In August we talked about how using the names of God in prayer can affirm and strengthen our faith. Different aspects of God’s character seem especially appropriate to different prayer needs we face.
Choosing one of God’s descriptive names helps in praise too. I like to pick just one and spend time thinking what it says about His nature, His glory, His honour. They comfort me, encourage me, and inspire me to praise Him.
The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarrelled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” Exodus 17:2, NIV*
God had already given them a daily supply of manna in the desert. Now He patiently—and miraculously—provided water from a rock.
And he called the place Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarrelling] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not? Exodus 17:7, NIV*
The Israelites knew, better than we often do, that if God is present He can help. And they weren’t subject to our common fear that we’ve already asked too much and used up His gifts for us.
I think they feared abandonment. “If trouble hits, does that mean He left us?”
They knew they had nothing in themselves to convince Him to stay. They didn’t think about His character that keeps Him faithful to His commitments. Of His covenant that they would be His people and He would be their God.
We often need to be reminded of the same thing. As we persist in prayer, the proper attitude is not to nag for answers but to pray continually in thanksgiving and confidence, and keep alert to recognize the answers… especially if they come in small stages.
Father God, help me remember that You’re leading me. Help me trust Your character and Your promises and rely on You. Whatever my needs, I have Jesus. All I have to do is ask for help and be alert to recognize the answer. I understand it may well not come in the form I’d like, but I pray with confidence in Your perfect wisdom and timing.
Wednesday’s post came from one of my favourite Old Testament accounts: King Jehoshaphat and the invading hordes. (See “Confident that God is at Work”)
Another of my favourites is the story of Joshua leading the nation of Israel across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. You can read about it in Joshua 3.
Here’s the pep talk Joshua gives the people before they set out:
Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
In that short passage, look at how Joshua refers to God: “the LORD your God… the living God… the Lord of all the earth (twice)”.
Knowing and reminding ourselves of the names of God can affirm and strengthen our faith.
Joshua chose traits the people needed to remember for the journey ahead. He knew they needed to keep their faith strong in a land of giants.
I always love it when public prayer goes beyond “Dear God” and the leader picks one or two relevant character attributes to address the need: “God of comfort and grace, All-wise and knowing God, God who formed us and knows our weakness…”
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23, NIV*
I’ve been working through Beth Moore’s A Woman’s Heart workbook with my Bible study group at church. Right now we’re looking at the detailed instructions from God—to be followed to the letter—for preparing and consecrating the Tabernacle and its contents and the priests and their garments.
What stands out to me today is the seriousness involved in making a space where God could dwell among humans and not destroy them. Chapters upon chapters in Exodus and Leviticus deal with the construction and consecration of the Tabernacle and the procedures for offering acceptable sacrifices.
It’s just a glimpse of how holy God is, how different from us. Obedience meant the Israelites could see His glory, could be near Him.
The majestic God of Hosts is dangerous. Fearsome. Not to be trifled with.
Yet, He loves us and wants to be with us.
When we forget His power, and focus on the privilege of our access to Him through Jesus, we can forget how strong He is, and end up worrying about our circumstances.
Father, yes we praise You for making a way that we can come freely to You because of the blood of Jesus. Forgive us when we forget Your strength. Help us know and rely on Your presence with us, You who are mighty to save.
Last week’s devotional thought, “Willing to Give,” was about the wholehearted, willing offerings we make to God out of love for Him. Lots of times these are actions, but beneath the action is the true offering that comes from the heart:
Faith.
Love.
Trust.
Believing in God, trusting Him, just because of who He is. Because of what we know of His character. Because we know He’s trustworthy.
Even when we don’t see the whys and hows. Even when it hurts.
Our love and trust will result in obedience if it’s real. If we act on it. If we don’t put it into practice it stays theory and we’re never truly sure about God.
Many of my favourite novels have a hero/heroine who’s a strong leader, one the other characters will follow in the bleakest circumstances in blind (but fully warranted) trust. One who operates on the “need to know” principle because stopping to explain takes too long and because the followers don’t have the knowledge base to be able to understand. One who brings them through incredible odds to victory.
God is like that, except better. He’s real, and nothing surprises Him.
Reading the novels, when I see characters mistrusting the leader or trying their own ways, I know they’re wrong and I keep hoping they’ll wise up before it’s too late. Before they either ruin everything or at least get themselves killed.
In real life, it’s sometimes easier to be the doubter than the faithful follower—even when God is the leader.
Father, I’m glad You know our weaknesses. I’m gladder still that You love us anyway, and that You’re working all things out to the end You’ve planned from the beginning. You are the only wise, all-powerful God. The only one who can bring victory in the mess we’ve made. Help us to love, trust and obey You, in the big and in the small. Sometimes the small is the hardest part.
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. Then the father realized that this [his son’s healing] was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed. John 4:50, 53, NIV*
I was always amazed at how this father, some sort of royal official, could accept Jesus’ abrupt dismissal and promise of healing and just go. He was an important person, probably used to special treatment. He came to Jesus begging for his son’s life—already something beneath his position—and he’d asked Jesus to come with him.
