Date: Sunday,
August 02, 2015
Chapters: Jeremiah
35-38
Message Title: Praying To The Living God

Hello My Friend,

Prayer,
it's our direct line to communicate with God, sometimes prayers are
answered in an instant, while other times it takes years for them to
be answered. Sometimes we get exactly what we want, while other times
it is completely the opposite. We may not always understand the way
God answers prayer, but we can understand that God knows what He is
doing and he always answers us. “And this is
the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing
according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired
of him.” - 1 John 5:14,15.

See the key phrase
here, “if we ask any thing according to his
will”, many times God does not give us things because it is
simply not in His will for us, at least at the time. God always has a
reason for delaying or even denying our requests, perhaps sometimes
sin is the reason. Isaiah was given the difficult task of telling the
people of Jerusalem of the judgment placed upon them, God reminds him
of the good that will come out of it. “Say to
them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your
God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will
come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness
shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the ransomed
of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting
joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow
and sighing shall flee away.” - Isaiah 35:4-10.

Severe
affliction has a way of opening our eyes to seeing things we haven't
been doing right, especially when they have to do with God. I know
the day I chose to be faithful to God was the day I thought I was
dying. You see, sometimes, we who are God's can get so far off track
that we are dangling off the edge of the cliff, and it often takes us
being there to bring us back to Him. “For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are
seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” - 2 Corinthians
4:17,18.

After God spoke of the judgments coming to all
the nations, and what was about to happen to Jerusalem we are taken
to the events that took place when Hezekiah was king in the Southern
Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom had already been overtaken by
Assyria. Now, they are in Judah, trying every tactic they can to get
the people to go against Hezekiah's decision to trust God to deliver
them. “Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a
loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the
great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, Let not
Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD
will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the
hand of the king of Assyria. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad?
where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out
of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have
delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver
Jerusalem out of my hand? But they held their peace, and answered him
not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.”
- Isaiah 36:13-15,19-21.

Rabshakeh made a major mistake,
he compared the living God to false gods. The world does everything
it can to stop us from putting our faith in the only living God. What
they fail to understand is that we have do have the all powerful
living God on our side. Hezekiah did the only thing he could think of
to come up with the right decision on how to handle the situation, he
asked God, and Isaiah comes to him with an answer.

“Then
Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the
LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria: And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye
shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year
that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and
reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. And the remnant
that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward,
and bear fruit upward: For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant,
and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts
shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of
Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there,
nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.”
- Isaiah 37:21,30-33.

Prayer really is the only way to get
truly God's attention, and I am not talking about simple, day to day
prayers, yes, He likes those, but sometimes He needs more than that.
He needs the heart breaking, knee trembling, tears falling like rain,
type of prayers. While God always loves to hear from us, it is this
type of praying that really does get His attention. “Draw
nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and
mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your
joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he
shall lift you up.” - James 4:8-10.

We can never
underestimate the power praying to the only living God, He and He
alone has the power to give us life, death, and everything in
between. Whether we see a person recover from a deathly disease via
earth or heaven, it all comes from the hand of the Almighty God. And
just when we think the worse is over, here comes sickness to
challenge our faith in Him. After God delivers Judah out of the hands
of the Assyrians Hezekiah became deathly ill, Hezekiah once again
goes to God in prayer. “In those days was
Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came
unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in
order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his
face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And said, Remember
now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth
and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy
sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of the LORD to
Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God
of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears:
behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.” - Isaiah
38:1-5.

God will never place anything before us that we
can not handle and I believe that if the person wants to prolong
their life here on earth that He will do it, just as He did with
Hezekiah. God can and still does produce the same miracles for us
that He did for every person we learn of in the Bible. The key to
receiving those miracles is believing in and remaining faithful to
the only living God. “Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all
these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you.” - Matthew 6:30-33.

Today's
Prayer: God, I know that you are the only living God and
because I put my faith and trust in Your Son that You are my God. I
know the strength of my faith goes up and down like a roller coaster,
but I also know that all I need is the faith the size of a mustard
seed for you to produce a miracle in me. You already produced one by
giving me eternal life, now, I am trusting in You to do more as you
help me endure the circumstances in my life. Lead me and guide in me
in Your will and Your way, Lord. I love you and ask this in Jesus'
name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for
you,
Christina

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