The LORD is near to all them that call on him, to all that call on him in truth.
– Psalm 145:18
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
This verse mentions that God is closer to us if we call on Him in truth. It’s also recorded in John 4:23, “When the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.” From this verse, we can see that God likes us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. He doesn’t care whether our prayers are long or short, or with beautiful words; rather, He cares whether we speak the words within our hearts to Him. However, many times we fail to make it in the prayer. For example, sometimes we are too busy to pray carefully and just muddle through with one or two sentences; or we just recite some verses to praise God in our prayers, and all of these are not the words within our hearts; sometimes we pray and say that we are willing to abide by Jesus’ teachings, but we always act according to our thoughts when encountering matters. … Such prayers are phony prayers that are deceiving God and are loathsome to Him.
I once read a passage in a book: “The lowest standard that God requires of people is that they be able to open their hearts to Him. If man gives his true heart to God and says what is really within his heart to God, then God is willing to work in man; God does not want the twisted heart of man, but his pure and honest heart. If man does not truly speak his heart to God, then God does not touch man’s heart, or work within him. Thus, the most crucial thing about praying is to speak the words of your true heart to God, telling God of your flaws or rebellious disposition and completely opening yourself up to God. Only then will God be interested in your prayers; if not, then God will hide His face from you.” God likes us to speak the words of our true hearts to Him. In our association with friends, if we speak the words within our heart to them, it means that we have treated them as our true friends, and the same goes for our association with God. God hopes we can sincerely treat Him and truly rely on Him.
Prayer:
O God! I’m willing to pray to You with my true heart. No matter in comfortable circumstances or in tribulations, I’m willing to rely on You sincerely.
