Because of our positioning and spiritual state, God does not always feel as close to us as we desire. The subjective distance is caused by neglect or the existence of sin in our lives. The believer, however, should always desire and strive for continual and close communion with the Lord. This closeness gives us comfort in times of stress, protection when we are attacked, and clarity in seasons of confusion. Our access to the throne of heaven was made possible by Jesus Christ, who eliminated the sin barrier, or enmity, between man and God. He is more than just our mode of communication as we often casually consider our relationship. The Holy Spirit gives us direction and what our desires of prayer need to be. The desire for His will to be accomplished is the sole mindset for our petitions.
Asaph in Psalm 77 provides an insightful guide for us in praying for a greater closeness to our Heavenly Father. He was amid some sort of tribulation and “cried unto God with [his] voice; and he gave ear unto [him].” He was restless and sought Him in despair. He understood it was only the closeness of the Lord’s presence that could bring solace and refuge.
Here are 6 prayers to lift up when God feels far away:
1. Power to Remember
The greatest and most impactful means of recognizing the power of the Lord is by the remembrance of what He has done in the past. Asaph was so distressed that he could not speak, but “considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.” In this season of “infirmity,” he was dedicated to “remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” Similarly, Joshua, in his farewell address to God’s people and the passing of the torch to the next generation, proclaimed the importance of remembering God’s faithfulness. The people were eye-witnesses to a great deliverance and sustenance. It was important for future generations to have courage from this testimony. In this time of trouble, Asaph was comforted by these memories.
It is important for the believer today to recollect the great deliverance and sustaining mercy and grace following salvation and the ever-presence of the Holy Ghost. In seasons of distress, even more of a conscious effort should be made to proclaim His past works. Paul rebuked the church in Galatians 1:6 by writing, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.” Our remembrance is a source of our comfort as well. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:2, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” Thus, our prayers should beckon for these memories of His faithfulness to be etched into our spiritual recollection.
2. Present in Sanctuary
Asaph recognized that not only the presence of the Lord was unmistakably in His house, but “thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary.” He knew the Lord and “thy way” was in the place of worship. During many seasons in our life, religious business allows us to take for granted the corporate assembling and worship in the church house. The presence of the Holy Spirit allows us to commune with the Lord anywhere, but in times of distress, it is in the sanctuary where we often most easily value the holiness of our Lord.
Spurgeon, in his commentary of Psalms, wrote, “he would be wise must worship. The pure in heart shall see God, and pure worship is the way to the philosophy of providence.” Indeed, we can clearly see the ways of the Lord when we come to worship in spirit and in truth. Our prayer is one desirous for a clear mind, free of the world’s distractions, while present in the sanctuary listening to the singing of the songs of Zion and the preaching from the Word of God.
3. Power in the Past
The psalmist declared, “thou art the God that doest wonders: thou has declared thy strength among the people.” Oh, what strength we have in our Savior. In Him is contained the power to change the heart of a stone-cold sinner. Unlike “manpower,” the force of Jesus Christ is marked and reflected by awesome mercy and gentleness. In Psalm 78:38-39, Asaph described that the Lord “being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not.”
Most importantly, His strength in forgiveness was predicated on the fact that “he remembered that they were but flesh.” God has not changed, and He still comprehends our difficulties in temptation. Our prayer for when we feel distant from the Heavenly Father is for a restoration of that same joy of salvation and close communion that we previously experienced.
4. Redemption
The constant thankful reminder of our deliverance and redemption through Jesus Christ should be included in all our prayers. But for our deliverance by Him, we would not have access or any connection to the Heavenly throne as the enmity or barrier would still be in place. Thus, any subjective sense of a barrier causing an impediment of communication or sense of distance from our Lord is due to our own actions or negligence. The face of our Lord has not moved, nor has the enmity of sin been put back into place.
In verse 15, Asaph remembered that the Lord “with [His] arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.” If He sought us through the Holy Spirit, bought us by His shed blood, and delivered us from the dominion of sin, our Savior is not now going to abandon or neglect us. In Acts 17:26-27, we have the assurance that He “made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”
5. Elimination of Fear
Fear brings an inevitable feeling of abandonment and aloneness. Through the recognition of the power of our God, we acknowledge that the natural forces are fearful of His might. Asaph noted, “the waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.” Here, we have confidence that God has power over the existence of the elements of trouble as well as the severity contained therefrom.
Most of our fears revolve around things that are not under our control. Death is at the forefront of this fear for many in our society. Jesus Christ, however, conquered death and its power upon the believer by His resurrection. The world is unable to give us longstanding peace in these circumstances. Jesus, in John 14:27, tells us the peace he gives is not like the artificial temporary peace offered from the world. The psalmist at 94:19 knew he could reach out to the Lord “in the multitude of [his] thoughts within [him]” and find “thy comforts [to] delight my soul.”
6. He Is the Shepherd
Sometimes when we feel distant from the Lord, it is due to our own self-navigating on cruise control through seemingly well-trodden or “natural” paths. Asaph remembered how the Lord “led thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Such as the case in our own lives when we see the hand of the providence of our Lord throughout our lives. John Hooper wrote it is often the briar that catches the simple sheep without the diligent shepherd. He then explained that God in his gentleness “is careful of his entangled and briared sheep, so is God of his afflicted faithful.”
An important aspect of prayer is for us to be willing servants guided by our shepherd. Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us the reminder to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Photo Credit: © Unsplash/Jordan Steranka
Chad Napier, while an attorney by trade, his passion is filling the pulpits of local churches when needed and engaging a broader audience with his writing. He enjoys running and golf and recently completed his degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. Chad lives in Jonesborough, Tennessee with his wife Brandi and one-year-old Welsh Terrier LuLu.