trbccoffeebreak

“What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?”    (Deuteronomy 4:7  NIV)

Whenever we pray to Him. Those were the words of Moses addressing the nation of Israel. For those of us who were taught to pray from childhood, prayer is something we can easily take for granted. As I meditated on that verse, I was struck by the realization of how privileged we are over the worshipers of false gods, we who can pray with confidence, knowing that our God hears our prayers and cares deeply about our concerns. What other god does that?

None.

The church I attended in another state had a family who immigrated to the U.S. from Guyana. These folks were formerly Hindu. In response to the teachings of missionaries in their home country, they converted to Christianity. Their conversion was genuine and vital. They became respected leaders in our church because of their holy lives and calm wisdom.

The father of this family once said to me, “You who have grown up in the Christian church don’t realize the power of God because He’s been there all the time for you. But the Hindu people we grew up with knew of His power and feared it.” They had experienced the lack of power of their deity in contrast with what they had seen from the God of the Christians.

To me, having grown up in the church, that was a surprising revelation, but I believe he was right. In the words of Moses, they did not have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him.

Should we who have the privilege of prayer then waste it? Tim Keller said, “The greatness of prayer is nothing but an extension of the greatness and glory of God in our lives.” It must break the heart of God when we get busy with life and neglect to spend time in prayer with Him.

We should seek maturity in our prayers. Hopefully, we have grown beyond the simple prayers we learned to say by rote from our childhood. Hopefully, we have learned to pour out our hearts to our Father with praise and thanksgiving, knowing that He will fulfill His promises.

As a footnote, I had to wonder why those Hindu people, so precious to God, who knew of His power and feared it, did not turn toward Him. Probably one of the biggest reasons was pressure from relatives and friends, who would reject them if they converted. My heart goes out to them. I pray that the Lord will give them the courage to follow Him and bring their families with them.

“Heavenly Father, we bow in awe before You and thank You for the privilege of conversing with You personally. Please forgive us for the times we have neglected to pray, and give us a hunger to spend time with You.”

 For His Glory

Cherie Harbridge Williams (www.cherieharbridgewilliams.com)
TRBC Women’s Life