our undivided attention.  And how can we expect to hear Him when we are distracted by whatever it is we’re doing?

As 2012 begins it is my prayer that each of us will humble ourselves before the Lord every day.  I pray that quiet time with our Heavenly Father will be a daily priority.  It is our privilege to be able to speak to God anytime we want and an even greater privilege when we are able to hear Him speak to us. 

May God richly bless you and keep you safe throughout the year or until He returns.

Scripture

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:5-8