Striving In Prayer

Any one who knows God intimately spends long hours in His presence.  They cherish this experience.  They long for it.  A day in the presence of the Lord is better than a thousand else where.  They enjoy the fellowship with God.  They become spiritual heroes.  This is truly an enviable experience.

Only those who have had this kind of experience in prayer can ever hope to climb the ladder and reach the third level in prayer.  In the third level prayer becomes striving.  In Rom.15:31 Paul exhorts all believers to strive with him in prayer.

Every believer has battles in life.  But many forget that it is in prayer that these battles are fought and won.

Many want to avoid battles somehow.  They are cowards.  They do not see victory in life.  Victory is seen if only battles are fought.

Many fight their battles in the ability of their flesh.  They continue their Christian life without ever tasting victory.

What is this striving in prayer?  Let us look at the life of Jacob.  As he ran away from home, he was all alone and slept on the way side.  He had a dream there.   Almighty God gave Jacob promises that he would bless him.  That was Bethel.  There at Bethel God promised Jacob that He would bless him and bring him back to his place (Gen.28:10-22).  Years later, on his way back home, he was once again all alone at the bank of brook Jabok.  There he met with God face to face.  There he wrestled the whole night.  He had a grip on God and he would not let Him go unless He blessed him.  There his name was changed to Israel.  He now owned the promises which were given to him at Bethel.  That was his experience in Peniel (Gen.32:22-32).

The promises of Bethel were experienced in life only after Peniel.

Striving in prayer is claiming the promises which God has given to us in His Word.  “Lord, you have promised this, and unless you fulfill this promise, I will not let you go” is the prayer of a striving believer.  Thus striving in prayer is taking hold of God to fulfill His Word.  God loves a striving believer because He loves to fulfill His Word.

There are many promises in God’s Word.  These promises are for every believer.  But tragically very few believers only enjoy these in their lives.  As we wait in the presence of God, He gives us His promises through His Word (Jer.23:l8).  But if those promises must be fulfilled in our lives, we too need to have the experience of Peniel in our lives.    Many believers have been up to Bethel.  They know the promises of God.  But they have never been to Peniel.  They never had the experience of striving in prayer.  If those promises must be fulfilled, they need to be strived for.  There is no alternate way.

Unless God’s people strive in prayer, God’s promises will not be fulfilled (Rom.15:30-32).

Prayer As Fellowship With God

Many people think that  prayer is just asking and receiving from God.  The Bible teaches that prayer is much more than that.  Any one who knows prayer at that level, knows only the ABC of prayer.

Many who know prayer only at that level become discouraged very often because all their prayers are not always answered.  God has said clearly in His Word that prayers done in the will of God only can be expected to be answered.  God will never answer prayer against His word and against His nature.

The Bible clearly tells why God created man.  Man is presented in the Bible as the crown of God’s creation.  Man is created in God’s image and likeness (Gen.1:27).  He is created to take care of the created world and to rule over it.  Man is God’s representative on earth (Gen.1:28).  More than that, God wanted to have fellowship with man.  In the cool of the day man used to hear the noise of the feet of God walking in the Garden (Gen.3:8).  God enjoyed the company of man.  Man was created for fellowship with God which He enjoyed.

When man lost this privilege through sin, the Son of God took upon Himself the form of man that this fellowship can be restored.  To day God offers forgiveness to man free of cost based on Christ’s work on Calvary.  To day God is calling man back to fellowship with God through Christ (I Cor.1:9).  Now our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son (l Jn.1:3).

When is man able to enjoy this fellowship to which he is called?  Fellowship involves a lot of things.  But the foremost element in fellowship is being together.

Being together in the company of God is the way to enjoy fellowship with God.  This is what the Lord Jesus did while He was here on earth.  In Lk.6:12 we read that He went alone into a mountain and spent a whole night in prayer to God.  What was He asking God during that night of prayer? It was not merely an asking and receiving kind of prayer that He prayed that night.

The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, was enjoying fellowship with God the Father during that night.  He was kind of lost himself in the presence of the Father.  Imagine two friends meeting after the gap of a few years, spending time talking to one another.  They do not know how time flies.  They talk the whole night.  But if you ask them as to what they were talking about, they have nothing to say.  They did not talk philosophy or politics.  In the joy of meeting an intimate friend after a long time, each one is taken up and hours become minutes in the process.

