“Help, Lord!”

“Lord, help me.” —Matthew 15:25

Such is the desperate prayer of a troubled mother whose daughter was vexed with a devil.  Nothing will stir our hearts to pray like a visitation of trouble at our doorstep.

Prayer thrives best in times of adversity. “Help, Lord!” (Ps. 12:1) is our natural cry when we are faced with trouble. I recently read where author Eugene Peterson wrote: “The language of prayer is forged in the crucible of trouble. When we can’t help ourselves and call for help, when we don’t like where we are and want out, when we don’t like who we are and want a change, we use primal language, and this language becomes the root language of prayer.”

When Peter began to sink beneath the water of the Sea of Galilee he didn’t stop to make any special preparation to pray. He wasn’t concerned about his prayer posture.  He didn’t reach for his prayer book for find an appropriate prayer for his situation.  He just cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Thank God we don’t have to understand all the mechanics and workings of prayer.  We simply need to call out to God in our distress and believe He hears us.  God invites us, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee…” (Ps. 50:15).