DISCIPLINE#3 OF 12 - PRAYER

 THE BMIC BLAST: JANUARY 2025

NEVER TOO LATE FOR GOD TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS & PETITIONS - A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, PART 1

Obedience to God always leads to a life bursting with Praise. This truth has no greater example than in the case of the father of John the Baptist himself – the priest Zacharias. As an authentic minister of the Lord, under the Law of Torah, the ancient Jewish ceremonial system, Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were both called “righteous and blamelessly walking in the law, commandments and statutes of the Law of the Lord” (Luke 1:6).

Faithful and true, Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were both getting on in years and childless. It was to this wonderful couple which the Lord sent His angel with some incredible news. It is confirmed, from what the angel told Zacharias in Luke 1:13, that as old as he was, Zacharias was still praying for a son! We are not told if Elizabeth, his wife, was aware of any of this, but great change was coming to her as well.

What was about to happen to her husband, Zacharias, reflects this fact – God hears our prayers. The angel said “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, your petition (constant prayer) has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you will name him John” (Luke 1:13)!

There is a reason for this “second verse, same as the first” modus operandi by the Almighty – God the Father and Ruler of all things.

1. God is Sovereign and can do anything He wants.
2. God is a God of timing and nothing happens before He is good and ready.
3. God will do as He says. Age, location and circumstance mean nothing to Him. His Will be done.

One would think that a holy and righteous son of Abraham and priest of the Living God – Zacharias – would remember his ancestor and the Patriarch Abraham became a father at the age of 100, with this over 90 year old wife Sarah!  But human nature is what it is. He was skeptical with God’s angel who was extremely specific about what was about to take place! To make a long story short, because this man of God expressed some doubt when God’s great angel Gabriel gave a report directly from the Throne of God, Gabriel temporarily took Zacharias’ voice away.

Here is the parallel with Abraham, in relation to Zacharias:

Genesis 17:17 says "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

Luke 1:18 says "Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”

So why did Gabriel, the main Angelic Spokesman from the Throne of Heaven, take away the priest's voice for 9 months while nothing happened to Abraham?

Well, for one thing, this is a good lesson for those of us who call ourselves Christians AND are active in ministry. Whether we are a church leader in charge of making sure the snow is cleared off the parking lot on Sundays in December or a mentor to a small group at church - we have a much higher level of accountability than the average person. In fact James, the brother of the Lord, tells us that explicitly in James 3:1.

Zacharias, like us, sometimes forget whose we are and what is expected of us. Scripture tells us that whom the Lord loves, He disciplines. Many of us know this lesson well. Even so, the Lord is still in the miracle working business. Because while the faithful servant Zacharias was without voice for those 9 months, he grew in power, spirit and adoration for the Lord, as we will see in the next post. Just as important as praise which will burst out from the heart of this man, is the fact that while He may take almost a season of refreshing and reflection to teach a man, our Heavenly Father always remembers our prayers, petitions and supplications. He will respond to those prayers and He will do so, in some really incredible sounds.

THY WILL BE DONE..."HOW DO I KNOW WHEN GOD ANSWER MY PRAYER"

During a Bible Conference a couple years ago, I asked Phil Johnson, the president of Dr. John MacArthur's broadcast ministry (Grace to You) the following question, in essence: "how do we know when  God has answered our prayers and how do we proceed from there". His general answer was, to paraphrase, that we should pray about it and trust the Lord and then take the appropriate course of action. This is a great answer but it also assumes a high level of spiritual maturity and discernment. Another small risk in that, is we can listen to our own voice and make a mistake outside the will of God.

For most Christians, it is not that easy because of the lack of spiritual maturity, with only 9 (NINE!!) percent of Americans with any Biblical Worldview at all!!! God has told us what His Will is for our lives and it is thus "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 - please watch my video at the end of this page for a fuller explanation of this verse). God's Will for us is basically walking in Holiness so we can be more like Him, hence the reason He saved us and set us apart.

Now, the responsibility of the Christian is say "Thy Will be done on earth as You, oh God, have willed it in Romans 12:2 and I refuse to conform, compromise, sell out and trade my testimony and worse, my soul, with the world, just to be considered to be one of them"! Our prayer should be "Heavenly Father, most gracious kind, long-suffering, patient and merciful God, I surrender my entire will, my being, my life and my all to you. I take every thought captive and align it more with Thy Word. I accept Your true Will for my life which is obedience and walking in the Light of the Lord my Savior Jesus Christ, and I seek to follow Him in word, action and will. Lord, I seek Thy guidance in all matters. I want Your thoughts to be my thoughts. I desire Your strength to uphold me, Thy Spirit to direct, mold, move, reveal and not conceal but that You, oh Most High God would keep me close, because I am weak and need You, that I may truly discern what Your purposes, plans and paths are for me to follow, through Christ our Lord, my God and my King, amen".

A prayer of submission along those lines is what is needed. We also have to believe in Him for the answer, and that He will reveal it to us. I am cessionist only to the point where there is nothing more written, and revealed from God than His Holy Word, to all the peoples of all times and that means, one can add NOTHING to Scripture than the 66 books of the Bible. I also know PERSONALLY, that God speaks to us, when He wants and HOW He wants, because He is sovereign and we ain't!  The Bible has "Thus sayeth the Lord", in your own prayer life and if you're following and obeying Him (or should be) He will call, guide and/or rebuke in an audible voice, when necessary, as I know He has to me on three separate occasions in my life, in the last two decades. 

The key in praying to God about an important matter such as whom you should marry, or which job you should take or even which roads you should travel on a snowy, wintry day is this: listening! I cannot begin to tell you how many times He has rescued be because the Holy Spirit immediately prompted me to a sudden course of action here or there. I pulled off the interstate on an off-ramp one new year's eve on heading out for a 3 hour drive to family for a New Year's party, swung around and headed back home.  The Holy Spirit did not loudly say "get off this highway NOW" - He just moved and I obeyed immediately. He has also shown me opportunities which I missed because I decided NOT to move! This opportunity was in a flash second.
There is much more we can discuss to seek answers to prayer and that will be addressed in the next post....and then expand on "when God answers prayer"

THE FINAL PRAYERS OF JESUS: PART 2 HIS FOLLOWERS - YOU AND I

THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER

20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may [a]believe that You sent Me.

Their Future Glory

22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected [b]in unity, so that the world may [c]know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 “O righteous Father, [d]although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

(Scripture - New American Standard Bible NASB from Bible Gateway)