Prayer in the second level is exactly this kind of an experience.  It is being lost in the presence of God.  It is cultivating intimacy with God.  It is enjoying fellowship with God.

Many believers do not even spend a single hour in God’s presence.  How can they think about a whole night in prayer? They do not know what they are missing.  Only a believer who has climbed up to reach this kind of prayer, is a grown up believer.  They who have this experience will sacrifice every thing else for this sublime experience.  If one is not able to forego a meal or a sleep for prayer, it means that one has not reached this level of prayer in life.

God wants, indeed He longs for the fellowship of His Children.  God has called us in Christ for that only.  If any believer does not have a habit of spending a whole day or night in the presence of God, a decision has to be made to this effect.  At least once in a month one must set apart a whole night in prayer.  If nights are far too impossible, spend a day alone in the presence of God.  You will see that your spiritual life is enriched and blessed.  You will grow spiritually.  The Lord will share His secrets with you.  You will begin to discern the will of God.  You will find fulfillment in your life and God’s name will be glorified in your life.  Through these words you are invited to this level of praye

Prayer Is Asking And Receiving From God

If you have never prayed before, try doing it now.  Concentrate your mind and call upon God through Christ.  God has promised that He would answer such a call.  Try this.  This is very practical.  Say to God,  “O God, I come to you through Christ Your Son.   I ask that you forgive me and make me your child”.   If  those words came out of your heart and not merely from your lips,  surely heaven will respond to your call.   I guarantee that a hot line will be created between you and God.

The very first and most important thing which God offers to man through Christ is forgiveness of sins.  Just for the asking in true repentance and faith, any one can get God’s forgiveness to day. God does this based on the work of Christ on Calvary’s cross. There the sinless Son of God paid the penalty of the sins of the whole world.  Millions around the world have experienced this forgiveness which is offered through Christ to day (Rom.3:22-27).  Here is the opportunity.  Do not ever miss this chance to become a child of God.  Do not miss this opportunity to get in to contact with God.  Do not miss this chance to enter into life in its fullest potential.

The Bible is guide to effective praying.  Any one who wants to continue in this relation ship with God, must read, understand and practice what the Bible teaches (Pro.28:8).   Some one who wants to have regular answers to prayer must be regular in the habits of reading, meditating and obeying the Word of God every day in every walk of life.

The Bible is like a letter sent to you by God in person.  If you want to send a reply to that letter, you need to read and understand it.  Many people do not know what to pray or how to pray, simply because they do not know what is written in the Bible. So in order to become effective in prayer, read, study, meditate, and practice the Bible daily.  As you eat your daily food to nourish your body, so to nourish your spirit take in God’s Word on a very regular basis.

One of the plain teachings of the Bible is that one needs to ask to get anything from God. “Ask and you shall receive”(Mt.7:7). “You have not…because you ask not”(Js.4:2).  The Bible has many promises pertaining to this life and about life to come.  But one can enjoy these promises in one’s life as one asks God to fulfill those promises.

Christians are supposed to believe in Christ.  They believe that He is the Son of God.  They believe that He died for the whole world and is a risen savior etc. But if we ask many of them whether they have eternal life, they are not very sure.  The Bible says that he who believes in the Son has eternal life.  Now, what is the problem?  The Bible says that their faith is dead faith (Js.2:l9).  Only when they call upon Him in faith, their faith will be able to save them.  The Bible says, “They that call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom.10:13).  Thus faith and prayer are two sides of the same coin.  Just as prayer without faith is useless, faith without prayer is useless as well.  Thus some one’s prayer life is a reflection of the genuine faith one has.

The Bible says that salvation is a free gift from God (Eph.2:8).  But only those who ask for it in faith alone will receive it.  Likewise all God’s promises will remain promises, unless they are claimed by believing prayer.  Without believing prayer promises will never reach its fulfillment.

Prayer is asking and receiving from God.  Prayer is asking God to fulfill His promises.  Many in the world to day have experienced prayer at this level.  God of the Bible is a prayer answering God.  He delights to answer prayers promised in His revealed will which is the Bible.  Every praying believer knows it.  Praise be to His Holy Name

Prayer Is The Means Of Contact With God

Man has a body, a soul and a spirit.  I Thes. 5:23. With the body man relates himself to the physical world.  With the soul, man relates himself with the living world of creatures.  But with the spirit, man can relate himself to God who is the Ultimate Spirit (Jn.4:24).

