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“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

Imagine that you are in London, England. You are visiting Buckingham Palace. Inside the palace, you see a beautiful painting of a sunrise over the London Bridge. You think it is the most beautiful painting of a sunrise that you have ever seen! You learn from the tour guide that the Queen of England herself painted that picture when she was still just a young princess.

You say to yourself, “Wow! I’d sure like to tell her how much I like her painting!” And the next thing you know, a guard with a really tall furry black hat is escorting you through the palace halls and right up to the Queen, sitting on her royal throne. There you are, standing astonished before the Queen of England herself! What a privilege! What an honor!

Can you imagine how amazing that would be? Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t happen. And even if you were to go home and write a letter to the Queen to tell her how much you liked her painting of the sunrise, the letter would probably be opened by a secretary or an assistant. The Queen might never even see your letter, and she might not ever take the time to meet you or hear what you have to say to her. She is just too busy and too important.

Three-year-old Erika and her baby sister were going to the bakery with their mother. Erika pointed out the van window and said, “Mommy, look at the beautiful sky!” And there was a beautiful sunrise painted across the whole sky.

“You know, honey, God made that sunrise!” said her mother.

The little girl leaned her forehead against the window and said wistfully, “I wish I could tell Him ‘thank you.’”

“Oh, but you can tell God ‘thank you’ for that sunrise!” With a joyful smile, Erika’s mother explained to her that we can tell God anything we like, at any time. A queen might just paint a picture of a sunrise, and we could never even speak to her. But the God Who rules over the whole universe – the One Who actually made that sunrise and the sun itself and the stars – that God is available for us to talk to! Not only is He available, but He wants, invites, and commands us to talk to Him! Now that is astonishing! An open invitation to an audience anytime with the King and Creator of all!

In Psalm 8, David expresses the same kind of amazement when he says, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” In other words, the Creator of the universe not only cares about us, but He tells us not to be anxious about anything, because we can tell all of our requests to God through prayer. (Philippians 4:6)

If you had an invitation to speak to a queen and you could give her one request, you would probably spend several days just planning what you would say; and you would never be late or miss that appointment. But we are invited and even commanded to speak to the King of kings, God Himself! It is a joy and privilege to be able to come to His throne of grace everyday and to give all our requests to Him.

God is not too busy or important for His people, and He invites them to fellowship with Him.

My Response:
» What are some things I would like to talk to God about?
» What are things that discourage me from talking to God?
» How can I act like I believe in a God Who is not too busy or too important to fellowship with me?

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1b)

“Time to get ready for bed, Taylor. When you’re done, I’ll come pray with you.”

“Dad, does God really hear me when I pray?”

“Well, of course, Taylor. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It just seems like a lot of the things I pray for don’t ever happen. Maybe I’m just not asking God enough times.”

“That reminds me of a parable in the book of Luke. Jesus used parables, or stories, sometimes when teaching His followers. The one I’m thinking of has to do with prayer. Jesus told a story about a judge and a widow. (A widow is a woman whose husband has died.) This widow needed help and the judge was the only one who could give her what she needed, but he refused. He turned her down. But this widow did not give up – she kept on asking the judge for help. After a while, the judge saw that this widow was going to keep on bugging him. He did not want her to bother him anymore, and he did not want others to think he was a bad judge, so he finally gave in and gave her the help she needed.”

“Oh. So I just need to keep on bugging God, right?”

“No, Taylor, because there’s a lot more to the story. Jesus explained that if even this unjust, uncaring judge would give the widow what she needed – then surely we can trust that God, Who is always just and caring, will give His children what they need. And He will do it right on time.”

“But, Dad, I don’t see all my prayers being answered very fast.”

“Well, that could be because God knows better than you do what you need and what would be best to give you. Also, His idea of ‘right on time’ is not always our idea of ‘fast.’ God’s timing is perfect. And it’s important to understand the point Jesus was trying to make when He told the story. He was using the story to teach people to be faithful in prayer. The widow kept asking, even when the judge tried to ignore her. If she can be that faithful in asking an earthly judge for help, then God’s children can pray with much more faithfulness. We have confidence that our God hears and cares about our prayer requests.”

“Ok, I think I get it,” said Taylor. “It’s not about bugging God until He gets tired of me and gives me what I want. But I can keep on praying without being discouraged because I have faith that my requests are going to the right God.”

“Exactly; your prayers are going to the right God, a good and perfect God Who hears you and cares about you. If you trust that God will give people what they need when they need it, then you will keep praying faithfully. Now – finish getting ready for bed so we can pray!”

God hears our prayers and expects us to pray faithfully.

My Response:
» Do I trust God to know and meet my needs?
» Should I be more concerned with how God answers prayer, or with how I pray?
» How can I be faithful in prayer?

