“But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD, in an acceptable time…” – Psalm 69:13

 

A few years ago, there was a woman who saw an ambulance pass by her place of work. The ambulance was moving quickly with its lights and sirens on. Although she was busy, she felt moved to stop what she was doing in order to say a prayer for the person in the back. This woman, whom I hold very dear, is someone that I’m proud to say is close to Jesus and turns to Him in troubled times. She knows He’s there and listening. So when she saw the ambulance, she immediately spoke to the Lord and asked for a special blessing for that person. Later, she found out the rest of the story.

 

The person in that ambulance was her own mother, nearly at death’s door. If not for interventions from God Almighty, this story would have gone a different way. The situation ended on a happy note though, in that her mom survived the ordeal and went on to live another 11 years before she was called home to glory. There were times during the ambulance ride and at the hospital that her mom was not expected to survive, but in the darkest of times Christ shows that He truly is the light of the world.

 

God is mindful of our prayers. The book of Philippians says to be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication and with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. It doesn’t say to pray only when we have nothing left, but that’s where we as human beings seem to go with prayer. It becomes an afterthought until poop hits the fan, then prayer is all we can do because it’s all we have to fall back on. When things are good, we almost forget that God is around. We say, “Thanks Lord, but I got this for now.” It’s all about us. Then, when bad times hit (and they always do), we go back to God asking for His help. Thankfully, we have a loving and merciful God who hasn’t stopped listening and never will.

 

What God wants is a fellowship with Him, in and through Jesus Christ. It’s all about a relationship where there is an open line of communication; not just when bad things happen, but always. When you spend time with the Lord, you get to be better connected with Him so that when you pray, you are constantly praying His will rather than you own. The better connected you are with God, the more you can be sure that when you pray, your needs will be met. They aren’t just your needs then, they are His as well.

 

That connection with the Lord will also result in Him placing you into different situations that He needs His best people in. A football coach knows to use his first string players in the toughest situations. Same thing goes for God. When the outcome of a situation is critical, God will use His best and most trustworthy tools to get the job done. Are you one of those trustworthy tools? Are you one of God’s go-to people? If you are, you will be placed into various circumstances where you have a chance to witness to someone who needs Christ or to bring comfort to those in need. You will find yourself driving past an accident scene and almost instinctively, you will start praying for those people in the accident as well as the responders. You will feel a stronger and stronger tug on your heart to be more like Jesus and approach situations the way He would and with boldness. Just like the story I told above, you will see something and without thinking you will turn your eyes to the Lord. Your prayers will be less about you and more about others’ needs.

 

If I can offer any advice, it’s to stay close to Jesus. He is more than a crutch to me, He is a stretcher. He opens my blind eyes to see the problems around me and then lets me know that He’s listening. Don’t ever think that prayer could be done at an inappropriate time, because it’s always the right time to talk to your Heavenly Father. When you stay with Jesus, all of your prayers will be ‘just in time.’

 

God’s blessings to you.

 

DH