In order to maintain his body, man has to breathe, eat and drink regularly.  No one can live with out these.  Every one has to do it moment by moment and day by day.  That is how God made man.

Same thing with the soul.  Mind is the organ of the soul.  In order to develop his soul, man has to train his mind day by day.  One goes to school and trains oneself to become a doctor or an advocate.  It takes years of regular and hard work to achieve this mental capability.  People need to train their minds before they can enjoy a novel or a poem or a game of cricket.  By regular training of mind man achieves such heights and man is able to enjoy life better in this way.

The one who trains up his mind enjoys life better than the one who failed to do so. Not only that, the one who trains the mind enjoys life at a higher level.   That is why some are able to forego a prepared chicken meal to watch a cricket match.  The one who only knows the taste of chicken cannot imagine what he or she is missing in cricket.  But the one who enjoys cricket enjoys life at two levels.

Human life is not over with chicken and cricket.  Man craves for something deeper.  He feels an emptiness within himself even after he enjoys the very best at these two levels of human existence.  The reason for this is that man has a higher level of existence than these two levels.  Man has a spirit.  The spirit of man is the God-element in man.  The spirit of man longs for the Eternal Spirit who is God.  Only when man’s spirit is able to get in touch with God who is Spirit, is man able to find fulfillment in his life.  He is then able to enjoy life at its best.  With Christ in life, man enjoys life much better than he enjoys it with just chicken and cricket!

The Bible says that through Christ, who is God in human form, any one to day can enter into contact with the Eternal Spirit.  As we approach God through Christ, prayer is the means of that contact.  By praying through Christ who is the mediator between man and God (l Tim.2:5) any one can get into a living contact with God.  In fact, such a person can become a child of God through Christ (Jn.l:12).  Thus man can enter into the fullness of his being.  Man can enjoy life at its very best.

Anyone who does not have this divine contact is living like the rest of the animal kingdom.  Such people know only two levels of their existence.  They are missing the very best that life can offer.  If the reader is one of those, you are invited to the third level of human existence through Christ.  Man without Christ is described in the Bible as one who is dead in spirit (Eph. 2:1).  It means that such a person is separated from God and thus living a life merely in the flesh.

Logic of Prayer

(Bible View)
Many people have not understood the logic of prayer.  They can not understand why we should pray if God knows everything.  Therefore they do not see the relevance of prayer and indeed they cannot pray effectively.  In this post we will try to place prayer in the right perspective in the light of God’s Word and learn as to why we should pray.

The God of the Bible is a God of love.  He is gracious and compassionate.  There is no comparison to His Person any where in the universe.  He is goodness in personified form.  He is love personified.  He is an all-positive person.  There is no negative element in Him at all.  The Bible says even His anger is righteous anger.  Such is the God of the Bible.

Many people ask questions about God’s goodness.  They say, if God is indeed good, why all this poverty and war? Why the innocent suffer?  Indeed, these are relevant questions and the Bible gives answer to similar questions.

If God was only a God of love, answering such questions would be easy.  But, if God also is Almighty, as the Bible claims Him to be, answer becomes difficult.  If God was only a God of love, answer is easy.  We know several good and loving people who are helpless.  Surely, God is not like one of them!  On the other hand, if God was Almighty alone, answer again is easy.  We know of several mighty ones who are unconcerned about any thing.  They are able to do many things.  But they will not. They are cruel.  They will never lend a helping hand.  Is God like one of them? Surely not.

The Bible reveals that God is love (I Jn.4:8).  If any one has seen any expression of love any where in the universe, it is simply a poor imitation of God’s love.  The loving God of the Bible is not a helpless old grandfather.  He is Almighty.  Nothing is impossible to Him (Gen.l8:l4).  If He says some thing it will come to pass (Ps.33:9).

Then what is the problem?  Why not God in His Almighty Love save the world from the present human predicament?

The problems did not begin with God.  There is some one else involved in the picture.  That some one wanted to be God himself and wanted to sit on the throne of God (Is.l4:13f). It was Lucifer who had this desire.  He was one of the first of God’s creations.  He was in charge of the whole created world (Eze.28:13ff).

