Portrait of a Powerful Prayer

 

Portrait of Powerful Prayer Daniel 9:1-19

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Daniel paints a compelling portrait of a prayer that has “great power” (James 5:16).

 As I read through the prayer, there are at least 6 things that stand out to me, 6 things that are regularly seen in powerful prayer.

1. Rooted in Scripture: To begin with we see his prayer is rooted in the never changing truths of God’s Word “according to the Word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet” (Vs. 2). Additionally, we see God’s Word referenced in Vss. 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, & 13. 

2. Resigned before the Lord: “Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking Him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.” (Vs. 3) All these things listed in verse 3 give evidence of Daniel approaching God with a heart of deep humility. 

3. Replete with Adoration: Throughout the entirety this prayer, he brings praise and adoration to the Lord; “O Lord the great an awesome God” (Vs. 4); “To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness” (Vs. 7; “To You, O Lord, belong mercy and forgiveness” (Vs. 9) “… for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that He has done” (Vs. 14)          

4. Recalls God‘s Goodness and Power: “Who keeps covenant and steadfast love” (Vs. 3); “He has confirmed His Word” (Vs. 12);  “…the Lord our God is righteous in all the work that He has done” (vs. 14); “And now, O Lord our God, Who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty Hand” (Vs. 15); Additionally in these verses we see that He is a God of mercy, a God Who hears, and a God Who forgives.

5. Repents and Confesses: “… we have sinned and done wrong” (Vs. 5); “We have not listened to Your servants” (Vs. 6); “…because of the treachery... committed against You” (Vs. 7); “… we have sinned against You” (Vs. 11); “… we have sinned, we have done wickedly” (Vs. 15). 

6. Relishes in God's Glory: Continually seeks to bring glory, not to the ones confessing and repenting but to the Name of the Lord. “O Lord, according to all Your righteous acts” (Vs. 16); “Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant... for Your Own sake, O Lord” (Vs. 17); “… and the city that is called by Your Name” (Vs. 18); “Delay not, for Your Own Sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your Name”  (Vs. 19).

Interestingly enough, while this isn't the case for all powerful prayers, in this instance, we see in verses 20-23 that even before Daniel said "Amen", God was already providing a visible answer to the prayer.

Worshipping God in Spirit and in truth...

Jeremiah 17:12

“A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary…”

 

 

For 7 years the nation of Israel had worked tirelessly on Solomon’s temple, employing 30,000 split up in 3 groups working 2 months, then having 1 month off. When it was completed, it was a wonder to be seen. God was most definitely pleased with this magnificent temple. There was a unity of worship and allegiance to God so significant it brought about the blessing of God’s hand on the nation. 

 

Unfortunately, something happened between the days of Solomon and the time of the Prophet Jeremiah. While the temple remained, while sacrifices continued, the worship that was taking place was half-hearted at best. A religious checking off the boxes, while at the same time worshipping the false gods of the land God had given them.  As a result, the days of the magnificent temple in Jerusalem were coming to an end. In a short time, King Nebuchadnezzar and his army would descend upon Jerusalem and completely destroy the city as well as the temple. The physical sanctuary was soon to be gone.  For people with a half-hearted allegiance to and worship of God this was devastating.  For them much of their worship revolved around the building rather than on the Most High God.

 

 

Perhaps that is what was in the mind of God when He inspired Jeremiah to pen, “a glorious throne on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary”. The worship of God never was, is not, and never will be dependent on any building.  God is omnipresent, abiding everywhere and, as Jesus made it clear to the woman at the well in John 4, “true worshippers worship the Father in Spirit and in truth”.

 

In Jeremiah 17:13 we read

“LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame.  All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.”

  

Jeremiah is prophesying and speaking to the nation of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, God’s chosen people, as a result when He writes, “…all who abandon You will be put to shame.”, He is writing to a people who at one time had a relationship with God.  The word “abandon” in the original Hebrew is a very strong word, used frequently in Jeremiah, starting in 1:16 where God says the nation of Judah, they “abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands”.

 

 

The picture here is that the people of Judah have turned their backs, abandoned, forsaken, the God who had literally formed them with His own hands. Don’t forget, throughout the creation account God spoke virtually everything into existence except when it came to man, with His own hands, He reached down and formed him out of the dust of the ground, then breathed in him the breath of life.  Now here man is abandoning God and declaring as god, something they formed with their own hands, except they were unable to beath the breath of life into these idols. They were worshipping dead things, capable of doing nothing, instead of the living God who was and is all powerful and perfect in every way.

 

 

Jeremiah goes on to write, “all who turn away from me will be written in the dirt.” In reading this, my mind quickly was drawn to John 8:2-11 and the biblical account of the woman caught in adultery. In this passage, the scribes and Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery.  I’m not sure where the man was, but that is a topic for another time. They were testing Jesus, to trap Him into saying or doing something they could use against Him.  Jesus initially says nothing, He simply bends over and begins to write something on the ground. Scripture does not tell us what He wrote, but I am guessing he writes some very specific sins.  Ignoring what He was writing, they persisted at questioning Him, then He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then, Jesus bent over and again began to write on the ground. As before, Scripture does not give any indication what Jesus wrote.  In my mind I wonder, did He begin to write names of men next to the specific sins He had written earlier?  What we do know is that as He wrote, one by one, each man left, until He was there alone with the woman.

 

This fits well with Jeremiah 17:13, because as these men were leaving while Jesus wrote on the ground, they were turning away from Jesus. In the end, the only one who didn’t turn away was the woman. She was the only one who was able to drink from “the fountain of living water” to experience the incredible freedom one obtains from the “Lord, the hope of Israel.”  He was her only hope, and He is our only hope.  Our freedom comes when we abandon our sin and turn to Him with repentant hearts, drinking from the living water.

