We can pray not because we love Him, but rather because He first loved us. I John 4:19
The love of Jesus not only makes prayer possible but makes it safe and healing as well. There is not a single state of life, mind or spirit in which we can enter prayer that can override His love.
We can enter prayer battered by wounds, scars, anguish, oppression, bitterness and utter disappointment. We can crawl into prayer with embarrassment and sorrow after having fallen into temptation and wandering off our own way for years on end. We can even peek into the doorway of prayer feeling we have done something so horrible that it’s totally unforgiveable.
This fact remains immovable forever: We are able to pray in all personal circumstances simply because Jesus loves us.
A friend of mine who was suffering from depression told me she could believe on a factual level that God loved her because it says in the Bible that God loves the whole world. But she grasped this in a very general, far-off way, seeing herself more like a face in the crowd rather than as an individual worthy of love.
Do you dare to believe that God calls you His own child? Can you allow yourself to know that He loves you? Will you be open to the possibility that He is pleased with you?
As you pray this week, ask Jesus to help you understand down in the depths of your soul how His loving acceptance applies specifically to you.
Pray today to receive His affirmation of love.
