Take it to the lord in Prayer
Take It to The Lord in Prayer
Everyone needs a friend. Some of us are blessed with great friends that we welcome, embrace, and refer to as family.
“A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” Proverbs 17 v 17
The Apostle Paul encouraged us to take our friendships seriously by being there to encourage and build each other up:
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27 v 17
The prophet Isaiah said we should:
“Encourage the exhausted and strengthen the feeble.” Isaiah 35 v 3
We grow in our friendships by sharing and caring. The Apostle Paul further strengthened this remark when he said that we should:
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Romans 12 v 5
A great friend is there in the highs and lows of life. My family and great friends walked, laughed and prayed with me through the ‘Valley of the Shadow of Death’ during my cancer diagnosis and treatment, to a place of victory – my ‘Valley of Blessing’ (Psalm 84 v 6). If your family or friends are going through a ‘valley experience’ be there to encourage them, but more importantly be there to pray and give glory to our Father God for the victories He alone brings into their lives for His name sake. Our Father God protects His name by the grace and mercies He bestows on us. He does it because of His loving compassion and the fellowship of His covenant relationship with us. King David said:
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” Psalm 23 v 1 – 4
Our Father God led King David to a place of trusting Him and resting in His peace. The unshakable peace that comes through faith was also evidenced in the life of the preacher Joseph Medicott Scriven. After recovering from the bereavement of two fiancés, he did not have enough money to return from Canada to Ireland to see his dying mother. He took this additional heartache and grief to ‘a friend who stays closer than a brother’ (Proverbs 18 v 24). He took his pains, frustrations, and disappointments to his Father God. The Holy Spirit directed him to the Book of Philippians:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4 v 6
He did just that by reading, responding and being active in prayer. It opened an opportunity for our Father God to release the promises of the following verse:
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4 v 7
Like King David, Joseph Medicott Scriven took everything in his broken heart and gave it to his Father God. King David said:
“He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147 v 3
From a position of healing and peace he wrote a poem to his mother in 1855. A year later that poem was published. Thirteen years later, in 1868, it inspired a man named Charles Converse to set it to music. The hymn is titled “What a Friend we Have in Jesus”.
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”
- What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer! - Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer. - Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there. - Blessed Saviour, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
All to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
There will be no need for prayer—
Rapture, praise, and endless worship
Will be our sweet portion there.
King David said:
“In the day when I call You answered me; You did encourage me with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138 v 3
He could confidently say this because his experience told him that He believed in and served a God who sees, who hears and who answers prayer. This is evidenced in an earlier Psalm when he said:
“May the Lord be praised! Day after day He bears our burdens; God is our salvation. Selah.” Psalm 68 v 19
In each new challenge King David acknowledged his Father God’s comfort in his heart and that inspired him to speak a positive confession with his mouth:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore, my heart exults. And with my song I shall thank Him.” Psalm 28 v 7
We too can come to our Father God in our despair. He draws near to those who are broken hearted and discouraged. The prophet Isaiah said:
“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increase power.” Isaiah 40 v 29
“For this is what the High exalted One says, the One who rules forever, whose name is Holy. “I dwell in an exalted and Holy place, but also with the discouraged and humiliated, in order to cheer up the humiliated and to encourage the discouraged.” Isaiah 57 v 15
Our Father God is not distant, as some imagine Him to be. There are many scriptures within the Psalms where King David took solace in the nearness and shelter of God’s presence. We serve a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. His character, His purpose and His promises are the same in every generation. So, we too can say:
“The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 24 v 18
His nearness is a comfort in the times we feel isolated and alone in our despair. We can claim and proclaim the promises of the Scriptures for ourselves. His promises are part of our daily bread. King David said:
“God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect.” Psalm 18 v 30 – 32
He also made a statement that many of us can testify to from our own experiences:
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever, present help in times of trouble.” Psalm 46 v 1
Regardless of the seasons or the times we find ourselves in, God is our refuge and strength. He is with us in every battle – spiritual and natural! King David’s experience of our Father God’s presence in his most challenging times gave him that confidence to sing, bringing a sacrifice of praise. He is an example to show us how we should respond to the God who hears, who sees and who answers prayer.
“As for me, I will sing about your strength; I will praise your loyal love in the morning. For you are my refuge and my place of shelter when I face trouble.” Psalm 59 v 16
Like King David, let us be consistent in acknowledging that our help, our hope, and our peace comes from our Father God. King David said:
“You are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in your word.” Psalm 119 v 114
The shield of God’s presence protects our hearts, minds, and souls, knowing He brings us stability and peace. The Apostle Paul said:
“And the peace of God which transcends all understand, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.” Philippians 4 v7
In our trials and tribulations, in our loss and bereavements - whether relationally, emotionally, financially, or spiritually, we need to look to our Father God for His peace. The kind of peace that makes onlookers ponder as to how we can have the motivation, the strength, the will, and the grace to keep pressing forward in our faith. The peace of God requires us to look up. We need to keep our focus on Him and not on our circumstances. Our Father God is bigger than our problems. The prophet Isaiah said:
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26 v 3
It is a decision of our free will to remain focussed on our Father God. The Apostle Paul said:
“And let the peace of God rule in our hearts, to which also you are called in one body, and be thankful.” Colossians 3 v 15
Letting the peace of Jesus Christ taking precedence in our hearts is a choice that we choose to make. We need to choose to come to Jesus Christ with our heartaches and disappointments. He already knows our needs. He is our Saviour and Lord, but He is also our greatest friend. Jesus Christ said:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11 v 28
When we welcome His comfort, He equips us with His grace, compassion, and capacity to comfort others. The Apostle Paul said:
“Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 1 v 3 – 7
Jesus Christ continues to say to all who are grieving today to come to Him. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is our Comforter. He told us this when He set out his mandate from the book of Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken heart, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. To proclaim the favourable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn.” Isaiah 61 v 1 – 2
Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of that prophecy and that is why He alone is in the supreme position, to say:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5 v 4
Our resurrected Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ comforts us through the presence of His Holy Spirit. He fulfilled His promise before His ascension when He said:
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14 v 16 – 18.
Let us respond to the nearness of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, because it will put us in a position where He will flood our lives with His peace. Jesus Christ made a distinction between earthly peace and His heavenly peace. His peace emboldens us not to be fearful but to be fearless. He said:
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ has left us His ‘peace’ so we do not need to fear. He has said that He will come again with this future promise:
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21 v 4
While we wait for His return let us follow the advice of Joseph Medicott Scriven – “Take it to the Lord in Prayer”.
Amen xxx