“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV)

In essence, prayer is an invitation to God to enter into the heart; it is the lifeblood of the soul. Without it we would have no true direction, nor any hope for better things to come. Thus prayer connects us to God and opens our eyes to the fact that we’re not alone, but encourages us to acknowledge God as our refuge and strength–a very present help in trouble. (Psalms 46:1)

Of course, it isn’t necessary for us to pray to God to let Him know who we are or what we need, because He can read the heart as an open book, which means He already knows what we need even before we ask, and has therefore set all things that are needful into motion to achieve our highest good.

Yet, when tragedy strikes home there is a tendency to worry that God might not be aware of what’s happening within our lives. It is at this point that people often assume that God has forgotten them. But this is just simply not true, because Jesus assured us that God is aware of what we need even before we ask, which means He hasn’t forgotten us at all.

Listen closely to His words:

I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:25-33 NKJV)

Note: when Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”, He never said that God would respond in an audible voice or that He would fill us with some kind of sensational feeling to let us know that He is there. Nevertheless, He did say that our needs would be met! And this is where prayer and faith must meet with patience and trust, as God’s response to us is not to be treated as though it were subject to our demands; instead, it must be given precedence over them, as we really don’t know what’s best for us.

With that being said, have you entrusted your whole heart to God? Do you really believe that He cares for you?

If so, then you shouldn’t worry about where your life is headed, nor should you worry about coming up with money to pay your bills or concern yourself about the possibility of losing your job and not having enough money to eat. Indeed, times are hard right now, but you must remember that if you have given your life to Jesus Christ then you are a child of the most powerful Being in the entire universe. In other words, God is your Father, and He will not abandon you. Not even for a moment!

So don’t worry. Instead, meditate on God’s word and claim His promises; believe that He loves you; believe Jesus words:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

God has given us everything in Jesus Christ. So how then could we ever deny that He cares for us? How could we ever think that He has forgotten us when He came to us while we weren’t even looking for Him?

Yet, it seems that when life delivers a mighty blow to our plans and dreams, God’s promises suddenly fade away into the shadows of our fears. Of course, we cry out to God for relief and deliverance from our troubles, expecting to hear or see something miraculous, but when all things seem to remain as they are we begin to question God’s love for us: “Where are you God?”, we say. Thus we forget all about the promises that we claimed when things were going well with us…when we were living comfortably; we assume that God isn’t listening or living up to what He promised us; we think that God isn’t big enough to meet our needs.

Have you been here before? To my shame I have. But God had mercy on me and delivered me from my fears. And He can do the same for you!

Listen, it isn’t necessary to hear or see something miraculous in order to know that God is present with us. God’s ability to communicate with us is not limited by our understanding of how we think He should behave. If that were the case, then what sense would there be in seeking Him when all we would have to do is deify our own opinions and call that God’s voice?

Now I know that that may sound odd, but a lot of people actually do this without realizing it. That is, they foster their own ideas about who they believe God to be, and assume that just because they think that that is who He is, that that must be God. But that isn’t God! Rather, it’s merely their own opinion of what they think God should be. It’s no wonder they are spiritually bankrupt: they aren’t listening to God; instead, they’re trying to order His steps when they should be following His!

If we would just be silent and receive Him as He is, we would discover that He has many ways to communicate His mysteries to us, and the promise that was given to Jeremiah long ago would shape our lives today:

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV)

But this brings us to yet another question…

If God already knows what we need why should we pray?

We pray not because God doesn’t know what we need, but because we can’t walk with God without being in fellowship with Him. In other words, as you continue to open the door of your heart to God through prayer, your awareness of His presence in your life will deepen, and you will become more attuned to recognizing that His hand of friendship and love is guiding you every step of the way. You will know that He is there and that He cares for you, even when you’re going through the severe of trials.

So the next time you pray to God, don’t pray in such a way as to give the impression that He isn’t already aware of what you need, or that He is blind to the fact that you exist; instead, take some time to be silent and think about how He has led you in the past, and then praise Him for how He is leading you in the present to better things which He has prepared for you. Open the door of your heart to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and receive God’s message of love to you; be still and know that He is God.

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