Prayers of the People

 

          My friend made me laugh recently when she described her ‘picture’ of prayers being lifted up to heaven.  Her visual included filing cabinets with prayers meticulously filed with owner and date, along with when God is, or already has answered it.  Finally a big stamp of “Answered!” was printed in bold lettering, on those taken care of.  

I laughed because her description was very similar to my own!  I know God  hears and responds to every prayer, cry for help, great desire, terrible longing, tear that has fallen and heartache that has ever occurred to me.  

But Revelation 5:8 paints a different picture.  Here John tells of golden bowls filled with incense, which ‘are the prayers of the saints’.  I’m not sure it ever occurred to me that God keeps our prayers.  I know God fills a bottle with our tears, so I’m not sure why this idea of kept prayers didn’t!

There is reassurance in knowing that God is always on time; even when His timeline doesn’t match ours.  Some have prayed the same prayer for decades.  Even personally, the prayers for salvation for a lost loved one has fallen in this category.  Even with the apparent delay, I can’t stop praying that a heart will be changed.

I know we all make choices and they aren’t always the right ones.  But recognizing the choice of letting God have control is the right one, can be very challenging when we don’t see results.  Our world and culture demand ‘instant gratification’.  God doesn’t work that way.  He works for the good of all involved--at just the right time.  

Sometimes there’s a delay because all the pieces aren’t in place for the best possible outcome.  It might be delayed because we need to learn something first, or our direction is skewed. Other times it’s just the wrong prayer, or a wrong motive.  And sometimes a ‘non-answer’ is an answer.  God does say no, sometimes.  That’s hard to grasp at the time of our heartfelt prayer.  But when we look at a ‘no’ from a parental perspective we can see even that, when it occurs, is in our best interest.

But how do we pray as a nation; as a ‘whole people’?  Our nation is struggling  with so many non-Biblical beliefs and behaviors taking root by the day--perhaps even the moment, that it can make our heads spin!  Can we sit back and not respond as Believers?  I don’t believe so.  The more acclimated and tolerant we become, we find ourselves desensitized to the evils swirling all around us, and our ability to stay faithful becomes fragile.

We need to be on our knees before God, praying that in the midst of all the turmoil and workings of Satan, we can stand strong; and encourage other Believers, while having the ‘gumption’ to counteract verbally, when we see something that goes against God.

If we don’t stay in touch with God, Satan will get in touch with us.  His ways are so subtle we often miss it.  It’s so important to be in prayer with all Believers that God will have his way with the world, even if it be through evil people (and he’s been known to do that!); because his return will be soon!  All prophesy has been fulfilled to precipitate this.  If we cave to Satan’s cunning, we give him another ‘toehold’.  

Pray, my fellow Believers!  Pray that we can stay strong and faithful, and that God can use each of us in this upside down and inside out, skewed world we live in, while we wait for Christ’s return.

Photo Credit;  https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/christians-praying-together.html 

Our Gift of A Father

 

       Fathers.  What an amazing gift.  We just passed Father’s Day and I hope you enjoyed the time spent with yours, if he’s still among the living.  Many miss their father’s especially on this day, as their’s has gone on to eternity.

Our lives with our fathers are precious, but not everyone has the ideal relationship.  Sometimes this is precipitated by an early death, divorce or a relationship strained because of work, substance abuse or even deliberate absence.  

My own dad was always near, in the sense he never physically left.  But there were limits to expressions of love or affection, given his background.  Some people prefer not to be ‘touchy-feely’ and my family fell into that category.  Even the voice of support and encouragement were rare to be heard.  

I watched a TV movie some time back where the father was ‘around’ but not in his little girl’s life.  She had a nanny who saw to her every need.   Ultimately in the movie the father recognized he was doing the same thing to his little girl as his father had done to him: there—- in body only.  There was very little actual relationship; which of course by the end, he corrected.

Real life isn’t always so ‘neat and tidy.’  Fathers are human only, and can’t change due to a written script—-  or can they?  I ask that, with a slight grin because that seems impossible, but when you add our Heavenly Father into the equation, we do have a written script.  

We learn what we live.  This is the ‘model’ we know.  In some instances the son (or daughter) wants to be just like their father (or mother).  When this perfect perception is shattered, very often so are the children.  I’ve known several homes where the dad stopped being dad in the Christian sense.  Their lifestyles are changed and they walk away from all that was familiar.  

