Help for Poor and Needy

Verse for Today: Sunday, October 31, 2010

Psalms 40:17 - Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me; You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

The humility and exasperation of a child of God is echoed in the prayers of king David. His utter depravity was always before him and he had no hesitation to admit his nothingness before God. He also confessed that no matter what he had in his possession, when he goes to the presence of God, he can go as one who has nothing other than God. His possessions or positions never possessed David. Whatever he has is because of God, but that did not mean that it was all his, but a gift of God. So king David goes to the Lord and pleads for the Lord to be mindfulness of him as a poor, needy and depraved human being who cannot live in this world without the help and protection of the Lord. His prayer for the Lord not to delay answers to his prayers is also an indication of his desperation in wanting to hearing from the Lord. Just as in the case of David, all of God's children are encouraged by the Spirit of God to go to God declaring their nothingness before God. This is the only way we can qualify for a hearing in the presence of God. If we have something in our hands or if we can handle our situation ourselves using our own expertise, why should we go to the Lord? In other words, our prayers are not rituals that we perform before God, but earnest pleas which come out of the intensity of felt dire need. When the need for provision, protection and peace are paramount in our hearts, we need to go to the Lord and plead out of our desperation for His answers without which we know that we can no longer keep going. David's plea that the Lord answers Him without delay indicates his importunity in prayer and the utter desperation of his situation. Only those who have this feeling of desperation can pray earnestly and sincerely, and so the Spirit of God wants us to follow the example of David in all our prayers to God.

Dear reader, no matter what your situation today is, it is expedient that you go to the Lord putting your petitions before Him in earnest prayer, confessing your depravity and dire need for urgent and immediate answers from Him. You are encouraged to pray with importunity and without getting discouraged or tired of praying. The fact that the Lord has not answered so far does not mean that He has not heard your pleas. God knows the implications of your situation from the eternal perspective. He knows what is best for you today that will be an investment for your eternity and is designing special answers for you while making necessary changes in your situation so that it will all turn out to be for your blessing. When you are poor, He wants to remind you that you are blessed with all the blessings of the Heavenly places. When you are needy, He wants to remind you that your greatest need is to be more and more lost in the wonder and awe of His person. As you spend more time in His presence to express your need for help and protection, He takes time to reassure you that the help and protection have been with you all the way and will continue without any interruption. He has appointed full time angels to help and protect you in all your circumstances and situations. He guarantees that He will not delay, and will answer you to meet your immediate needs at the right time. He is such a benevolent Father who cannot keep quiet when His beloved children are in dire need and in desperation. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He knows that His reputation and character are at stake if His children are a deprived lot in this world. So dear friend, keep trusting and waiting for the Lord to expressly intervene in your situation at the earliest to save you from difficult situations and sustain you for His glory.

Psalms 86:1 - Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

Thought for Today
Only the needy and the poor will feel the urgency for importunate prayer.

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