Pray God's Choice

The title might seem a little strange to you unless you have read the previous blog.  Even at that, it still might seem strange.  Bear with me and let me explain to you my line of reasoning.  I trust that it will increase your faith and thereby increase you prayer life.

God is sovereign.  What He speaks becomes universal law backed up by all of His power.  He speaks His choices.  When darkness prevailed in the very beginning, He made a choice that light would shine.  He spoke it and the sun has not stopped shining.  In like manner, He made a choice that fish would swim in water and that birds would fly through the air.  He spoke His choice and they have been doing just that ever since.

John, the Beloved wrote something interesting concerning prayer.  1 John 5:14-15.  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  God's will is His choice.  John is saying that if we pray something that is God's choice, He will not only listen to us but He will give us what we pray for. 

Then it would make sense to find out what God's choice for us is and then pray it.  How about salvation? Jesus himself, in the parable of the lost sheep made this statement.  John 18:14--Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.  Peter, who walked with Jesus for three years could testify--2 Peter 3:9---The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  Then, it MUST be God's choice for everyone to be saved.  Some might not take advantage of His choice but it is still God's choice.  Therefore, if we follow the instructions in 1 John 5:14-15 and pray for the lost to be saved, John assures us that God hears us and starts working on answering our prayers.

God's a little peculiar.  Even though He has already made His choice, He has put authority in man's hand to make a choice also. In John 16:24, this same John the Beloved quotes Jesus as saying, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."  Matthew quotes Jesus as making this promise in Matt. 21:22--And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.  Notice that asking always comes before receiving.  Ever wonder why?  Just because He said so? 

Consider this.  Ever since the Garden of Eden, God has put the authority over the earth in man's hands.  Even when He wanted to pave the way for His Son to be born on the earth, God had to get permission from a human, Abraham.  Abraham consented and AGREED with God's choice to send a Redeemer.  Here's how Abraham put God's choice into action.  Rom 4:19-21--And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.  

In a nutshell, here is what Abraham did.  He refused to believe that the physical things he saw would EVER hinder God's choice for him.  He was FULLY PERSUADED that God would do exactly what He said He would do.  He built up his faith in God by praising Him for His choice.  By believing and praising God for His choice, Abraham unleashed all of God's love and ability to get the job done.

Here is what WE should do.  We should refuse to believe that the way sinners act right now will EVER stop God from convicting them of sin.  We should be FULLY PERSUADED that the God we serve is greater than the sin that holds them right now.  We should be FULLY PERSUADED that His love for the sinner is greater than the demon power that holds them.  Finally, we should build up our faith in God's choice by giving Him praise that He chose to save sinners.  When we believe and praise God for His choice, we unleash all of God's love and ability to get the job done.

Let's get down to business.  We all have unsaved loved ones.  How much time have you spent praying for them?  Are there any sinners in the Congress of the United States?  Are any of our elected officials unsaved?  How about the Taliban and Al Quida?  Any sinners there?  Take some time to reflect on the idea that if some of these give their hearts to Jesus what kind of change would it be for you and I.  Then, Christians, let's get busy praying God's choice for mankind and turn things around.

God Made a Choice That Became Law

I am still talking about why we should always pray and not give up.  Here's some ground work you might not have thought about before.  I trust this will bring more motivation to be faithful in praying.

In the very beginning, there was nothing but a big bunch of darkness.  God made a decision.  He spoke and light was created.  He never took His Word back.  His Word is so complete in it's ability that the sun has never stopped.  Why not?  Only because God has not told it to stop.  God spoke trees, dry ground, water, animals, birds and fish into existence.  He told every living creature to multiply.  They haven't stopped yet.  He made a choice.  He spoke His choice and His choice has become the law of the universe.

God made a choice before the foundation of the earth, (Rev. 13:8).  If man sinned, He would send His Son.  He was not human and needed a human son.  He made a choice and came to Abraham with a covenant.  He promised Abraham that He would use Abraham's seed to bless all the nations of the earth, (Gen 22:18) if he would just believe.  Abraham believed what God said.  It became the law of the universe.

