“He’s Always Near”

When someone you care about is struggling, what is your first response? As I think about the people in the church and in my life who are in need, my first instinct is, “How can I help?”

At times, I wish I had the finances to personally bankroll helping support someone’s family while they are unemployed. Or, I wish I had the knowledge to step into difficult situations and be able to confidently advise everyone on the best path forward. Other times, I wish I had the physical strength and energy to move a piano on my own!

When someone shares a need with me, my first response is, “How can I meet that need with the resources I have at my disposal?”

While I personally think that’s an admirable desire, help and support are needed… my solutions are not what they need most.

This Sunday, we are continuing our series on prayer, and we will be looking at intercessory prayer. The big idea is: “Intercessory prayer moves us beyond our own needs and teaches us to carry the needs of others to God.”

The people in my life don’t need me to fix their problems. I’m not the solution for whatever problem they are facing; God is. What they need most is for God to show up in the midst of whatever situation or circumstance they are facing.

My goal should be to be a tool that He uses, not the solution.

In Luke 5, we see a good illustration of this from the friends of a paralyzed man.

Luke 5:18 — “And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus.”

There is a lot in this story. The biggest point in the story is Jesus declaring that He has the power to forgive sins. We also like to point out the determination of the friends to dig through the roof in order to lower their friend into the presence of Jesus.

But before all of that is on display, we see the faith these friends had—the faith that Jesus was what their friend needed most.

What about the people in our lives? Do we have the faith to trust that the best thing for them is for God to step into the situation and move as he sees fit. 

This doesn’t mean I don’t seek to practically meet needs. I think God has called us to do that.

In fact, in Acts 2, which gives us a model of Christian community, people were selling their possessions to meet the needs of others:

“45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

But whatever I can provide pales in comparison to what God can provide.

The presence of Jesus showing up in situations changes things.

Jesus calms storms, casts out demons, heals the sick, and restores the broken.

People sought Jesus because they believed He was the solution to their problem.

• The healing of the centurion’s servant — Luke 7:1–10
• Jesus heals the woman with a discharge of blood — Luke 8:43–48
• Jairus implores Jesus to come heal his daughter — Luke 8:40–42
• Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” — John 11:21

This should lead us to ask ourselves, “Are we spending as much, if not more, time carrying the needs of others to God as we are trying to fix the problem?”

Our closing song this week, “He Lives,” reminds us that we have a risen Savior intimately at work in the world.

“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today… and just the time I need Him, He’s always near.”

Let us remember that the best thing we can do is carry the needs of those in our lives to God and seek His wisdom and direction for how to help minister to those in need in our lives. 

Matthew 7:7–11

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The picture we get here is not a formula to get our way, but instead a picture of intentional pursuit of God with our requests and a reminder of His goodness in His dealings with us and our requests.

We may not get the answer we want, but God’s presence and provision in the midst of those situations will be good—and far better than anything we could come up with on our own.