What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged—Take it to the Lord in prayer .Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer.
As I sit here listening to this old hymn that I grew up hearing, I must admit that I am astonished, actually down right ashamed at how often we as believers (especially myself) forget that we do have a friend in Jesus. Many of us when called to suffer, throw ourselves pity parties and assume that no one has ever suffered like us. Nothing is further from the truth of Scripture. As the author of Hebrews reminds us in chapter 4:
" 14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Our God, our high priest, has endured much more that we probably could even imagine. I have never experienced crucifixion, and I cannot imagine walking to a terrible death for a group of people that hated me. What amazing love Christ truly has. We have a friend that can empathize with every hurt, every trial that we have endured. Now believe me, I know that sometimes the hurt runs so deep that prayer seems to amount to nothing more than a spiritual fart in the wind. But, God hears them and his heart is stirred by the prayers of his saints. Christ died for you and me to have this access to the Father, to literally throw ourselves upon the throne when the burdens of life become so great that we start to crack at the seems of who we are. It is here, when we are at the utter end of ourselves that God can help us to see his sovereign work in our lives. We can truly say that God is faithful to help us, We can truly take it to the Lord in prayer because unlike all other gods, He is the one God who listens. I am not saying that if we pray to God that he is going to take away all the pain. In fact, it may be his will that we endure, but if it is, it is so critical to remember that Christ does not leave us to walk alone. Whatever cross you are carrying today, remember that Christ is walking with you, and like a good friend, he will not leave until the journey is done.
May God bless you....