When Lucifer rebelled God could have chained him as he would be in the future. If God had done that, other angels would have served God with greater fear.  They would have appreciated God’s action towards Lucifer.  But it is the loving heart of God which prevented Him from destroying Lucifer.  God in His magnanimity seems to be telling Lucifer, “if you deserve the throne, you may take it”.  And Lucifer is in his attempt to capture the throne of God even to day.  The created world is under his custody to day (I Jn.5:19).  And he continues his battle by accusing God and His people.

To day Lucifer is the prince of this world (Jn.l4:30).  He is also called the god of this world (2 Cor.4:4).  God in His magnanimity stays outside and acts from outside.  God sent His only Son as man to be killed by His enemies.  In that process God demonstrated His love for the created world and wants to redeem it from the enemy.

And now God says, “call upon me be ye saved” (Is.45:26).  Thus to day God works for man only in response to man’s call.  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one opens the door, I will come in…” (Rev.3:20).  God will never force His way into the life of any man.  Unless man permits, God stays outside man’s life, waiting for his call eagerly.

There may be a good barber in the town.  That does not mean there are no one with undressed hair in the town.  They have to come to the barber.  They have to permit him to clean them up.  No barber ever chases after people to dress them up.

God is like this as well.  God has solutions to all problems of every man in the entire world to day.  But man has to go to God.  Man has to call upon God.  He is both willing and able to do any thing and every thing for us.  But He will do it only in response to our cries (Mt. 7:7; Js. 4:2: Eze. 36:37).

Around the world we can meet people who claim to be born again children of God.  According to Jn 1:12 God has given us authority to call ourselves  His children if we believed in and accepted His Son into our lives.  But without prayer no one ever becomes a child of God.

Indeed, without prayer God does not work for us to day.  God does not force any one into salvation.  If He forces some one into salvation as He did in the case of Lot (Gen l9:29) it was in answer to the prayers of Abraham.

So to day if some one wants to be saved and enjoy fullness of God’ best for their lives, they need to pray.  If some one wants others to be saved, they need to intercede until they come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Why is it like this?  The simple reason is that this is the order that God has set.  This is the operating method of God.

Suppose some one has a doubt as to why should the sun rise in the East.  The simple answer is, that is God’s order of things and it will never change( Jer.33:20,25).  Like wise God’s spiritual laws will never change.  One of them is:  ask and receive; ask not receive not (Mt.7:7; Js.4:2).  “If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Heavenly Father will give good gifts to those who ask him (Mt. 7:11).

God will not interfere in our lives unless we permit Him to do so. We are people with freedom of choice.  We must choose to call Him.  We must choose to obey Him.  This is man’s day according to the Scripture.  Today we are the decision makers.  The Day of the Lord is coming when He would be the Decision Maker.  But today man decides.

God will not do any thing spiritual in the world except in answer to our prayers.  This is because it is God’s order of things.  He will never change His laws.

Immutable Laws of Life

Now we all are agreed that the universe is guided by certain fixed laws which are unalterable.  The Law of gravity never changes whether one believes in it or not.  The universe was functioning that way for millions of years before Newton ever told us that truth.  Likewise there are moral laws which are under operation.  No one can ever change them.  While scientists discovered the physical laws, prophets discerned certain of the spiritual laws under operation through their interaction with God and as God revealed it to them.  Every religion has discovered some of these in some form or the other. The very basic principle is that every cause has an effect.  This is true physically and it is true morally as well.

Every person under the sky has some concept of good and evil.  Every person has a conscience and can just live by it and be perfectly happy.  But since every one failed there, God in His love made an ad hoc provision in Christ to forgive the past and to give power to live a new life.  Whether one is a believer in Christ or not, the Bible is eloquent when it says, “Do not be deceived; what a man sows, so he reaps”.  In fact, that verse was addressed to the believers.  Faith in Christ which does not change one’s character is useless.   One may accept the provision by God for the past miss-deeds and enjoy its benefits.  There is power in the gospel only as long as a person continues in constant contact with the divine.   If any one does not want that provision, it is left to that individual.  Let that person be independent and be responsible for all his/her doings.  But results are bound to come.

Spiritual Warfare Is Real

We read about spiritual warfare in the 10th chapter of the book of Daniel. In vv.2 & 3 Daniel was in deep waters for twenty one days. He was not able to eat properly and we may surmise he was not sleeping properly either. He went to God in prayer and there seemed to be an absolute silence on the part of God. It was quite unusual for a person like Daniel. To Him answers to prayers came instantly almost every time. But this time it was different! He was able to sense it immediately. After twenty one long days the silence was broken. Daniel was told what went on behind the scene. Here we have a great insight into what is happening in the spiritual world to day. Daniel was told in vv.12 & 13 that there was a satanic hindrance blocking the way that answer could not reach him.

