Depart From Me

¹“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.” (Psalms 6:8). I’m not sure we always fully appreciate the full power of prayer. We might sometimes imagine that when we pray, it is somewhat like ringing God up on a celestial telephone and we talk on one end, and at the other end of eternity God is listening. But God is omnipresent. When we pray, God doesn’t need to hear us from a billion lightyears away with His magic hearing. He can hear us because He’s right there with us in the room. When we offer a sincere prayer with faith in Christ, we are with God in that moment. And the best part about this is that no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God. So, if there are workers of iniquity surrounding us on every side, if the very legions of hell are tormenting us, then when we pray with real intent and with faith in Christ, all of those enemies and wicked thoughts and feelings have to depart. They cannot exist in the presence of God and prayer brings with it the presence of God. This is the real power of prayer. To pray for God to chase away our enemies is almost redundant, because as we pray and enter into the presence of God, His mere presence chases away all of our enemies. And the best part is that we can stay in the presence of God through our prayers for as long as we want. All day and all night if we can manage it. I know that there are workers of iniquity that can truly make us miserable and that some of the enemies we face seem so powerful and pervasive that a recommendation to just pray seems hopelessly naive. But I also know that if we pray and God hears us because He is right there with us, then all of those workers of iniquity have to depart. When we pray God is with us and His light shines so brightly that every shadow and dark thing goes away. Let us try to pray as often and as sincerely as we can so that we may always be in the presence of our God where no unclean thing can touch us or make us afraid.