"Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." John 16:24

"Ask, and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." In His last sermon our Savior had much to say about prayer. To our hurrying and forgetful time His words come like a voice from another world. It is certainly true that we do not pray often enough and hard enough. We need to hear His pleading: "Ask, and you will receive."

All truly Christian prayer lives in the shadow of the cross. By His redeeming life and death our Savior has given us the great power to speak to God, confidently, as children speak to their father. Prayer allows the believing heart to draw near to God, to have Him walk with us, to speak to Him, quietly and warmly, at any and every hour, in all the conditions of life. It is one of the highest privileges we have on this side of heaven.

When we pray, we are face to face with the Creator and Ruler of the universe, who holds the stars in their courses and controls the vast distances of space. We speak to Him from all the loneliness and hate and unbelief of this present world. And across all that--the distance of space and sin--we can talk to Him. We can tell Him about the pain in our heart, the disappointment in our life, the hurt of a toothache, or the sorrow of death. There is no greater power and privilege than that. It lifts the roof from life and opens the windows toward heaven. When we pray, we draw as close as we can to our listening and waiting Savior.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help us to bring all our concerns, both large and small, to You, for You love to answer prayer. Amen.

(Taken from "Words of Promise," copyright 1996 (out of print), Concordia Publishing House. For information on other devotional materials, call 1-800-325-3040.)

Today's Bible Readings: Daniel 5-7    Titus 3

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