Prayers that move God's heart
In any excruciatingly
difficult waiting process, we know in our heart of hearts, as His redeemed
children, that the intense circumstances we face are designed to engender soul
pain. This pain has been, and always been, a carefully calculated stroke of genius
by Our Loving Master to arrange in our lives the perfect collision of His grace
with our desperately needy and broken situation.
The truth of God's sovereign control of all things pertains to all men.
But God wants us, His chosen ones, to cry out and ask Him to move in our lives
no matter who we are and no matter what we have done.
His perfect timing
and grace rendezvous with our desperate situation and brings us to a point
where our heart gushes out a real “cry” for help that touches His eternally
capable Love and care and His Hand saves us from our very difficult
circumstances. So we must realize that the prompting of a cry for healing
and salvation brings us to the best place and only place where we find amazing
love and salvation.
It is at the cross of
Jesus; the very real place where He cried out "My God, My God, why have
you forsaken Me?" that find and discover truth. Mankind has a horrible
problem and only One man can solve it. The death of Jesus shows us that even He
couldn't turn Our Father from the necessity of His agonizing death. He
perfections were well established. Yet His cries were not answered.
But the account goes
on. Three days and three nights later, our Lord emerged a new man, alive and
perfected. He could walk through walls he could move around like a man or he
could disappear like a mist. He overcame death for us by the work of His
Father. He willing laid His sacred life down at the feet of His father, a
willing sacrifice, and for what and for whom you may ask?
For you... and for
me.
Jesus cried out and
heaven answered. His empty tomb reveals the best answer.
Sometimes we want relief... just from the pain.
But we must remind ourselves in these times that our soul pain has a purpose.
Pain emits a unbiased cry where expose our vulnerable heart anguish, and that
pain drives us to release that pain to Our Father.
What would we do with
this pain if we didn't know that Jesus came here to deliver us? Where would we
be without the human birth and life of Jesus?
We say he came to die. We could also say He came to CRY.
King David was a
beautiful song writer and poet. But what I most admire about David is his
crying heart.
His raw emotion.
David says in Ps 18:
36, In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my
voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, [even] to His
ears.
Through the hardness
of my confused life, I have been learning my heart “cries” release the simplest
of prayers, and I have found that those prayers deal with my sad heart and I
have seen that they influence the Father's heart.
Simple prayers
like: “Lord, show me Your way!” or, “where are you God!” or, “I need you,
now!” or another good one, “Save me!”
In the book and
account of the sufferings of the Prophet Job we can see quite clearly the
difference real cries of real men produce verses those who never empty
themselves of pride and self reliance.
In Job our troubled
hero compares the heart of real men to that of a hypocrite
"But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them. |
So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to
Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted.
The prayers of honest men "crying out" are the most
powerful and life-changing prayers that can be uttered by anyone. When our
forsaken Lord cried out and breathed his last, His fateful cry produced His and
Our salvation.
Ponder that reality for moment.
---
Rom.8:26 says, “the Spirit helps in our weaknesses.
For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself
makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
Don't you think our Father in heaven desires for all of His
children to finally release their hearts to Him?
To get you and me to the point of uttering a very simple “cry”?
It is at this crossroad, our moment of decision, here and only here is the real
place where we utter the truest of words. We finally ask the right questions of
Our Father, and we ask them from the right perspective... the very dust from
which we were formed!
To rightly answer His questions in the most honest way. It
is here that our man-centered worldview is challenged and eventually it is
changed. Where we gain a better view of who we really are before His very
holy throne. It is here we find honesty and vulnerability.
The brand new nation of Israel came to the banks of the Red Sea in
desperation. Pharaoh's army was rushing upon them and a wide expanse of water
made for their way of escape. Here they cried to Moses and Moses stepped into
His destiny, in a foreshadowing of a future work of Messiah, raised his staff
to heaven and the Sea parted... Amazing!
Our stress creates a weight on our heart that produces fear and
reveals to us our weaknesses. Stress prompts us to desire eternal things. Be
anxious for nothing but by prayer and intercession make your requests known to
God.
Our stress and life roadblocks press us to feel and think more
correctly -- we see our end -- and it is eternity.
When temporal conundrums block our plans, we are left many times
with a blank and very confused heart and mind. It is here, the point of
painful confusion, that the Father works new grace into our needy hearts to
teach us “His way” in the world.
Over time we become saints. Humility and grace become our best
friends. Time reveals our Lord's faithfulness. Wisdom becomes our greatest ally
and support.
Year of walking before the face of the Father reveals that our pincer-like
situations brought forth years and years of crying and in turn a changed heart.
Abraham took his beloved son Isaac to the top of mount Moriah to put him to
death because He was told to do so by His Father. Time had revealed to Abram
that the Lord was faithful. I believe many times he was left in the bowels of
travail seemingly all alone, but time revealed the faithfulness of His Father.
