Matthew 14:29-30
New International Version (NIV)
29 “Come,” he said.Then Peter got down out
of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But
when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord,
save me!”
Matthew 27:46New International Version (NIV)
46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in
a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[a] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
Matthew 27:50New International Version (NIV)
50 And when
Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
I recently shared a post on
Facebook that I saw on my news feed. It
said, “The purpose of prayer is not to receive what you asked for, but to
strengthen your relationship with God.”
(Daily Words of Wisdom). As I
began to think about what to post today I began researching blessings. I was recently reminded of the prayer of Jabez
found in I Chronicles 4:10. God blessed
Jabez who was more honorable than his brothers but who was given a name that
represented pain. Well, that brought me
to the words “cried out”. When do we
“cry out” to the Lord? Usually when we
are in pain, scared, frustrated, all those things that cause distress. This brought me to the verses that I have
listed today as our Scripture for today.
If prayer brings us closer to
God then why do we only cry out to Him when we are in pain? I found that answer in both Peter and Jesus
words. Peter had such a close
relationship with Jesus that He recognized Him on the waters. He was so happy to see Him that he got out of
the boat and went towards Him but when his eyes fell towards his surroundings
he began to sink.
Jesus had prayed all
night. He had asked that the Lord’s will
be done, yet He found Himself on the cross.
He had taken on the sins of the world and the Father had allowed it to
happen. He knew it would, He knew the
will of the Father but at that time, with all that sin on Him, He cried
out. The Father did not answer with an
immediate resolution to the problem. He
allowed His son to cry out once more and then His son died on that cross. Seems like the end but it was far from
it! Many of you know that Christ rose on
the third day, conquering death and bringing life to those who believe.
Yet, we find ourselves crying
out to God, with the question, “Why?”.
We cry out and ask Him to bless us, to comfort us, to keep up from harms
way. Yet we forget to cry out to Him in
praise and glory and honor. We forget to
live for Him day in and day out. We
forget to honor Him by keeping His commandments, yet when tough times come, we
cry out.
The challenge I face today is
the challenge to not cry out only in times of distress but to cry out before
the distress. To keep my eyes fixed on
Him and not my surrondings. I need to cry out in a voice to want to know Him more,
seek Him more, love Him more, and trust Him more.
Is our prayer life bringing
us closer to God or are we simply asking for blessings to make life a little
more bearable? Trust Him, Love Him, Know
Him by Seeking Him with all your heart.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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