This is a bit of the next book I’m working on that’s actually due to the publisher on Friday:
One of the most common phrases that makes its way into our prayers is this: “Please be with so-and-so.” I’ve said it. You’ve probably said it, too. I know what we mean when we say this. Our friend or relative or whoever is going through a difficult circumstance. Maybe it’s a life threatening illness, or perhaps a particularly challenging set of final exams. Whatever the circumstances, we pray for that person during this time, and what we are really asking is for God to let them know that they are not alone. That He is with them. That He would comfort them in their anxiety, stress, or sadness.
That’s what we mean, but that’s not what we say.
We say, “Please be with them,” implying that He isn’t.
Where has God been? Was He on a break? Vacation? Preoccupied with other stuff? But now that there is some need, we need Him here. Now. Urgently.
It might sound like mere semantics, but words matter. They’re revelatory. Perhaps we’re not as confident in the active nature of God as we think we are.
The same applies to our daily schedules. Our everyday, run of the mill, schedule. During the course of our ordinary days, when are we conscious of the presence of God? When we’re eating our cold cereal? Getting our coffee from the workroom at the office? Folding laundry? Disciplining the kids? Coaching baseball practice? When? If ever?
The point is that most of us operate, at least subconsciously, under the default assumption that God is not near to us. That He has to be invited into a situation. That He’s not active unless we ask Him to be.
That is simply not true.
The question isn’t whether or not God is actively with us; the question is just how aware we are of His presence.
We don’t need to pray that God would “be with” someone; He already is. We don’t need to ask the Lord to come into our worship services; He’s already there. We don’t need to assume that when we come into a new workplace, city, or other environment, that God is not already busy. He is. And He has been for quite some time…
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I have caught myself recently praying that very thing, asking God to be with someone, and also had the realization (conviction) that I was acting like He isn’t always with us. I guess my new prayer has been to ask God to remind me, or the person I’m praying for, that He is with me/them. And I’m thankful that He answers that prayer! Looking forward to reading your new book someday.