May I be so bold as to suggest a three-step method for approaching God in prayer?
(1) Focus your attention on the fact that you are in the presence of God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You will never be closer to God than the moment you begin speaking to Him in prayer.
In heaven, we all will dramatically recognize God’s presence, but heaven itself will not bring us closer to God than the moments we engage Him in prayer.
(2) Fix in your mind the majesty of God. Today’s scripture passage from Isaiah 40 will aid this part of the process.
(3) Recognize your absolute need for God’s grace. To be a sinner is to fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), and we all are sinners.
This is a good time to ask for the cleansing power of Jesus (1 John 1:9) and to confess your dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).
Prayer in the Presence of the Incomparable God
Isaiah invites us to contemplate the majesty of God, both in creative power and wisdom.
Who has measured the waters of the sea in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or as his counselor has instructed him?
Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:12-14)
Try this experiment with your hand. How much water can your cupped hand hold? Stretch out your fingers and measure the distance between your thumb and little finger.
My hands are small for a man my size, and I can hold little in the palm of my hand. The same limitation applies to the span between my thumb and little finger.
God, on the other hand, is able to cup the seas in the hollow of His hand and mark off the heavens between His thumb and little finger. These images are poetic, because God is infinitely larger than what they portray.
The same poetic description applies to God’s ability to weigh mountains and hills.
When we approach God in prayer, this is the all-powerful Creator who graciously listens to our prayers.
I am embarrassed to recall the many immature prayers I have uttered, thinking God needed my advice on world affairs. To think that God needs my counsel is as absurd as thinking I could hold the Pacific Ocean in the palm of my hand.
As we think about justice and righteousness, no one wrote a rule book for God. He chose to be loving, just, righteous, holy, understanding, and so much more.
When you approach God in prayer, remind yourself that this is the Being who desires to meet with you. He truly hears your prayers and deigns to call you His friend (John 15:14-15).
God and the Nations
A daily meeting with God will remind us that God is active in human history, whether we immediately see it or not.
In prayer, we bring our concerns and cares to the Lord. World events may seem large, but they are no match for the Lord.
Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket
and are accounted as dust on the scales;
see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.
Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,
nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. (Isaiah 40:15-17)
I recently listened to an old-time preacher on YouTube. He asked his audience, “How do you beat the devil? Do you out-devil the devil? If so, what sort of devil would you become?”
How does God defeat the evil in the world? How does He bring order out of chaos?
Good Friday and Easter show us God’s power over evil. He conquers evil through self-giving love and resurrection power.
The same old-time preacher mentioned above confronted the KKK in the rural South. They were intent on hanging a black man and were trying to catch him. The old preacher walked up on one of the Klan members, pulled off his hood, and struck a match, illuminating his face.
He looked the man in the eye and said, “The light has shone in the darkness, and the darkness couldn’t overcome it.”
The Klansman knew the preacher and slunk away, embarrassed at his behavior. The old preacher brought love and light that set both the Klansman and the black man free.
How did he learn to act with such courage and love? He met with the Lord on a daily basis and knew he could trust the absolute power of an awesome God.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 