Isaiah 59:19, "So shall they fear the Name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him."
I was given this verse at the close of 2009 in preparation for 2010. I am led back to it now for our time together in prayer 24 hours, 7 days a week. What has happened, in my mind, is that the poor response of the church to pray as left the doors and gates wide open for the devil and hell to come forth and multiply its efforts in our world, and especially in the United States.
God looked for a man to stand in the gap and pray against this evil, "He saw that there was no intercessor". You and I have responded to that call and obeyed in undertaking this task of praying without ceasing. It is no light thing to enter to be responsible for an hour a day in prayer. A prayer time designed to pray against the darkness, the destruction, the devil and the dying. And literally to answer the question, 'if we don't pray, who will?' But because no one has been praying, that we are aware of, then we know that God has spoken to us. He has said, 'Will you pray?' And we must answer, 'Yes, Lord.'
Let us look at a few things to consider for our hour. Each one of us is developed in our prayer life, or I feel you never would have been interested or signed up for such a huge task as this. WE are in different places, and under different circumstances. Some are alloted more time than others to invest. And others are only able to help in filling in empty hour slots, unable to commit to each day. It is taken shape right now as we continue to develop and grow in this.
1. When we stand before God, this is how God sees us: vile, offensive, wicked, sinful, evil, blighted, corrupt, perverse, disobedient, unclean, wretched, filthy;
"And he shewed me Joshua the high prieststanding before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. v. 2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O satan; even teh Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem reubke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? v. 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel."
And then the Lord proceeds to undo all his unrighteousenss and exchange them for righteous garments and coverings. No man can proceed before the Lord without the acces to God through Christ. All these attributes of our sinful nature and choices are an offense unto God. WE must be made 'presentable' to come before the Lord. Christ is our robe of righteousness; Christ is our way; Christ is our covering by His atoning blood.
Too many, I feel, come before the Lord with no thoughts of how God sees them. They proceed on in prayers, not knowing where iniquity is, God is not. He does not hear the prayers because the soul has not dealt with the issues at hand. 'If I regard iniqutiy in my heart, the Lord wil not hear me.'
Understanding how God sees us, make us humbled in His Presence. To know how wretched we are in the presence of Him keeps a soul from coming with pride, arrogance and self exaltation. How can one proceed unto God for mercies, if he does not truly believe that he needs mercy? A proper perspective is absolutely necessary in praying rightly.
2. It is not God's desire to annihlate us. Let us see what God's response to us is when a soul comes seeking HIm rightly:
First, they come humbly. They know they have no right to come before Him, but they also know God desires for His chidlren to approach unto Him. God desires to hear and respond to His creation. SEcondly, we come in His image. WE are made in the image of God. 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.' God accepts His image, 'and when He saw man, it was very good.' Therefore He receives His creation for there is none other in existence like man. And because of God's attributes, He demonstrates mercy, grace, longsuffering in receiving us. Not that we deserve anything of Him, but that this is Who He is. We are undeserving, yet receiving so much from Him.
He imparts His mercies and graces, which are His very Own 'unmerited favor' for redemption and blessings. He made the way through the sacrifice of Christ, to atone for our sins. The blood of Christ covering us, as we receive it and it is imparted allows for us to 'proceed boldly before the throne of grace'. He does not see the first aspects of sin as mentioned, but sees Christ great love and shed blood for our sacrifice. He imparts His love, for His fallen creation. Loving us while we 'were yet in sin'. This is great love from a great God; this is Divine love.
The soul comes seeking forgiveness for they know that they have trespassed, greived, offended, sinned against Him. And God is willing and able to impart forgivness for our great transgression. And with the sin removed and 'cast as far as the east is from the west' and 'carried and dropped in the depths of the sea, no more to be remembered'; we are restored to a right relationship before HIm. He is ever the restorer of the breach. Praise His Name!
The declaration of God about His Own Name reveals to us, His desire toward us. Exodus 34:6 - 7, "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,a nd abundant in goodness and truth, v. 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressiona nd sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the inqiutiy of the fathers upon the chidlren, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation."
He gives mercy, grace, truth, longsuffering, fogivness and cleansing. In all this, God is constant in working us towards HIm. Even though man sinned and went away from God, God is ever seeking men to return unto Him. 'If ye return unto Me, I will return unto you.' God is the One Who beckons us toward Him. Drawing us, for no man draws night to God of his own ability or decision. 'Unless God draws him, he will not come.' By His convicting us of our sin, reveals His Spirit is working on us and in us to reconcile us with Him. Praise His Name for His everlasting desire to bring us back to Him.
When one sees and knows these Biblical truths of SCripture, it overlows in the prayer life. We are thinking about God and His works, and not our own works. We are grateful and thankful for Him and all these attributes He is demonstrating for lost men. And as we pray for lost souls, we pray for all these components to be brought to pass for the saving of souls. It is a two fold effect in our prayers. That which happened to us, and that which we desire to happen to our lost loved ones. It is cause/effect again. God caused it, and it effected us to the 'renewing of our minds toward Him'.
Also to note, if men, nations reject God these Divine prinicples of salvation, we know that God's wrath and anger goes out toward them. We can rehearse of what God has done to sinful people in His anger of their wickedness. WE know the Scriptures that reveal these truths. It comes out in our praying, for those that reject God. We do not know how much time they have left, it is of the most urgent needs. Eternity is streaming toward them and they are not ready for it.
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