Simple Prayers

 "The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14

Somehow we think that for prayer to be effective and heard, it must be long and filled with details. Being loud helps as well. We've got the idea that it's what the Lord requires of us in order for our prayers to be heard and answered. I've learned something else. I've learned that the length or volume of our prayers, or the inclusion of lots of "Thee's" and "Thou's" has little to do with reaching His heart. I've learned that so often, it is our simplest but most heartfelt ones that move Him. Here are three that I've learned in the midst of my journey that can be God calling, miracle working prayers.

The first comes from a story told by author and speaker Sheila Walsh. She tells of the experience of checking into a psychiatric hospital in Virginia. She had been a person of high visibility in the Church; singer, speaker, 700 Club co-host. Having suffered a total breakdown, she found herself on the floor of her hospital room, and all she could pray was "God, help me!" On that floor, that was exactly what He did. She later wrote that what she said to Him afterwards was, "Father, I never knew You lived so close to the floor." On that floor she was rendered almost speechless, and all she could do was cry out for His help. And He came with help in His hand and heart. She recovered, was released, and the Lord worked in and through her to rebuild an even greater ministry for her from it. It began with that simple prayer.

The second is from something I heard Beth Moore say. She said that there will come times in our lives where our situations are so desperate, so frightening, and so seemingly hopeless, that the only thing we can pray is, "Jesus, come and get me!" She said from her own life experiences and the stories shared with her by others, she learned the great power of such a prayer. I have always believed and have learned in my own life, that no matter where we are, no matter what the threat, and no matter how desperate the situation, a heart cry that simply pleads that He will come will never go unanswered. He will not fail to come. In one of His letters to Timothy, Paul spoke of how, when he gave his first defense of his ministry and work before Caesar, the most powerful ruler in the world, no one stood with Him. But he concluded with the words, "Yet Christ came and stood with me." In our time of need, we must know, fully know, that when we call for Him to come, He will. With power, with presence, with His Person. All of His Person.

Last, I remember being in a time of prayer with an older brother in the Lord, who said that in his life, he had learned that there were needs, places, situations, and dangers so intense, so seemingly beyond any help, that the only thing he could pray was, "Father, have mercy." Mercy that establishes His control over the circumstances and threats, no matter how intense they are. Mercy that brings comfort, hope, and help, where there is seemingly no reason to have any of that. Mercy that brings all of Himself into all of the need, and transforms that which we were sure would destroy us into something that lifts us higher and closer to Him, and deeper into His life.

Simple prayers. Only a few words spoken. Yet they lay hold of unbelievable power. Infinite power. Simple prayers heard by an Almighty God who heard the desperation and the faith within, and literally moved heaven and hell to respond. Maybe today, right now, you feel so overwhelmed that you have no words other than these. Pray them. From your heart. His heart will hear, and His heart will move. He will come and save you.

Blessings,
Pastor O