12/11/2024
Calling out to God in prayer is for all mankind. This is my contemplation for the morning, and the joy of my day... God loves us all and allows us audience with Him through our prayers. He is with us always, hears our prayers, and is merciful in the abundance of His forgiveness. If sinners were not able to pray we would all have been lost long ago.
Romans 10:12-13
"For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”
Prayer is for everyone, even those who feel they aren't worthy of an audience with God. In fact, it may be that prayer is especially important for those who feel that their sins are too great, and have excluded them from knowing Him.
I am reminded of the prodigal son this morning, and the joy his homecoming brought. Prayer is like that... It brings us home, it gives us the opportunity to humble ourselves, ask for forgiveness, express remorse, love, repent, rejoice, and give thanks. But until we come home; until we pray, there is only a distant hope in our desires.
God knows we are sinners, and yet His door is always open to us. We might feel that our sins are unforgivable but He doesn't see it that way. I love this passage from Psalm 103…
“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
Psalms 103:11-14 KJV
He knows who we are; He realizes our frailty, and yet in our fallen state He can lift us up in perfect forgiveness. We were in that state when He sent Jesus to redeem us… not the righteous… but the sinners. He removes our sins completely, and all we have to do is ask for that forgiveness in prayer and repent. God takes what we think is hard or insurmountable and makes it easy, bearable, and doable, through prayer.
Praise Him always for His mercy is great, His love complete, and His will is perfect. Prayer is for all of us and is not exclusive. Thank God for that, because otherwise we would all be lost. Let’s pray together now…
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for giving us the ability to come to you in prayer. Thank you for your love, mercy, and grace, that allows us to talk with you, and for your Son Jesus who you sent to redeem us even though we were yet sinners. Father, I thank you for keeping the door of forgiveness open for us. Never allow us to stray so far from you that we can no longer hear your voice and return to you on bended knees. We thank you for your love, and patience with us. When we feel the least worthy of you, your Holy Spirit leads us back to you through our tears of contrition, and sincere prayers for forgiveness and mercy. Your grace covers us like a fresh snow, and all becomes new. Lord, help us to live our lives in service to you, and we pray that you will keep your hand upon us always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, who waits for us on the road of prayer and longing for our return to you. Holy are you who not only waits but has taken the initiative by reaching out to us by sending your Son Jesus to redeem us. Praised be your name Father, and may all the glory be yours for our having returned to you, and for our salvation.
Now, for those of us who don’t know how to reach out and ask Jesus to come into our lives, or pray… I invite you to pray this prayer with me:
Father, I thank you for your mercy and grace, and I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who I have come to know today as my savior. Wash me clean in His blood Lord and hide my sins in Him because He is worthy, perfect, and without sin. I pray now that you forgive me of my sins Father and help me as I go and sin no more. I believe now, and will forevermore, that you are my God, and that your Son Jesus is my savior. Come now Holy Spirit to give me understanding and help me to remember as I read the Holy Word of God and seek a deeper relationship with Him, the one and only God of all.
Amen
Let’s read the following few verses again today and keep them fresh in us as we, the new and old believers in Jesus Christ, come to our Lord God in prayer…
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
“And he [Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.””
Matthew 22:37 ESV
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”
Hebrews 5:7 ESV
“9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
Rich Forbes