Sometimes the child can look past the drastic change and still have a relationship.  Others cannot, sometimes in fear that they will follow in their father’s footsteps and that is terrifying!

God’s Word is filled with lots of advice for fathers and mothers within the pages.  God doesn’t leave us without a ‘parent handbook,’ although many of us forget it, or simply don’t look for the answers in scripture because there is so much other, ‘newer’ experts in our world.  There seems to be a book written by an expert on almost any question!  

But are the new experts any wiser than Christ?  We, as Believers are Christ’s children; adopted out of love when we accept him as Lord and Savior.  He provided the Perfect Lamb, HIS Son, to be a living sacrifice so that as sinners, we can claim him as our Heavenly Father.  This Father is far greater than any on Earth, because he will always, always be with us!

Our Earthly fathers eventually succumb to a mortal death.  It is the way of human life.  But God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit will never leave us; never die!  And regardless of what we face, God always understands, offers a unique sense of calmness and love that surpasses any we could dream of or hope for from any other human being.

I encourage you to spend time with your Earthly father, because they will eventually pass away.  But, even more than this, spend time with your Heavenly Father.  It is in this place where you will find peace, joy, and acceptance like no other other human can ever offer.

Photo Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/en/search/2/image?mediatype=&phrase=father%20and%20son&servicecontext=srp-related  

My Very Dry Bones

There are days when I just want to cry and I can’t explain why.  I’m sad with no apparent reason and become very frustrated.  My one daughter will tell me in those moments, I’m depressed.  I’d never given it that label and I’m not even sure why.  I think I’ve always thought it would make me seem weak.  Besides, my ‘episodes’ usually only lasted a day or so and I’d shake it off and be my normal, happy self!

Recently a friend shared their battle with the overwhelming sadness that is labeled depression. She explained that her sadness went beyond the ‘everyday’ kind of thing, and gravitated into her spiritual life.  She no longer had a desire for Bible reading or prayer; church had become draining and stressful.  Activities which had always brought her joy, now seemed like a huge burden.  She described it as a ‘dry season’ beyond any she’d ever experienced.  Her frustration led her to become angry and outraged at God until she finally screamed at him asking, “Why?  How did this happen?”

Over time, her anger subsided and she reached again for God’s Word and was drawn to Ezekiel.  She saw the words “Mortal, can these bones live?”  The passage caused her to drink deep of God’s love as she read about how God breathed life into those dry bones all around.  She savored the breath being blown into her lungs and spirit, as she read about the rattling sound and then those bones standing on their feet.  

I think we all have struggles that leave us feeling out of touch with God.  We no longer seem connected with a God who cares about the misery and burdens we are carrying.  Our hope has been snatched away by Satan, and he’s beating us up in every way imaginable.

But just like God breathed life into those dry bones on the battle field, and into the life of my depressed friend, we can draw strength from Him too.  He isn’t a God who isolates himself from us.  He is with us every step of the way, even when our human minds, and wounded spirit, can’t see it.  He’s there.  He’s always there.

Our daily lives are filled with exhausting situations.  It might be an illness financial loss, a lost job; the loss of a loved one, even a child; it could be substance abuse, family breakdown, physical abuse, a divorce, or those ‘things’ we can’t name.  I could write for pages, and still probably not have all the ways the world, through the whims of Satan, will try to tear us apart.

But my ‘dry bones’ won’t stay dry!  I won’t allow Satan to thieve my joy, and desecrate the relationship I have with God.  Oh, certainly, there are going to be days when Satan may win a battle, but he won’t win the war.  

For me it’s about putting on some Gospel music, whether it be praise and worship music, or traditional Southern Gospel; having conversation with God and remembering 'to be still and know that HE is God!'  It’s about taking me out of the hole I’ve let myself sink into and rising above, and reminding myself that Satan is below!  

I understand there are those who need medication for depression because it is a true medical condition.  But sadness is something we all endure.  I know, however, God is greater than my sadness and any mountain I see in front of me.  Even in sadness, I will worship Him.  He is God and he’s holding my hand and promised to never let me go!  

PHOTO CREDIT:  https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/decomposed-abused-legs-tied-camel-bones-1959558847