The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. Psalms 145:18

If you really want to meet the Lord, He is always glad to meet you. God loves you and wants you to seek for Him. He never hides from someone who genuinely wants a loving relationship with Him. All you have to do is ask, and He will come into your life and live with you.

Unlike Satan, God never intrudes into someone's life without an invitation. He created us for loving companionship, not to be used without any regard for our feelings about it like Satan does. He also expects to be treated with regard for His feelings. God is not an impersonal force. He is a living Spirit. We are made in His image, with emotions just like He has. Just as we wouldn't like to be toyed with or treated rudely, He doesn't like it either.

He doesn't like flippant requests to meet Him, though. Far too many atheists make false prayers to put God to the test, and then smugly proclaim that His refusal to answer them proves that He doesn't exist. On the contrary, they prove only that God does not gladly suffer fools and their folly. God doesn't like being ignored by the human beings that he created to be His children and companions. He is insulted when someone declares Him to be nonexistent and then tries to prove it with a prayer that he doesn't expect to be answered. He isn't going to waste time and be treated badly by someone He not only created but died an agonizing death for on the Cross.

Several things are necessary before you can expect God to answer your prayers. First, you have to believe that He exists. A person who addresses a prayer to a God that he doesn't even believe exists, much less believes that God is his Heavenly Father, might as well be praying to thin air. Of course he isn't going to get an answer that way, unless God decides to make a point by answering the prayer to get his attention anyway.

Second, you have to be one of His children. Just as you can't walk up to any man and make a request of him as though he was your earthly father and expect it to be granted, you can't just address a prayer to God and expect it to be granted. You have to have a genuine relationship with Him by being born again and adopted into His family. Then you have the right to bring your petitions before Him.

Finally, you have to realize that God is in control and sometimes His answers to prayer may be "No" or "Wait". If you pray for harmful things, God will deny your request. If you pray for a good thing that you aren't ready to handle properly yet, you may have to wait until he decides that you are mature enough.

Then there are the prayers for things that are good for you and your loved ones, but may have to be denied for a greater good. Many a person has prayed for a sick loved one, only to have his illness continue or even end in death. They are baffled as to why God didn't answer that prayer with a healing, and in their grief their faith in God is shaken.

God has to consider the good of everyone He created and is responsible to care for. Sometimes the death of a loved one is necessary in the total scheme of God's plans for the greater good of all. Physical death is not the end of life, merely the "sleep" of the body while the eternal soul waits for God to fulfill His plans to end the civil war between Himself and Satan. An illness may be God's way of shaping the sufferer's character to be more like Christ.

We won't get the answers to many "unanswered" prayers until we get to Heaven. Until then, believe in God and trust Him that His answers to your prayers are for your ultimate good.

Would you like to meet Him and join His family? He's eager to meet you if you sincerely want to. Just pray this prayer:

Dear God, I'm sorry for my sins. I want to join your Heavenly family and I submit to King Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I renounce anything to do with Satan, his kingdom, and his ways. Please save me and adopt me as one of Your children. In Jesus' Name, Amen