Help Me Lord Jesus!

Growing up under the generous wings of my grandmother’s fierce and protective love is one of my childhood treasures. Here on the island she taught me so many things, like how to catch a bus, 'sweep' the yard, and wash clothes on the scrub board. She also taught me how to call on the name of the Lord, and I mean that literally. She was especially prone to cry out the words of hymns. When the urge to strike one of us unruly grandkids was just too great, she’d exclaim, “Jesus keep me near the cross!” I can laugh about it now, but when Grammy said, “Help me Lord Jesus,” He always did.

The simple act of crying out is so primal, so base and so pure that I believe it goes straight to the heart of God. Trust me when I say there is no special club that one must join in order to call on the name of the Lord, no special church, no special prayer meeting.There is no matter too trivial and no situation too grave. No one must attend to you, go with you, or tell you what to say.

In each of us the heart-cry is already there; we all long for His salvation, but sometimes it takes the pressures of life to bring that cry to the surface, and then it comes out all undignified. When your child has made decisions that burden you and steal your sleep, when your marriage is falling down all around you like bricks with no mortar to hold them, when your last dollar is taken from you by the debt collectors, in these kinds of moments there are no well rehearsed lines, no perfectly penned scripts, just a plea, an earnest authentic plea.

My grandmother made crying out to Jesus seem normal, something to do all day and every day. And now, decades later, as I get up and as I lie down I find myself saying, “Help me Jesus.” In those few words I am asking for everything that I think I need and even what I don’t know I need. When I am unsure of everything else, I am sure that I need His help! In those words I find peace because of what is written in Acts 2:21: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (NIV)

What an awesome promise! If we call, He will save. Just cry out!

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