Alone? Not Me!

 February 21, 2024

Wednesday

When you read Facebook, it appears that all your friends are living large or they are asking for money. No one seems to go through a tough time that makes them feel all alone. Truthfully, those stories would probably kill Facebook. We have enough problems without reading others. In fact, we don't even want to bother others with our problems. Their our own problems. And we especially don't want to tell those problems to the people who are living large.

The process of holding our problems close to the vest makes us feel all alone. The devil wants us to feel all alone. He can tempt us more easily when we feel all alone. 

It isn't like we haven't cried out to God. He just hasn't shown Himself to us. He hasn't spoken up when we are all alone.

Our church starts each worship service with prayer. We pray that we will see His manifest presence. That means we want to see evidence of His presence. We know He is present but many times we can't see Him. We know He is working but many times we can't see that work. We pray that we will see His presence.

I am sure that many of the people who attend our worship services feel all alone. They want to see God work in their lives. They want to see His manifest presence. Some of them may have given up. They are simply attending out of habit. Those who are genuinely praying to see God's presence are opening their eyes to seeing Him. Maybe some of the people who feel alone will also pray to see His manifest presence. If so, they will.

The truth is that God is with you. He is always with you. There is no place to hide from Him. He is there even when you go through the worst of trials. He is with you in the fire.

“Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up quickly; he said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the middle of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Absolutely, O king.” He responded, “Look! I see four men untied and walking about in the middle of the fire unharmed, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”” (Daniel 3:24–25, NASB 2020)

Elijah had been faithful in praying that there was no rain for three and a half years. He had been faithful in eliminating the prophets of Baal. He is immediately threatened by Jezebel. He runs and thinks he is alone. God asks him what his problem is and he says that it is time to die for he has been faithful and he is all alone. 

If Elijah was truly all alone, who was he speaking to? If we are truly all alone where are our prayers going? Why would we be praying if we really thought we were all alone?

We feel all alone when our senses can't see God. We want to see a miracle. We want a sign but He doesn't give it to us. How many times have we already seen God work? Does He really need to do one more sign for us?

We feel all alone because our feelings tell us we are. Was it our feelings that caused us to believe in Him? Was it our feelings that revealed His presence in the past. No! It was our spirits that revealed the presence of God. It is always our spirits.

You will find God as your read the Word. You will see Him working in the past and know that He is able to do all that He has done today. You will see that He has a pattern of what He does and you will know that He is still working.

You will find God when other believers who know what you are going through pray for you and give you words of encouragement. Sometimes this is miraculous as has happened to me when people I have not known give me a word from God. They have told me that God will bless me when they could not have known my circumstances. It had to be God who told them. My spirit immediately rejoiced!

You will find God in the ways that He brings you through your difficulties. You were drawn close to Him when you had those difficulties. The circumstances around you reveal that God is working. Patience is what you need. He is working.

Then you will say, "I was never alone." Praise God!

This week's sermon: https://prentis.podbean.com/e/prayer-for-a-nation/