20-Aug-2024 – Sometimes you need God urgently (My Testimony)

Published by Bro. Sunil Binkam on August 20, 2024August 20, 2024

Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD. – Psalms 70:1

Last time, we learned about fervent prayer, which encourages us to pray continuously. In some church groups, there is an acronym called PUSH, which stands for Pray Until Something Happens. But today, we are looking at a different kind of prayer. If we examine the verse, we see that the psalmist is in desperate need. Imagine someone being chased by a lion or tiger in a forest—they would run for their life. As they run, they cry out for help. This illustrates the urgency of the need.

When we think of David as a shepherd tending his sheep, we remember that lions and bears came to attack them. When David prayed during those moments, it wasn’t a fervent prayer but an urgent one. For Daniel, when he was thrown into the lions’ den, it was an urgent prayer. When Samson had his eyes plucked out and was tied to the pillars, it was also an urgent prayer. We can now understand this scenario.

But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying. – Psalms 70:5

Here, “poor” means that needs are present, but resources are lacking. In this context, there is an urgent requirement, but no resources to meet it. Having no resources can also mean having no sources from which to obtain resources. Imagine a person living far from the village who faces a health emergency, with no one nearby to call for help. This is another kind of poverty—a lack of resources.

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. – Psalms 70:4

In that needy time, if we pray, will God really answer? Yes! Do I have any personal experience like that? I do, but during that time, I didn’t pray in a formal way, like kneeling down. Fear overcame me, and now I know that the Holy Spirit prayed for me.

One day, I went out for grocery shopping, and after about twenty minutes, I got a call from one of our neighbors saying that smoke was coming from my house. I rushed home to find a fire in my bedroom. There was an electric immersion water heater that had been plugged in and left on. I hadn’t noticed it. In my shock, I couldn’t find my keys to open the lock. But God immediately mobilized the people around me. People who usually didn’t talk to me helped to put out the flames. God showed His mercy by preventing the fire from reaching the kitchen—otherwise, the gas cylinder could have exploded.

It was a rented house, and the owner was disappointed. So, what was my reason to rejoice in that loss? The fire accident happened exactly a week or 10 days before my daughter was born. My wife had gone to my native place for the delivery. I had bought a costly saree for her at that time, which was in the almirah that caught fire. All her other dresses were burnt and ruined, but this saree remained untouched.

I had also bought second-hand furniture like a bed and dressing table, which were in that same bedroom, yet they were not damaged. In the bookshelf, many books and papers were burned, but my Bible and songbook only got a fire mark around the cover—they were not spoiled. Not only that, once I repaired the house and handed it over to the owner, he felt very happy and relieved from the pain. Perhaps this was meant to be a testimony to God’s intervention.

So, our God is indeed a loving God. In your distress, He is the only dependable one in the entire world. Whatever situation you might be going through, just believe in the Lord, and you will end up rejoicing and praising Him.

Prayer

Dear loving Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and grace. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to remember the wonderful grace you showed during that scary fire accident. You are a compassionate and faithful God. Even though we are not worthy of your love, you never leave us nor forsake us, but always help us return to you so that we may be blessed. Help us to understand this love and learn to depend only on you! I pray in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!