The Kelvinator refrigerator was named in his honor since he was the one whose advanced theories made possible an electric appliance to keep things cold. I can remember my great-grandmother referring to putting stuff in the Kelvinator. She was proud of the white enameled box with coils on top, which stood in her kitchen alongside the old wood stove, but she didn’t know anything about Lord Kelvin.
Fame doesn’t last long as The Preacher (writer of Ecclesiastics) wrote. All is vanity, he said. You pass on and after a time, you are forgotten. The fame and fortune goes to another. Mortals are like that. We cheer, acclaim and honor people who have impacted our lives, but in time, most are relegated to the back closet of memory — never to emerge again.
Our heavenly Father is not like that. The only things he forgets are our sins with forgiveness. But He knows us always — our thoughts and our desires — and embraces his children with love and care, always ready to listen. His love was manifested to the utmost in the giving of His Son Jesus to redeem us. There can be no greater love.
And because God loves us, He wants us to come to Him with our problems.
The natural thing is for God to answer prayer. If He says, “No,” it’s for a reason. He doesn’t refuse His children when they ask in faith, believing that He is.
Taking the cue from Jesus himself, James knew that the only way for a Christian to make it in this world was to unceasingly pray.
The disciples realized this. They asked Jesus to “teach us to pray” (Matthew 6). And He gave them a pattern: Acknowledgment of God our Father and invitation to His Kingdom; submission to His will; look unto Him for sustenance and forgiveness; and seek spiritual strength.
According to what James says, there is no part of life prayer won’t help. And if ever anybody knew what they were talking about when discussing prayer, James did. You know, of course, that he was known as the “man with camel knees” because of his prayer life.
James takes prayer out of the context of formal phrases, structured thoughts and flowery lines. In other words, he says, “Look, prayer wraps around every part of your life. If you’re happy, sad, sick, well — whatever emotion or situation you’re experiencing — prayer will fit.”
How delightful to converse with our Lord! The sincere desire of the heart touches our Father — be it praise, a cry for help, or a whispered plea.
A Christian in touch with his God is a happy, joyful, energetic Christian.
But man can’t come to God in his own name. Access to God is through the name of Jesus. And the only thing that gives man the right to bring requests to God is because Jesus took man’s place and bore his sins.
Can you hear God say to you each morning, “This is your Father; put your trust in me and I will take care of anything you face today. I don’t need your help — just your faith.”
Isaiah 41:10 (KJV): “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
