The truth is that we live in a web of dependence, at the center of which is God, in whom all things hold together. Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby settled on the single word helplessness as the best summary of the heart attitude that God accepts as prayer. He said, “Only he who is helpless can truly pray.”
Most parents feel a pang when the child outgrows dependence, even while knowing the growth to be healthy and normal. With God, the rules change. We never outgrow dependence, and to the extent we think we do, we delude ourselves. Prayer is our declaration of dependence upon the Lord.
Give Him each perplexing problem,
All your needs to Him make known;
Bring to Him your daily burdens—
Never carry them alone! —Adams
Pray as if your life depended upon it. It does!
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
King David knew about that ally. In Psalm 18:6, he affirmed, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.” There is no greater help in our time of need than God. He alone can carry us through the trials and crises of life, and we have His word that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).
When crisis hits, we don’t have to stand alone. We have the right help. We can depend on God to be the greatest ally we could ever know. Lean on Him.
When a crisis looms before you,
Don’t face it on your own;
Seek advice from godly counsel,
And take it to God’s throne. —Sper
Our greatest hope here below is to get help from God above.