 

Father in heaven, O that my heart would be wholly and completely devoted to You. May I never move into a position of merely checking all the religious boxes. May my worship never revolve around places, things, or people, but on You, the one true God. My hope is in You and You alone. May I, day by day and moment by moment, abandon the sin that can become so prevalent in my life, and turn to You with a repentant heart, that I might drink from the Living Water that is Jesus my Savior.

This I pray, in His Holy Name, Amen

The Powerful Faith of Faithful Friends

The Powerful Faith of Faithful Friends.

Mark 2: “1And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that He (Jesus) was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And He was preaching the Word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in His spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—He said to the paralytic— 11 ‘I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.’ 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Friendship is a great thing. In many ways it makes life bearable and enjoyable at times when it could easily be the opposite. A good friend stays by you through thick and thin. In life’s good times and when things aren’t going your way. In today’s passage we see a story of great friendship, we see a story of great faith, we see a story of great determination.

As usual Jesus was about His Father’s business. He was preaching the Word to a packed house, when all of the sudden dirt began to fall from the ceiling. Soon beads of light began to show through that same ceiling. Not long after that there was a gaping hole large enough for a man to fit through. As the people stood in astonishment looking up, they saw a man being lowered through that hole. He needed to be healed and his good friends were determined enough that they were going to stop at nothing until he was face to face with the One Who could heal. These were the type of friends that everybody needs. The type that are going to allow nothing to stand in the way of friendship. These guys were bound and determined.

The stories had spread everywhere about this man Jesus. He had the power to heal, He had compassion for the people, He was a powerful teacher Who spoke with authority like no one else. Everywhere He went the crowds followed to listen to His teachings and to experience a touch of the Master’s Hand. They had heard that if you had faith, you could be healed. They had faith and so on this day they set out to see this Jesus. There was an excitement welling up inside of them as they carried their friend towards the place where Jesus was staying. The excitement quickly diminished as they neared their destination and saw throngs of people were headed in the same direction. When they arrived at the doorway it was jammed full of people.  Every entry, every window was packed. When they tried to get in no one would move for them. They weren’t about to let that stop them. They carried him up the outside stairs to the roof of the home and began to tear away. They agreed that they would repair it when they were done, but for now they will stop at nothing until their friend was face to Face with the Master. Soon they were lowering him through a hole in the roof, soon his mat was at the feet of Jesus, soon the paralyzed man stood to his feet having experience a touch of the Master’s Hand.

But let’s backtrack for a little bit, let’s go back to the friends. We have already looked at their great determination. They were bound and determined to let nothing stand in the way of getting their friend before Jesus. Now that’s friendship. But that brings us to the next question. Why? Why did they go to such great lengths? When I look at this, there are basically two very real possibilities that seem to jump to the forefront of my mind:

1. These men were incredibly ignorant. They would have had to have been ignorant or they would have never torn a hole in the roof of someone’s home. Unless possibility number 2 is true. 

2. These men had amazing faith. Now one of these possibilities makes perfect sense, the other doesn’t. 

Number 2 is the only one that makes any sense at all. That is exactly what happened with this these men. There was no doubt in their minds that Jesus not only could, but that He would heal their friend, or they would’ve never gone to such lengths. That is putting legs to your faith. 

My prayer is that you and I would exhibit this type of faithful friendship, and that we would put legs to our faith. 

Seeking daily to be a good friend and to put legs to my faith,   

Jim Canady  

God’s Word Entrusted to Us Is Meant to Be Shared

God’s Word Entrusted to Us Is Meant to Be Shared

Romans 3 “¹Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written,

‘That you may be justified in your words,
    and prevail when you are judged.’

⁵But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could God judge the world? ⁷But if through my lie God's truth abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?⁸And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.”

In Romans 3:1 – 8 Paul continues his dialogue specifically directed to his Jewish readers. He begins by pointing out that one of the big advantages of being a Jew is that they were “entrusted with the very Words of God” (NIV 1984). In looking at Paul’s statement, please don’t miss the keyword in that statement. I underlined it for emphasis. The word is “entrusted” the K JV uses the word “committed”. These word uses are important. Paul didn’t say that the Word had been given to them. Givengenerally gives the impression that the gift is given with no strings attached. Paul’s use of the word “entrusted” or “committed” indicates that with this great gift comes great responsibilities. God’s Word is given that it might be re-given over and over again. Interestingly, we can give this gift away yet still maintain possession of it ourselves. 

I’m not sure you noticed, but I transitioned from the Jews to us as believers. Just as the Jews were entrusted with the gift of the Old Testament, we have been entrusted with the completed Word of God. Just like the Jews, this gift brings with it a responsibility to re-gift and at the same time maintain possession of it ourselves. We re-gift through living transformed lives, through teaching and preaching, through quoting, through reading aloud, through sharing… really there are many, many ways we can re-gift the Word of God. The main thing to understand is that God’s Word is not given with no strings attached, but entrusted, which means it comes with important responsibilities.

In this life there may be times that we are entrusted with the responsibility of gifts that exceed our capabilities to fulfill the trust. That is not the case with God, God never misjudges our capabilities! If the ball is dropped on what God entrusts into our care, that is completely on us. We are fully worthy of God’s trust because His gifts to us bring with them His power through the Holy Spirit who indwells us. We are worthy of His trust because the Worthy One empowers us. Therefore, walk in a manner worthy of His gift entrusted into our care.