Abraham's children went through all kinds of trouble.  God was faithful to bring them out.  When overwhelming odds seemed to be on the verge of destroying God's promise, God brought them through it with an overwhelming victory.  When they were enslaved by the Egyptians, God brought them out with the Egyptians' gold and silver.  When they were conquered by the Greeks, the Greeks taught everyone their language so it would be easier to spread the gospel of His Son easier.  When they were conquered by the Romans, the Romans built and guarded massive roads so that the Gospel of His Son could be spread throughout the world easier.  God's choice became a universal law that was backed up by all of the power of Heaven.

God made choices of salvation, healing and prosperity in His Word.  He has NEVER backed down from His word, not even once.  The idea of even one jot or one tittle of His law passing away is an impossibility, (Mt 5:18).  So the pressure is not on God to answer prayer.  For Him, answering a prayer is a foregone conclusion, (Mt 21:22) from which His WILL NOT back down.

Then why does God not answer prayer?    There are two reasons that I know of.  Number one:  He does not answer a prayer that is not prayed.  Number two:  WE are the ones who have fainted and gave up asking.

I am convinced by His Word and His Heart that nothing is impossible to the one who believes God.  Mt 19:26--But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

In my next blog, we will get into the particulars of prayer.

Put Me in Remembrance

From the KJV, Isaiah 43:26--Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

First of all, I am still writing about Luke 18, the widow and the unjust judge.  Second of all, don't let this verse in Isaiah throw you.  God NEVER forgets.  However, His command in this verse is for us to stand before Him and tell His what His Word says.

If you study the Hebrew words and their meanings, you will find out that God is challenging His people to come before Him and present our case to Him as if we were in a court of law.  Various translations of the passage bring this out.  I.E., NKJV, NLT, NIV, NASB, RSV, ASV. 

Therefore, when Jesus began to teach His disciples about prayer in Luke 18, He appropriately picked a widow and an unjust judge as the two main characters.  The widow had the courage to continuously come to the judge with the same DEMAND, "Avenge me of my adversary."  It is obvious that she had been wronged, and it was obvious that she had a LEGAL right to make that particular demand.  If she had no legal leg to stand on, the judge would have put HER in prison for trying to make a fool out of him.  BUT, because she was persistent in presenting her case, he granted her petition.  NOT because he wanted to but because she was RIGHT in her request and he realised she was NOT going to stop coming to him. 

Our Heavenly Father does not ignore us and want us to go away as the unjust judge did.  Jesus made that clear.  What God wants to know in Luke 18 and Isaiah 43 is, do WE believe His Word.  Have WE forgotten about His promises?  God never will.  His challenge to us is for us to come before Him in prayer with the confidence that He WILL do what He said He would do.  We might have to come before Him, many, many times like Jesus suggested in Luke 18.  Isaiah 43 says for us to come to Him and plead our case so He can declare us innocent.

The MOST convicting evidence in an American court is the testimony of the accused.  The defense lawyer can present a very credible case of his innocence.  But, if in the middle of the trial, the accused stands up and states, "I have a confession to make, your Honor, I did it"  the judge will end the case by declaring him guilty.  God wants to know, do we love Him enough to remember His Word?  God wants to know do we love and trust Him enough to do what He promised?  The greatest of friendships (covenant relationships) is built on mutual love and trust.  John 3:16 equivocally states His love for us.  In Isaiah 43 and Luke 18, God wants to know from us just how much we love and trust Him.  We PROVE our love to God through how we pray to Him.  Have you ever looked at it that way?  Check it out in the scriptures and see if I'm telling you the truth.

In the coming blogs, I will be centering on God's promises and how to put them into prayer.  It's reminding us so we can remind him.  Be blessed in all you do today. 

Love, Henry

And in His Law Doth He Meditate Day and Night

I want to continue in Jesus' parable about prayer in Luke 18.  This statement by King David in the first Psalm is just as important.  You'll see why later.

First of all we need to look at the main characters in the parable, an unjust judge and a widow.  Jesus called the judge "unjust."  That Greek word He used could either mean that the judge was a sinner or that he was crooked and didn't care who knew it.  Either way, the man dispensed justice without regard to God or man (see Luke 18:2).

The other character is a widow.  Females were generally held in low esteem.  A widow was one of the lowest on the eastern totem pole. 

