“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”
Hopefully, there is that which is in us that wants to continually experience the nearness of God. One way is to pray, pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Then we will have the assurance expressed above: “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.” Prayer has a wonderful power in helping us to draw near to God. In fact, prayer appropriates the Presence of God! God is everywhere and, as the Almighty Present One, is ever ready and capable to grant us unbroken fellowship with Him. Such is almost always achieved only through prayer.
Do we really want to know the secret of always living in a state of prayerfulness? The answer is quite clear. Realize first that God is near you, and within you––closer to you than your next breath! That being so, you will feel how natural it is to talk with Him each moment about your needs and desires. This is the secret of the prayerful life of which Paul writes, in 1 Thessalonians 3:10,
“… night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face …”
It is only when we live a life apart from God that we find ourselves saying, “I must make time, I must take the trouble first of all to search for God, to find God, before I can pray!” More and more we will find that the true Christian life is a constant abiding with the Father, a delighting in Him, as Psalm 89:16 says of some,
“In Your name they rejoice all day long …”
Intimacy between the Father and His child should be continuous! Prayer, for this reason, should become a daily life activity, like breathing or sleeping, instead of something that is brought into use only occasionally, like a pocketknife. The living principle of complete dependence upon the unseen God, with the development of the holy habit of claiming His Presence with us each moment of the day––this is the summation of the life we are called to live in this world.
“God always near,” so that we may always call upon Him. According to Paul, in Philippians 4:6, 7 (NKJV), when we do so, we will eventually become,
“Anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, [we will] let [our] requests be made unto God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Remember these two things: a God always near, with infinite grace and abundant mercy; and His child in utter weakness, calling upon One who will hear and answer our prayers.