This is happening even to day. Whenever a saint of God who lives and prays in the will of God is praying, God sends His angels with answers. It is recorded for us twice in the book of Acts in relation to Peter’s imprisonment (Acts 5:19; 12:7). But if there is satanic blockage angels cannot come through.

One of the greatest secrets about the spiritual warfare is that God cannot fight with the devil! God cannot; because God and Satan are not equals. While God is infinite and almighty, Satan is finite and is a creature .  If God would fight him, the next moment he is destroyed. When God became man in Christ our Lord, He taught us to love our enemies. Would He Himself destroy His enemy? Satan knows that God is infinitely good and that is why he is behaving the way he does to day. Satan has free access into the presence of God to day (Job 1 :6;2:1; Zech.3:1). To day the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 Jn.5:19).

While God cannot fight with the devil, we can. We too are created beings. And with the power of God in us, we can indeed fight and defeat the devil. In fact we are asked to do so (Js.4:7). Christ by His death defeated and disarmed the devil (Col.2:15). But he has not accepted defeat as yet. He is still fighting (1 Pet.4:8). In Eph.6 where we have the teaching on spiritual warfare, we are told that we wrestle  not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places (v.12). Unless we wrestle, Satan has the victory. We are told in v.18 of Eph. 6 that the only activity of a spiritual warrior is prayer. After having put on the whole armor of God, the only activity the spiritual warrior is involved in is persevering prayer; praying with all prayers and supplications. If we fail here, we fail in our responsibility. Imagine well-uniformed nurses standing in a busy casualty ward doing nothing! This is what a non-praying believer does to day. But look at Daniel. He was striving in prayer for all those twenty one days. If Daniel had not persevered for those three weeks in instant prayers, answer would not have reached him.

Of course, a day is coming when Satan will be chained (Rev.20: 1,2) and later sent to His eternal destiny (Rev.20: 10). Till then Satan will hinder God’s work here on earth (cf 1 Thes.2:18).Till then we are asked to strive in prayer for His glory.

Suffering For Christ-A Higher Calling

Often many are bewildered at the eerie silence of God especially when some of His own people are cruelly murdered and mishandled in various ways.  What is the Biblical insight into such situations? 

A conspicuous silence of God is witnessed in Acts 7 where the first martyr of the Christian church witnessed martyrdom. Here was Stephen mightily defending his faith before a furious crowd. Should we not expect God to defend His servant on such an occasion? Where was the God of Daniel? Was He not any more at work in that fashion? We are told in Acts 7 that as Stephen looked up he saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:56). Why was He a silent spectator this time? Three times in the book of Acts prison doors were opened miraculously; twice for Peter and once for Paul (Acts 5:19; 12:10; 16:26). But the book of Acts closes with a closed prison door. What happened now?  Are we to think like some that the age of miracles slowly came to an end towards the end of the book of Acts? God forbid. If the age of miracles were to come to an end, how are to understand the reference to Elijah in Js.5:17? Any student of scripture will agree that the passage teaches that if one prayed like Elijah miracles will indeed take place to-day. If that is so, how are we to understand the many martyrdoms in the history of the church? Truly, our question is: “Why was God silent when the Staines were burnt alive?

Thanks be to God for the scriptural revelation. Scriptures tell us that these are occasions when God is giving a higher calling to the ones concerned. Suffering for Christ is seen in the scripture as a gift to the believer (Phil. 1:29). Suffering is the only path to glory. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim.2: 12). In other words our Lord is preparing a set of bureaucrats to rule with Him in His eternal kingdom. Those who qualify themselves are the ones who suffer for Christ now here on earth. To categorize every suffering of a believer as the result of sin is one of the tricks of the devil so that believers will shudder and refrain from suffering for Christ. The greatest saint of India is Sadhu Sunder Singh. He is also called “the apostle of the bleeding feet”. Yes, indeed, the greatest saints are the ones who suffered the most. To day we need men and women who would choose the path of suffering and who would bear their crosses daily knowing that big dividends await them. An aptly given title of a book is “Peril by choice”. It is the biography of a western missionary who went into one of the remotest tribes of Amazon.

