Draw Near to God

In the parable of unrighteous judge or the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), Lord Jesus encourages us to pray and not to lose heart.  The parable tells us the importance of persistent prayer. Later Lord Jesus says that “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” He is saying that when he comes, can he find people persistent in prayer, people praying day and night.

The parable of “A friend comes at midnight” (Luke 11:5-13) also shows us the importance of persistent prayer. Lord Jesus says “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”.  He is very willing to give us the Holy Spirit if we ask and keep on asking.

Canaanite Woman’s daughter got demon possessed (Matthew 15:21-28),  She asked Lord Jesus to cast out the demon, at beginning Lord Jesus didn’t answer the request of the Canaanite Woman, because Lord Jesus came to earth to preach Gospel to the Israelites first, not Gentiles. But because of the persistence of the Canaanite women, Lord Jesus gave her what she requested and praised her for her faith.

In Psalm 27:8 Psalmist David says “My heart says of you, Seek his face! Your face, Lord, I will seek”. Seek His face is to seek His presence. The Lord is not an easy catch; we should seek him until we find Him.

Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Here it says that when we pray in secret, our heavenly Father will reward us. The Lord wants us to draw near to Him, to seek His face. When we seek His face, He will reward us.

^{Luke 10:38-42
38} As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Here we see that Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His Word, while Martha was distracted by all the preparations. Then Lord Jesus says “ but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better”

Have we chosen what is better or we are so busy, so distracted that we don’t have time to draw near to the Lord, no time for prayer and no time for reading the Bible.

In Mark 1:35 we see that even Lord Jesus got up early in the morning to pray. It is important that every day we get up in the morning, the first thing we should do is drawing near to the Lord, praying and reading the Bible.

In John  15:1-11, the Lord Jesus says that He is the vine, we are the branches. We must remain in him so that we can bear fruit. We must abide in Him, have connection with him so that we can bear fruit.  Lord Jesus says that apart from him, we can do nothing.

Verse 10-11 says that if we abide in His love, He will give us his joy. The bible also says that in His presence, there is fullness of joy. In God’s presence, in the presence of Lord Jesus, there is fullness of joy.  In order to bear fruit, we branches must constantly connect to the vine.

Today I share about prayer. Talking about prayer, sometimes some other things can be distractions for us from prayer.

Some people might say that they are too busy to pray, they have no time to pray. They have time for other things, but don’t have time for prayer.

Bible encourages us to pray

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

What does it mean pray without ceasing?  it means pray often, pray constantly, pray continuously.

Romans 12:12
12 Rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
We know that in early church, disciples were devoted to prayer.

Mark 1:35
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Here we see that even Lord Jesus got up early in the morning to pray.

Isaiah 55:6-8

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 55:1 Invitation to the thirsty

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

The above two passages say seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. God delights us to seek after Him, to come to Him, to draw near to Him, to communion with Him.

Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Here is says seek me until you find me. Seek will find, if you seek me with all your heart. When we seek the Lord, we should not give up, we should seek Him until we find Him. If we seek Him with all your heart, seek Him diligently, we will find Him.

Luke 11:5-13

5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[a] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[b] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Here it says ask you will receive, seek you will find.  Later in the passage, it says, how much more will Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.

Seek Him and keep on seeking until we find Him, knock and keep on knocking until door open.

1John 4:16 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

God is love, He desires our love, when we love Him, abides in love, He will abides in us. When we abide in love, we will be connected with Him.

James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

God desires us to draw near to Him, if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.  How close we are to the LORD depends on us, if we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. It is always a good idea to draw near to Him daily. First thing every morning and also in the evening.

The bible says that in His presence, there is fullness of joy. If we keep on drawing near to Him, we could experience His joy, peace and love.