The point of this whole parable is that even the lowest of society holds sway over the greatest in society when they lay hold of the promises of God and DON'T LET GO.  God backs His Word with all of His heart and all of His might.  Jesus was indicating that whether His child's prayer was answered immediately or whether He tarried before answering, those that asked in faith WOULD receive.  (See Matt 21:22, John 16:24 and 1 John 3:22 and Matt 7:7) 

It is interesting that He chose a story that involved a judge and a widow.  God looks at His Word as being THE law of the land.  Neither rulers, poverty, sin, sickness false gods nor demons can stand against the Word of the Living God.  This widow came to this great judge time and time again with the same message--"Avenge me of my adversary."  She held on to her legal rights according to the law and had every right to demand vengeance.  Jesus said she had that right. 

When we begin to see that God views His Word as the Law of the land, we can come "boldly" to His throne and say to Him-- "Hey!  This is mine.  You promised it and I want it."  That's why we should meditate in that law day and night until something stirs inside of us that provokes us to go and get it.  Don't pay more attention to those things that produce doubt and fear.  Pay more attention to the promises.

Let me finish with verses 7 and 8.  "And shall not God avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them.  I tell you He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?"

You'll have to answer that question for yourself.  I have already adjusted my prayer life to indicate my answer.  Let's man-up, Christians and get something done.

Pray and Don't Faint

In Luke 18, Jesus presented the parable of the widow and the unjust judge.  In verse one, He gave the reason for telling the parable--"Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."
The Greek word for ought is "dei" and means "it is necessary, there is need of, is right and proper." It seems very evident that in this parable about prayer, Jesus is saying that prayer is necessary, that there is a need for prayer and that prayer is the right and proper thing to do.
The Greek word for faint is "ekkakeo" and means "to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted."

In view of my previous entry, just this part of His parable yells out to me, "Henry, it is necessary for you to pray.  There is a need for you to pray.  It is the right and proper thing for you to be doing instead of some of the frivolous activities that you participate in.  Will anybody else out there raise their hand to the conviction of just this one word.  Can you hear the heart of Jesus giving instruction to his disciples about the necessity of prayer?  No wonder, after the day of Pentecost, the disciples chose deacons to help minister so they could give themselves over to this command (not request) of Jesus.

How about your prayer life when you do pray.  Is it spiritless?  Have you spent enough time in prayer to enter into His Presence.  Do you remember times of refreshing when His joy would overwhelm you and you knew, that you knew, that you knew that He was there.

Have you prayed and prayed and then stopped because the answer didn't come when or how you expected it?  Jesus said for us not to faint.  He said that the moral of this parable was, "That men ought always to pray, and not to faint."

More in my next blog.

It's Time to Man-up Christians!



This picture first appeared in the Rocky Mountain News in 2005. A powerful account of the circumstances behind this picture can be found at the following location:

http://livinglegendteam.blogspot.com/2006/01/marine-2nd-lt-james-j-cathey.html
Terri Rager has graciously permitted me to share this link to her blog that describes the entire story. She has put together a fantastic blog that honors several of our fallen heroes. It would be worth your time, not only to read this story but browse through the others she has honored on her page.

In a nutshell, Katherine Cathey asked to be allowed to sleep next to the body of her late husband, 2nd Lt. James Cathey, for the last time. She was four months pregnant with their son when he was killed in action in Iraq. I am sure I was not the only one brought to tears.

When I first saw this picture and read this story, I wanted to write a scathing blog that berated the perpretrators of a despicable act that started this war. However, as I began to meditate on the war, it's cause, it's result and the current condition of the United States, I began to see the real enemy skulking in the background. Actually, this enemy isn't skulking. In some ways, this enemy is standing unashamedly in the forefront.

The enemy I see is the lazy Christian. I realise that I had been looking at one in the mirror every day. We serve the faithful and Almighty God. We have the priviledge to call upon the name that is above every name. We have been given the priviledge to call upon the Almighty God through the name of His Son, Jesus, in a form that is known as "prayer."

If we had prayed harder for a life-changing, world-wide revival, could 9/11 been avoided? Could grid-lock in our government be broken? Could our current financial crisis come to a Godly end? Without looking it up, does the Bible say that all things are possible to those who believe?

Christians, we need to man-up to the challenge before us. Prayer is useless if we never pray. Prayer is powerless unless we believe. If all things are possible to the believer, then, let's dare to believe God for great things. Let's dare to 'come boldly' before Him. If the 'bold' prayer is never prayed, the 'bold' answer will never come. Let's Man-up, Christians.