Isaiah 26:3 asserts, “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].” Peace is not the absence of trouble in our life, but the presence of God in it. With the Lord, our omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient and omnibenevolent God, we are carried through the storms of life.
Pastor Obie continues that praying through problems may not cause you to avoid them. It is a true bless when they are avoided, but praying always helps us get through the problems. Diamonds are formed under tremendous pressure and gold is refined by enormous heat. When walking through the pressures and heat of life, follow the next step that God is calling you to do. We learn and grow from them. Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The ancient oil lamps could only illuminate well for a few feet in front of the person carrying it, so the individual could literally see their next step only in the darkness of the night. Bible commentator Matthew Henry confirms that the nature of the Word of God, and the great intention of giving it to the world; it is a lamp and a light. It must be not only a light to our eyes, to gratify them, and fill our heads with speculations, but a light to our feet and to our path, to direct us in the right ordering of our conversation, both in the choice of our way in general and in the particular steps we take in that way, that we may not take a false way nor a false step in the right way. We are then truly sensible of God’s goodness to us in giving us such a lamp and light when we make it a guide to our feet, our path. Prayer is key to moving forward on that path.
Praying through the problems of life in a “fallen in sin” world, aligns us with God’s Word, Will, Way and Divine Providence. This Providence in theology means the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures; for the same power which caused a thing to exist is necessary to continue its existence. By divine providence is often understood God himself. When God decides, He guides and provides. But, everything is in His timing. The Lord Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 instructing us, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven ,,.” In this first segment of the “Model Prayer”, we acknowledge God as our Heavenly Father, that He resides outside of our visible time and space in Heaven, that His very name is holy (applied to the Supreme Being, holy signifies perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character). That though the world was corrupted by sin, decay and death, we anticipate His perfect Kingdom is coming soon where His will rules and reign on earth as it reigns today in Heaven. We have to remember that there is an Almighty God, and that He is neither you or I. God’s way in God’s time.
The Creator of Heaven and Earth says in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” It is a given that our infinite God knows more than our finite and corrupted by sin minds can fathom. The reality of 1 John 2:16 Is that, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” The One who knows the end from the beginning has an over-arching plan which He is divinely orchestrating by His all-powerful providence. We are to keep praying, keep communication, and keep making our requests be known to God, who hears your prayers, because praying brings God’s power.
Pastor Obie says that pride precedes a downfall, but Prayer precedes an upfall. Okay, that’s an oxymoron, but we understand that God’s supernatural power and providence lifts us. So keep knocking at the door, pray louder and praise God always, because God, I need a favor. Amen, amen.
In Christ, Brian
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