Call on Him

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

(Psalm 34:17, NKJV)

There are moments when we are alone in a crowd.  Surrounded by others, friends or even family, but lost in one’s own thoughts so that everything else is clouded from sight. In such moments, there is a sense of being lost and loneliness is experienced.  One need not be alone to be lonely, yet though in the midst of others we are alone in our thoughts and emotions.  Each one of us has a personal journey that we take, a journey in which others can only go so far.  Our thoughts and emotions are personal to us until we share them out and the truth is that there are situations which are too deep to share the full intensity of our experience.  It is in such moments that we look inwards, to reach into the power that resides within us, the power of God.  Depending on what one is dealing with, there are no words enough to express ourselves, the experiences could be joyous and all that one can do is cry for the words ‘thank you’ do not seem enough.  Others are moments of deep sadness and in the tears, there is no word perfect enough to express the pain.  In whatever situation, we know that  the Holy Spirit who dwells within us fully understands our hearts’ desires and is able to express them to the Father.  The Holy Spirit is one who helps us in our weaknesses so that when we do not know what to say, He intercedes for us with groanings which are beyond our utterance (Romans 8:26).  When we look inwards and call on the Holy Spirit, He communicates our cry to God as only He can do.  Brethren, when we find ourselves out of our depth with words, may we learn to call on the Holy Spirit for His help.

In our reference verse, David reminds us that when we call we have the assurance that our God hears us, He does not just hear our cry for help but He also delivers us from the situation that we have found ourselves in.  In many verses of the bible, we are given the assurance that God answers our prayers when we call, He is not oblivious to the circumstances of our lives even when we feel deeply distressed, He sees it all and like the good Father that He is, He wants to help us out of the pain.  That means that we need to call on God with a revelation of expected help, and this is where we engage our faith.  It is our faith expressed in the expectation of His intervention that God works with.  When we pray without faith, then we do not give God anything to work with.  Apostle Paul writing to the Hebrews tells us that whoever goes to God must have faith that He not only exists but is also a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).  Our faith is the ingredient that leads to our answered prayer, otherwise, we are praying amiss and should not expect to receive from the Lord.

Beloved, it does not matter how bad the situation looks, we can always look to God in faith.  The book of Psalm has many references of God rising up on behalf of David even in situations that seemed dire.  David had seen God help when enemies surrounded him and so he wrote to say, that he will call upon the Lord who will save him.  In calling to the Lord, his assurance of help was so deep that he says he will not only call but that the Lord is worthy to be praised (Psalm 18:3).  He had known the dependability of God so well that even when he was calling for help, he could declare that God remains worthy to be praised.  In another passage, David implores us to trust the Lord at all times, to pour our hearts freely before Him, for He our God, is our refuge (Psalm 62:8).  Beloved, this is a powerful verse to hold on to, one that is not only encouraging but also assuring us of refuge.  All we need to do is to call on Him with faith.

Thoughts

In overwhelming situations, who do you call on?

What has been your experience of God’s rescue?

How can you make calling Him your default response?