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Have you ever been lost? Danny was only eight years old when he and his brother Steve got lost one day during their walk home from school. Instead of walking down the streets they knew well, they decided they wanted to follow a creek for a while, thinking it would take them toward home. But it didn’t. Instead, the creek went another direction. When Danny and Steve realized they were lost, they got a little scared. Finally, a man came by, and they asked him if he knew where their home’s street was, and he told them. When they followed his guidance, they were able to find their way back to familiar territory, and back home!

What Danny and Steve did is exactly what Proverbs 3:5 tells us not to do. They leaned on their own understanding. They thought they knew what they were doing, but they didn’t. This is how many people behave for most of their lives. They think they know what they are doing on their own. Instead of getting their guidance from the Lord, they go their own directions, doing things their own ways. And something always goes wrong – every time!

Why is that we always get confused or “lost” when we lean on our own understanding? It is because no one has the ability in himself to go the right direction, to do the right thing, on his own. The prophet Jeremiah admitted this fact to God when he said, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (See Jeremiah 10:23.)

So, how can we ever be sure we are going in the right direction? How can we ever be sure we are doing the right things? If it is really true that we don’t have the ability in ourselves to go the right way or to do the right thing – then how can we get it? We must trust, honor, and obey the Lord. If we do, He will make sure we go the right direction and do the right thing. That is the promise of Proverbs 3:6. The Lord tells us all we need to know. He is the Giver of all the guidance and counsel we could ever need.

We do not have to plan our own paths – all we have to do is trust the Lord’s plans and obey what He commands. If we will honor Him in our decisions, rather than thinking we can make it without Him, then we will find He is worthy of our trust. Leaning on God, we can never get lost. The Lord’s guidance will always take us the right direction. It will always take us closer to “home” – always closer to Him.

God is the perfect Guide and Counselor, worthy of our wholehearted trust, honor, and obedience.

My Response:
» Am I acknowledging (honoring) God in all my ways, or am I mostly concerned about my own opinions and wishes?
» Does God know what He’s doing and what He’s going to do in my life better than I could ever know?
» How can I change my thinking and actions to show that I am trusting in, honoring, and obeying a perfect Guide and Counselor?

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Wouldn’t you like to see God? Wouldn’t you like to see with your own eyes the God Who created your eyes? Wouldn’t you like to spend time with Him in person and to know firsthand what He is really like?

The Bible says that nobody human has ever seen God, but the Bible also says that “the pure in heart…shall see God.” How can that be? Jesus preached that, through Him, it is possible to see the Father. In Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount,” He tells us how it is that we can see God. What does Matthew 5:8 say that we need to be in order to see God? We need to be “pure in heart”! But what does it mean to be “pure in heart”? What does it mean to be “pure”?

To be “pure” means you don’t have anything in you that isn’t supposed to be there. If you have a glass of pure water, that means there isn’t anything in the glass except water. No dirt, no bugs, no poison – or anything else – but water. If something else is in the water, then it is not pure water.

For a person to be pure means there is nothing in him that isn’t supposed to be there. He is just like God made him to be. In other words, there is no sin in him. The problem is, no human being is born the way God originally made him or her to be. Because Adam and Eve sinned, we are all born with sinful natures. So how can we become “pure in heart” and get back to the way God intended for us to be – pure-hearted? Through Jesus Christ! If you are believing on Jesus Christ and trusting in His righteousness to be your righteousness, then Jesus purifies your heart (makes your heart pure). His blood washes away the record of your sin and frees you from the power of sin. Not only can Jesus cleanse and purify your heart one time, but He can keep on helping you to keep on purifying your heart.

So what does a pure-hearted person look like? Well, he is someone who will not keep on sinning on purpose. Instead, he is trying to keep himself free from sin. That means keeping sin out of whatever he does, whatever he thinks, and whatever he wants. That is what it means to be pure in heart. Psalm 15 describes a pure-hearted person, if you would like to learn more about what a pure-hearted person is like. Psalm 15 clearly teaches that the only way to have fellowship with God is to be pure in heart.

What is the promise to those who are pure in heart? They shall see God! But what does it mean to “see” God?

First, to “see” God means to understand His ways. He is sinless. That is what He wants us to be, too. And when we are, we will understand Him more and love Him more, and we will be able to talk to Him in prayer with a clean conscience. This is the idea of having fellowship with God, knowing firsthand what He really is like. God is a spirit, so He is “knowable” through pure-hearted fellowship.

But there really is a way that pure-hearted believers will get to “see” God with their own eyes. “They shall see God” means just that. We who are saved by Jesus Christ will get to see God in eternity. In this earthly life, we can “see” God in the understanding sense, through Jesus Christ’s righteousness. And in the new heaven and the new earth, we will be able to be with God and to “see” Him with our own eyes, because of what Jesus Christ did for us.

God promises that the “pure in heart” will see Him!

My Response:
» Do I try not to sin?
» In my heart, am I really wanting to know and have fellowship with God?
» If I am not enjoying fellowship with God right now, what might be my problem?