Jesus didn’t even send one of His disciples along as a representative!
The man’s strength of faith made me miss a deeper point until now: Jesus originally told him, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders…you will never believe.” (John 4:48, NIV*)
I never understood why Jesus would say this here. After all, the man wasn’t demanding a sign like Jesus’ opponents so often did. He was pleading for his son’s life.
The man came because he wanted something. But it wasn’t until he received that miracle that he was open to receive the full package of who Jesus is. To move from believing what He could do to believing who He truly is.
To see what the miracle actually meant. It testified that this itinerant Rabbi could command the power of God.
How many times do I come to Him for what He can do for me—for what I want Him to do—instead of for Who He is?
Father, You invite us to come boldly, and to bring our prayers, petitions and praises. But too many times they’re the only reason I come. You didn’t reconcile me to Yourself just to listen to my prayer list. You drew me back into fellowship with You. Relationship. Sometimes the needs are huge. But my need of You is central. If you were to never answer another prayer, I’d still need to be in Your presence.
…if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. 2 Timothy 1:13, NIV*
And this is why we can trust Him: we can trust His character. God can’t be other than who He is.
I look at the foolishness, immorality and capriciousness of the Greek and Roman gods and the only reason I can figure that people worshiped them was fear. Not the good kind, the healthy respect and awareness of sovereignty that God asks of us, but the terror and need-to-appease kind.
God’s character—and our understanding of it—is central to our ability to live in confident faith in Him. He is who He is. As the hymn declares, “there is no shadow of turning” in Him. Not even a hint of uncertainty. No reason to doubt.
Holy and sovereign God, You are worthy of worship and I praise You. You are worthy of our worship, our trust, and our love. And You love us. You’ve proven that through Your Son. Teach us and help us to live by faith in You, so that we can grow into all You’ve designed us to be.
I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD. Psalm 104:33-34 NIV*
I’ve been asking God to renew my heart, and trusting He’s at work although there’s no visible evidence yet. Wondering when I’d start to see some change.
Like the child who digs up a seed every day to see if it’s sprouted yet.
This morning these verses from Psalm 104 changed my focus: Forget what’s seen or unseen, present or future. Praise God in the now.
Sure, I’ll praise Him when He’s renewed my heart. But why wait until then?
It’s not just about praising God for what He’s done. It’s about praising Him for who He is: God, majestic and powerful, loving and compassionate, Creator and Restorer. What He does only shows glimpses of who He is.
There’s plenty to praise Him for now, while I’m waiting, and His praise is to be the song of my life.
Father, help me be confident in who You are – Your character – not in what You do. Thank You for what You’re doing in my heart. Whether that goes fast or slow, help me live each day in praise to You because You are good, and because You love me.
∞
This week’s song has meant a lot to me over the past couple months: “Glorious,” by the Newsboys.
Who among you fears the LORD
and obeys the word of his servant?
Let him who walks in the dark,
who has no light,
trust in the name of the LORD
and rely on his God. Isaiah 50:10, NIV*
The past few weeks have weighed a bit heavily on me. Prayers, alone and in groups, dwell on a mountain of needs: sickness, death, emotional suffering.
In one of my prayer groups, a member spoke of having a hard time “seeing God’s plan” in a heartbreaking need. Not that God caused the problem, but why isn’t He intervening with the miracle we’re praying to see?
I thought of this on Good Friday. Nobody could see God’s plan when it included Jesus dying on the Cross.
But He had a plan.
And it shook the universe.
If we know God’s character, we know we can trust Him. Even when He’s silent and everything is going all wrong.
So I choose to keep bringing the sick and wounded to Him, bringing my lack of vision too.
Father, prayer isn’t meant to dwell on the problems, but to dwell on You. Forgive us when we get it wrong. Thank You that we can bring these needs to You. Help us find our rest in who You are, in Your character and Your promises. When we can’t see Your plan, let us see You – caring, moving, sustaining.
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1, NIV*
Take fear out of the equation, and how much differently would we act?
Some upstanding citizens would become successful criminals without a healthy fear holding them back.
Most of us would be calmer, not so guarded. We could trust and not feel the need to protect our interests. We could be ourselves without being concerned about mockery. We could tell others about this wonderful Jesus who rescued us, and not worry about rejection.
In this world, dangers abound and a healthy fear can keep us safe. Grace Fox points out in Moving from Fear to Freedom that the upside to fear is how it can point us to active trust in God.
As we learn to trust God, get to know His character and prove His trustworthiness, the challenge is to let Him be our protector instead of protecting ourselves. Not that we’ll abandon common sense and start walking in front of buses or into dark alleys, but will we drop the barriers we’ve learned to hide behind?
Will we concentrate more on others’ unspoken needs and less on our own security? More on how God might be nudging us to get involved, and less on what it would cost?
Father, You are our strong tower, our shelter and our refuge. Nothing and no one can snatch us from Your hand. Give us courage and grace to live Your rescue, not shrinking back but trusting our hearts and souls to You and following where You lead. Teach us to hear and obey Your voice, because of Jesus.
