Awaiting the Lord’s Command
Despite the challenging season you may find yourself in, hope is on its way. Things may seem gloomy; dry winds in the air, dry fields in the horizon, scorching sun, not a single cloud in the skies, dead crops, dying livestock, no harvest, nothing on the threshing floor, no singing or rejoicing anywhere, no flicker of hope to be found everywhere you look.
Yet despite it all, hope is on the way. The angels of the LORD are on standby awaiting his command to respond to your prayers, if only you continued to pray and do not give up. It’s as if the prayers are to reach a certain intensity and volume to make the LORD issue his command.
Pray with a Contrite Heart
I have come to discover that it is not the lengthy prayers that touch the LORD’s heart, nor the ones with the most impeccable English, nor the most vocabulary, nor those said with the best oratory skills but the ones said from a contrite heart, a broken heart- these are the heart felt prayers that have much intensity to touch the LORD’s heart.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart O God you will not despise” Psalms 51:17
This drawing is very special to me because it also seems to align to a passage in the Psalms, on how the LORD cares for the earth and is able to water it and enrich it abundantly.
“The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
9 You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
13 The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.” Psalms 65: 8- 13
If the LORD is able to care this way for the land, how much more you and me? How much more is he able to provide for you and answer your prayers?
Pray in accordance to God’s will
We also learn from the book of 1 John that we should pray in accordance to God’s will. One cannot ask the Lord for anything that is contrary to his word and expect to get a positive response, one must know what the word says in the first place .Further I believe that the LORD is able to give one discernment on specific issues in one’s life and guide you on how to pray
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” I John 5:14 -15
Pray in the name of Jesus
Jesus himself also taught his disciples that they need to believe in him, pray to him and invoke his name.
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.” John 14:13-14
Jesus said this as he explained the sure way to the Father ;that he was the only way, the truth and the life and that no one came to the Father unless through him. Therefore if we prayed to the Father in his name, he would do whatever we asked.
Pray with Faith
“ Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…And without Faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him “Hebrews 11:1,6
When we pray we must have faith, believe that the LORD is alive ,that he sees you and that he hears you and understands you well ,in fact better than anybody – better than your BFF ,your spouse, your ride-or-die chick, your partner in crime sibling, your homie, your ex, your amigas and amigos ,your mentor, your children, your hero, or even your parent.
Faith I also learnt goes with deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do” James 2:18
“A Person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” and” As the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:24&26
Let’s then pray with a contrite heart ,in accordance to God’s will ,pray and take action by faith and pray in the name of Jesus. I’m certain the angels are on standby, awaiting the LORD’s command to release the answers to those prayers.
#faith #hope #Jesus #prayer #command
ComeFullCircle 