SIMPLE PRAYER #2 - HELP US, SAVE US!

"Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O Lord, by your grace". This is an ancient prayer that is repeated often in the worship of the liturgical churches that have their roots in Eastern Christianity, but most importantly has its roots in the biblical text and therefore is inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is a prayer arrow that should be in your quiver, and ready to be used against the enemy of our souls at the very first sign of temptation. Against depression, and apathy; against bitterness, and lethargy; against vainglory, and pride; let this arrow fly at the thoughts spawned by any of these evil passions that enter our minds from within or without. Firstly, "Help us" is our admitting that we need God, that we are helpless without Him. As Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). But thankfully we are never without Him if we keep His commandments (John 14:21). And because He said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you...you may boldly say, The Lord is my HELPER, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:5,6). This is what we mean when we simply pray, "Help us". Next we pray "Save us", which is so rich in meaning. The Greek word for save is "sozo", and means to save or to deliver, to heal or preserve, to make whole. Salvation in Jesus is an all encompassing salvation that is multifaceted, and includes being saved from sin and its power; being delivered from the power of death; being healed of our spiritual infirmities and being made whole, that is, the image of God being restored in us (Ephesians 4:23,24; Colossians 3:9,10). Thirdly, we pray, "Have mercy on us", which is to trust that God will pour into our lives His steadfast love and compassion. Mercy is not to be understood in a strict juridical sense where God is a judge and you are a sinful criminal who needs God to let you off the hook. Mercy is from the Greek "eleos" which comes from the same root word that "olive oil" comes from. Asking for mercy is asking for God to pour in the healing oil of His Spirit into the wounds of our souls. Next we ask for the Lord to "keep us" which refers to His promise to perfect that which concerns us (Psalm 138:8), that we "Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in us will complete it until the Day of Jesus Christ (His Second Coming) (Philippians 1:6).God will preserve us blameless (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation (1 Peter 1:5). And in Jude 24, "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy". Then our prayer addresses the Lord, we acknowledge who it is that we are petitioning for these grand requests, none other than the Lord Himself, Jesus the true God and eternal Life (1 John 5:20). And finally, we reveal our inadequacy, our need to decrease, our complete dependency upon His grace to cause any and all of these petitions to be realized (Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace is not simply the concept of unmerited favor, but it is the very energies of the Divine Nature that is communicated to the believer who places their trust in Him (2 Peter 1:2-4). So, let us pray often, "Help us, Save us, Have Mercy on us, and Keep us, O Lord, by Your Grace".