Rise Up Early and Cry Out to Him!

 

God told His prophet Isaiah to “cry aloud” (Hebrew: “from the throat”), spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet…” (Isaiah 58:1).  God told Isaiah to make this loud and clear.  Desperate times called for a clear call to action.
In Isaiah 40:9 God said, “…lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid…”  Crying out to God is a humbling reminder of our total inability to accomplish anything significant for God without His help and His power. The promise to the prophet Jeremiah long ago is just as true for us in these uncertain times.  “Call unto Me (Hebrew: “qara” – to call aloud or to cry out audibly) and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3).
Incredible as it seems, our Creator desires an intimate, loving fellowship with the people He created.  One vital component of that fellowship, is the actual voicing aloud of our need of Him, especially in times of trouble and distress.  Somehow, crying out to Him is a fervent appeal for His help.  It moves Him!
Psalm 5:2 says, “Hearken to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for unto Thee will I pray.”  Notice this, “My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and I will look up” (Psalm 5:3).
It strikes me that Jesus, “…in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed to a solitary place and there prayed.” (Mark 1:35).  It seems the custom, or habit of Jesus was to talk to His Father before He talked with anyone else.  I’m challenged by that! Are you? May God help us to rise early and cry out to Him!


Pastor Bruce Freeman

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