"A Call to Answer"

"In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me." (Psalms 86:7)
Not only is it more than just a cry, it's more than even a prayer; it's worship! Yesterday I heard a caller ask, Is prayer actually worship? or something to the effect; and it reminded me of the prayer that Jesus taught to His disciples. That prayer was all about worship! What is worship, if not giving praise to God? And when we lift up our voices to Him in prayer, are we not also acknowledging He is worthy to be cried out to? Are we not acknowledging that He listens? Isn't that what worship is really all about? We don't worship God to hear ourselves sign; although it's always wonderful to listen and participate in corporate worship; but we worship with song to praise our wonderful Creator. Even in the body of what this verse is saying, there is worship being demonstrated by the fact that David is saying, "for thou wilt answer me." As a matter of fact, this Psalm is thought to be a prayer that David not only wrote as a song, but that he taught to others; a kind of corporate prayer in the form of a song, which is made for worship. Nowadays, everyone is into texting; it seems to be the first choice in our communications. The second choice is calling; if they don't answer your text right away, then you give them a call; and then if they don't answer your call, you text them again asking if they are alright. We really don't need to ask God anything twice, but for the benefit of our own persistence, we do it anyways. It's our way of making sure that He got the message; but if we could text Him, we would probably still call out to Him also, to follow up the text. Well, maybe not this new generation, they won't even program their voicemail, because calling people is not something that they are interested in doing, it's all handled by text. And if they are going to call someone, then it's going to be to an answering machine or a voice mailbox; something that they don't have to engage in a two-way conversation. That's what David is speaking about, a two-way conversation with God! He's not talking about leaving a message, he's talking about getting an answer; when you call out to God, God will answer, because He is God and that's what He does...
"Jesus said, "This is how you should pray: "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation." Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: "Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 'A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.' And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, 'Don't bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can't help you.' But I tell you this -though he won't do it for friendship's sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You fathers -if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him."" (Luke 11:2-13) NLT