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When someone tells me, God is on His throne, I have to agree, but
that wasn't the question? No, the question rather ought to be this, “why
doesn't He move when I pray?” I mean, why is He taking so long?
Knowing that our Dad is our dad is not enough, I have to feel and
know His love. His very much needed comfort. This isn't abstract truth we
are seeking. No way, and thousand times No! We are seeking the Our
Maker and we need His immediate attention, and I mean, NOW!
Let's be honest with ourselves for a just a moment.
What kind of prayers does God answer the most often?
Does it matter how you pray?
Do fancy words move His heart?
Certain inflections in our vocal tones?
No No, I don't think so.
Well wouldn't you come and take a turn with me as we try to answer
this very important question from the life of Jesus. This following Jesus
thing is a very crazy way.
---
We are shown in Heb. 5:7-9 how He prayed while He was on the
earth:
“who
in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications,
with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and
was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned
obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He
became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
We suppose so many times that following Jesus means doing
the “christian” thing. Being nice to people. Paying our taxes, at
least most of them. Going to all the stated “church” meetings.
Hanging with the right people who think like us and play “happy”
like us and to stay away from the bad people. But in reality, following Jesus
means to “be” like Jesus. To walk and “do” the stuff of Jesus! After all,
He is our Messiah and Immanuel. “He is” our ever present help in time of
need.
Yet in all our efforts to please ourselves when we pray, are we
really touching the heart of our Father in heaven?
His Son knew that are very real death met His real walk to Jerusalem,
this was no imaginary death.
Think of Jesus being a human for a moment, imagine that He didn't
know the outcome of His fate. Fear of His accusers was real... shrinking
back from cruel lashings that awaited Him as He was crying vehemently in the Garden
of Gethsemane revealed the depths of woe in the heat of our Our loving Savior.
Every emotion was very real to Him, just like it should be to
us! We are humans not robots or computers who do what is expected of us
or will not shake the feathers of others. Jesus was naked and vulnerable
before His Father in His holy prayers.
We too should be honest and very sincere in our praying, even
uncomfortable.
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Before you move on from this point, hold on for just one minute.
Does trusting in Jesus mean just letting Him do all the work in
our deliverance from so great a death? We call that club church,
and that “club” doesn't foster revival. It doesn't foster change.
No, it makes for some good christian fun and culture building, but it does
nothing to build the eternal church of Jesus Christ. It does nothing to
usher in the end of the age. No, all it does it make for some extra shame
at His appearing.
Has not Jesus said, “if you inclined to come after me, then
prepare yourself to leave behind your self-love and come along then and learn
of Me and do what I do!”
In the common language of the day, His point was understood by his
followers and those who heard the sound of His voice. We think in our
times that following Jesus is following the culture of Christianity, if you
don't mind a bold word of truth --- that is a bunch of BS. If it was
biblically true, then why prat-el, is this easy Christianity not working to
influence the rising generation of those that are truly hungry and thirsty for
God? If you think they are buying this BS, there not!!
We have had our fill preachers and ministries selling “easy” --
setting up a way not as hard as those old-time hell and brimstone “John the
Baptist” guys establish. No we have found the better way to do our
“American” Brand of Christianity. If this new way is so effective, why
then, does our culture and churches continue this steady slide onward toward
Gomorrah?
Don't you believe it's time to deal a knockout punch to this mindset
and the endless cascade of ministries that want to sell a man-centered brand of
Christianity.
Where are the cries and the broken grunts and moans of a
surrendered life?
How about we rip the pews out of our stadium arranged performance
based buildings and set in its place empty floors where we can collectively lay
before the Lord's throne and repent?
In order to “pray right” we have to be in the right place -
right! We need to turn back to the ancient wells from which our sacred
“long lost” faith has been so powerful dug. We have an incredible
pedigree. Not only in biblical times but even in our America. Until
we put this man-centered garbage we are offering out to the curb, we will not
make any progress toward pleasing our Father in heaven corporately.
By praying “prayers” that are sincere and will really move His
heart to save us! In the end of all things, we will all need to be saved
from a very real Christ occupied Throne of Judgment. No change of heart reveals
our practical atheism and our judgment in already at work!
None of Jesus twelve disciples were confused by the seriousness of
His claim over them and their lives. Let's remember that they were in contact
with No person less than Jesus of Nazareth, the long anticipated Messiah.
When He, Messiah that was to come, He would make bold
claims. For these regular Jewish guys, this claim would be clear and
obvious. And that listening to Messiah and following Him would frame a natural
next step. He was and is their long-awaited King. They had prayed,
even cried out, for many generations that He would come and deliver them from
very real bondage to Rome. A real and certain urgency marked their
attitude about Jesus the Messiah.
