Do you ever wish you had someone to talk to? Maybe you’ve got huge troubles, too big for any human to solve. It’s a heavy load that you need help carrying, but your friends are no more powerful than you. And, they’ve got their own problems. Or maybe for some reason they just aren’t available, especially at 3:00 in the morning.

More times than I can count, I’ve been there. When I lost my job. When the doctor thought I had cancer. When my immediate family all moved away and my life was a mess. That’s when I found a friend I can always count on–Jesus.

Find A Friend Who Listens and Responds

Talking to Jesus may seem intimidating. But I can assure you from experience that communicating with Him doesn’t need to be. In reality, the more open and honest we are with Him, the better.

When I came to Christ, I was so broken, pretending to be good or eloquent wasn’t an option. There had been too many men. Too much drinking. Too many lies. Someone on late-night television sang about how I could find a friend in Jesus, so out of sheer desperation I began talking to Him, like a friend. Pouring out my heart, begging for help. No Thees and Thous. No proper form. Just me pleading for a relationship. Despite my inadequacies, He met me there

Many others have shared my experience. This incredible song describes how grandmas, moms, and young adults all have found a friend in Jesus. More than any other friend, He pays attention to our problems, shows us the way to go, and has the power to help us walk into solutions. Our Creator made us for relationship, so He never turns us away.

Find a Friend Who is BIG Enough

Do you/ ever wonder how Jesus could hear everyone’s prayers at once? For awhile, I did. But Facebook actually helped me comprehend how God could see and hear billions of people at once. Being beyond that social media dimension gives me the ability to see what’s happening in the lives of many friends and family across the miles, even in other countries. Yet, unlike God, time and space limits my ability to scroll fast enough to see everything.  Because God exists beyond time and space, those dimensions don’t limit Him.

In a BBC radio talk from March 21, 1944, C. S. Lewis, author of Mere Christianity explained it better than I can:

Almost certainly God is not in Time. His life does not consist of moments following one another. If a million people are praying to Him at ten-thirty tonight, He need not listen to them all in that one little snippet which we call ten-thirty. Ten-thirty—and every other moment from the beginning of the world—is always the Present for Him.

The idea that every moment is the present for Him fascinates me. That means if I forget to pray for someone “ahead of time,” God still hears my prayer in time to meet their need. And, because He exists beyond time, God can keep His promise in Hebrews 13:5.

Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.

Find A Friend Who Always Loves You

In The Practice of the Presence of God, a book written over 300 years ago, Brother Lawrence showed me that I can constantly live in God’s presence. Not only on Sundays at church or when I’m reading the Bible, but always. Even while doing the dishes.

Although he once had a great dislike for kitchen work, he developed quite a facility for doing it over the fifteen years he was there. He attributed this to his doing everything for the love of God, asking as often as possible for grace to do his work (p. 12).

Years ago, every night when I went to work at a second job at Staples, I did the same thing.  Asking God for the grace to do his work. And, every night Jesus was present, even when a rude lady tore into me in front of many other customers.

Brother Lawrence’s attitude has also helped me deal with my imperfections.

Brother Lawrence was aware of his sins and was not at all surprised by them. ‘That is my nature,’ he would say, ‘the only thing I know how to do.’ He simply confessed his sins to God without pleading with him or making excuses. After this, he was able to peacefully resume his regular activity of love and adoration (p. 12).

Is it any wonder that in relationship with one who always listens, is BIG enough, and always loves us enough to take the punishment for our sins upon Himself, that we’d want to be talking to Jesus about everything? (I know I posted that same link twice, but that song is so good, it’s worth listening to a second time!)