We need to remember when we suffer we are not alone. Listen to what the prophet says. “In all their afflictions, he was afflicted…” (Isa. 63.9). Yes, indeed, there is a new dimension in the sufferings of a believer in Christ. Paul graphically pictures the same in Col. 1:24 when he says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ”. So when a believer suffers it has eternal repercussions. Remember what the prophet Zephaniah says in 3: 17b. “He is silently planning for you in His love” (a paraphrase). Silence of God is a welcome thing on such occasions and one must be able to rejoice over it.

Sin can block the way to God

There are occasions in the lives of well meaning believers when God seems to be silent and this often perplexes people. Some are dejected and become despondent. Others are tempted to quit praying; and therefore we need to look in to the word of God to get an explanation about such occasions.

The classical example of the silence of God is found in the life of our Lord Himself. We know that Jesus our Lord always lived close to the Father while here on earth and He could boldly say at the tomb of Lazurus “And I know that Thou hearest Me always” (Jn. 11:42). What a confidence! Truly this can be the confidence of every child of God who lives and prays in the will of God. But then, look at our Lord when He was crying on that cruel cross. Heaven was silent. There was no response from the side of God the Father. Of course, we know the reason. There on that cross Jesus the sinless Son of God was representing the sinful humanity. Until the sin problem was dealt with, Heaven was silent. But thanks be to God. On the third day He rose again victorious. And the sin problem was once and for all dealt with. To day heaven is open to any repenting sinner!

In the life of a believer it is possible that sin can block the way to God. Listen to what the prophet has to say. “Behold the Lord’s hand is not short that it cannot save; neither is His ear dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear (Is.59:1,2). There are ever so many besetting sins (Heb.12:l) and presumptuous sins (Ps.19:13) which might creep into our lives unawares and block the way to God. If a praying believer experiences the silence of God, it is high time for such a person to let the spirit of God search our hearts to see if there be any wicked way in us and let Him lead us to everlasting ways (Ps.139:23,24). Silence of God will be broken and God will become once again active in our lives. But sin has to be identified, confessed and rejected before this can happen.

The people of Israel were witnessing mighty acts of God until they reached the small city of Ai. There they experienced a lamentable failure. Achan had sinned. Listen to what the Lord said to a praying Joshua. “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned…“(Josh.7:lO,ll). No amount of praying can rectify the situation. Sin has to be identified and dealt with before God can act again on our behalf.   Just one disobedience and Adam lost the garden.  Just one sin and Saul lost his kingship. Just one sin Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives! Remember: God takes sin seriously and He cannot be a partner where sin is concealed. Has God been silent in your life in spite of the many prayers you have been praying? Search your heart to see if any sin blockage is in your life. Confess and reject it. Make restitution if necessary (cf Lk.19:8; Phile.v. 1 and see how God will become once again active in your life. Listen to the prophetic word. “I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face” (Hos.5:15).

Silence of God

Have you ever wondered about the silence of God? Did it bother you any time when God seemed to be absolutely silent and heaven was like an impenetrable brazen vault above the earth? How can we understand the silence of God?

The first thing to remember is that God is silent towards anyone who is silent towards Him. There are billions in the world today who have never had the privilege to know and experience God in their lives. God is Omnipotent and loving. But tragically they do not know Him. God is Omnipresent and also knows all the human plights. But He seems to be unconcerned. He seems to remain far from all human predicaments. When a tragedy occurs, people shout: “Where is God?”, “Is there a God out there?”, “If God is there, what is He doing?” The Bible tells us that God intervenes in human lives only when man calls upon Him. If a person ignores God, God will ignore him. If some one rejects Him, He will be rejected by God (Hos.4:6). If any one calls upon God, God will answer him. “God is near to all who call upon Him; who call upon Him in truth”(Ps. 145:18). “Ask and receive; ask not, receive not” is the Biblical conditioning (Mt.7:7; Js.4:2). God never forces His way into the life of any one. If any one reading these lines has not had an opportunity to know and experience God, may be that person has never called upon God in sincerity and in truth. Such a person is advised to pause for a minute kneel down and call upon God through Christ our Lord for pardon and for peace, and it will work like magic; a flow of God’s grace will flood into such a life bringing pardon and peace. These are available just for the asking. Avail it and give glory to God to whom alone belongs all glory and honour. Amen