We mark a typical Jewish person's cry before the Messiah came to
dwell on earth, “Oh Messiah, please come and lift the shackles of bondage from
me, my family, and our needy nation!” Fill your temple with your
presence, just like you did back in Solomon's day. Don't delay, hurry,
for we are desperately in need of You and only You! If you're gonna delay
then please supply grace for me and my family to wait on You and Your
time. Please come quickly though. Fulfill your promise to the seed
of David!
Think of it, many millions of Jews around the world are still
praying this prayer today in anticipation of their real Messiah. In this season
of the Feast of Tabernacles we all should be praying with them.
How hard is it to pray heart based and honest prayers?
The words just kinda flow, don't they?
Why is it that we have made prayer so perfunctory?
What kind of prayers then really move the Father's heart and
change our circumstances?
What kind of “heart cries” will move our Lord to petition the
Father on our behalf?
Jesus died to become our Melchizedek, the Great High Priest, even
now He intercedes for His People before the face of Our Father!
Do you remember that old blind man on the road to Jericho who
simply cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” When the blind man was
told to be quiet, he cried all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on
me!” Why did he utter the words, “Son of David”? Messiah was and is
the Son of David!
The scripture says at this point (Lk.18:40) says that, “Jesus
stood still, and commanded Him to be brought to Him.” Imagine that?
The Maker of the Universe, stood still? What made Him stop and listen to
the cry of a poor beggar? Was it not the anguish and neediness of His
heart? Was it not is petition directed specifically to Messiah?
This man knew that Jesus was the Messiah, that was a big deal to Jesus.
Jesus then, as Messiah, goes on to ask a very direct question of
the blind man named Bartimaeus. Jesus asked this very probing question,
“What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man smartly gets right to
the point and says, “Lord, that I might receive my sight!”
The scripture goes on to reveal that the man immediately received
His sight!
What did that blind beggar need?
Sight.
What do we need?
Life. Revival. Repentance.
With sight-filled eyes, he and we, can plainly see the Savior of
the world, Jesus of Nazareth.
Could it be that this was all he really wanted in the first place?
After receiving his sight, the scripture plainly says, “and he
followed Him” Could it be that this blind, now-seeing, beggar followed
Jesus all the way to Golgotha and then met him after the resurrection?
Was he there as a Jesus worshiper during the days of Pentecost? We don't
know for sure but we can imagine that he was there, and it reveals to us today
what we really need --- just to see ------ Jesus! This thought makes me happy!
Are we not all in the same place today? Are we not all
“blind” to what is really going on in the world around us? Some of us are
so blind to what is really going on around us that we are mistakenly planning
on staying for an extended period of time just to grab a little more gusto and
zest from this very fleeting and temporarily-blessed life in America.
Yet over and over we have seen from our history and ancient
history, that life is but a mere vapor. Good kings rise to power and then
bad ones come after them. There is no utopian existence outside of
knowing and living in God's presence.
We have been shown so clearly from the sacred writings of
scripture that a blessed life consists of three score and ten years. Yet
so many of us want to suck a little bit more out more of the deal, just to live
on our extra years for more temporary pleasure.
I frankly can't wait for Messiah to come.
Only then, will this crazy world make any sense to me. Men
today are doing what pleases them. Their plans are what matter.
Many will pay lip service to the idea of doing God's will, but it's really not
the “ache” of their desperate hearts.
A true follower of Christ, and a man of real prayer, he sees the
state of things and he prays according to what they really see. Our
spiritual state in America is not good, we are under a black cloud. The
only prayer that will change our calamitous situation is a heart-felt cry
directly to the Throne of Our Messiah.
A real cry for “help” will do! Only He can heal our
diseases, both physical and spiritual!
Our Maker and Sustainer holds the cards on our particular way and
path. He chooses the type of life we have here and that is conditioned by
our behavior toward His Law and righteous ways. The pure in heart will
see God. Those who follow Him with all their heart, seem to have a
different attitude. They will pray incessantly, “Your kingdom come, Your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Either God comes down to dwell with His people or we go up, either
one is fine for a true christian man, women, or child. We want to leave
and be with the One that enraptures us. Far better to be with the Lord
then here on a planet filled with selfish ambition, confusion, and determinism.
We will stay here on planet Earth only to serve Him and do what
His will. To build His kingdom on the earth.
I believe a heart cry laced with a very simple faith-filled
utterance moves the heart of God.
These are the kind of prayers that flow out of a very sober heart
commitment to do the work and will of heaven.
When we pray this way, I believe we access to the heart of God...
what an amazing reality!
Many blessings,
Jonathan
In : Prayer
Tags: pray prayer vehement cry groan jesus messiah life death deliverance salvation empty open repent honest transparent surrender fall down worship god faith walk perseverance david hebrews press on steadfast persevere