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The Lord God who has placed eternity in the heart of man, does nothing that is meaningless. He is the Designer who has a specific pattern for your life, a design that is uniquely His, and displays His glory as He builds it. And, as Abraham came to know Him to be, He is the Architect and Builder of every aspect of your life,for you are a descendant of Abraham by faith in Christ [Hebrews 11:10]. Therefore, His unfailing promise to you, in this time and season of your life is, The Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory [Psalm 102:16].
It also comes to you with a procedure, as a revelation through His word that gives you divine understanding, to guide your steps in the way that He has already prepared for you, so that you will accomplish His purpose for your life, to find true satisfaction and well being that nothing else can give you. And prayer plays a pivotal role in the process, for the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much [James 5:16].
It is one that is inherently powerful yielding a wonderful result, one of wholeness and healing in you and in your point of need. But then again, prayer is a very common term, and almost everyone prays, especially in a nation such as ours. It has been said that even someone who has a tough time believing in miracles, will believe in it when he desperately needs one! But the biblical perspective of it lays down the terms and conditions of a powerful prayer with clarity. It is so when you are in a right relationship with God, having been made righteous by your faith in Christ. And it is powerful because you are praying to a powerful God, who is your Father who knows your every need.
And clarity as described above can come only in a relationship of love and faith in Him, that is reflected in your prayer , as you listen to what He has to say to you, and abide in it. For, as the Lord has spoken, it is as you abide in Him, and His word abides in you that you can ask of Him what your heart desires, and also have it. In it’s essence therefore, your prayer needs to be your response of faith to the promise of God. And then what you offer unto Him will be the prayer of faith that is effective and powerful, declaring to Him in the words of Job, with confident courage – ‘I know that You can do all things; and no purpose of Yours can be thwarted’ [Job 42:2]. The effectiveness of your prayer is not determined by the tone and the tempo of it, or the posture and duration of it. It is the level of your relationship with Him, for you can open your heart to Him only when you are in a right relationship with Him, and then, His word that comes to you in your situation combines with it, to make your prayer purposeful and powerful.
It is what is beautifully displayed in David’s confident prayer, as he stood on the promise of God to him, to say, And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant [2 Samuel 7:28]. It is the truth that can birth a firm confidence in your spirit too, as you pray to the powerful God who does only what is right.
a. Forgotten by people, remembered by God :
Looking back at his life’s happenings, David was able to look to God in prayer, remembering with grateful thanksgiving the great things that the Lord had done. And having tasted and seen that the Lord is good, even in the confusion and chaos that he encountered in his path to the throne, and also after it in some ways, he declared, Then David went in and sat before the Lord; and he said, ‘ Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?’ [2 Samuel 7:18]. And He is also the God who shows no partiality. Therefore, you too can come to Him knowing that He is mindful of you, even though life may be challenging and tough, pulling you down in unexpected ways. It is then that like you will taste His goodness, to affirm that He is the God who remembers us in our low estate.
For the words of David were not merely eloquent poetry or writing skill, but transcended higher and were a narrative of life’s reality with it’s mountains and valleys. Through it all, God remembers you and is ever mindful of you, in your highs and in your lows. It is the ever abiding truth that is the contributing factor towards your prayer being confident and powerful. And it also has to be remembered, that God remembering Sarah, was never about forgetting her, but about His intervention in her life at His appointed time, for He is the God who has made all things beautiful in His time. Indeed, as it is written, your times and mine are in His hands, even the inexplicable delays, when things seem to be at a standstill, and no progress can be seen in His promise coming to it’s fulfillment.
Even when you are rudely and unceremoniously forgotten by others who ought to have remembered you, as it happened in the lives of David and Joseph, they are also an encouragement pointing you to the truth that your Heavenly Father always remembers you. For, David’s own family may have forgotten all about him, when Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king of Israel, but God did not. And, the cup bearer may have forgotten Joseph’s words to him while in prison, but God arranged circumstances that ultimately set him free to be lifted up by the Pharaoh, to be in a position of authority, second only to him.
The world you and I inhabit is a forgetful one. But God will remind people at the right time, and make them remember. You are never forgotten by Him. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits’, can indeed be your words to Him in grateful thanksgiving.
b. Insulted by men, but, anointed by God :
Being treated in an insulting and degrading manner by your own family can play havoc with your emotions, to become a raw wound in your soul. It was the plight of Joseph, in his young and impressionable years. And it was the same in the life of David. He was looked down upon, given lowly tasks to perform like carrying food to his brothers who had only demeaning words for him. But it was the path to ultimate glory, is what their lives testify, to be recorded in the scriptures as the encouraging truth that speaks in your heart and soul. It speaks to say that you are remembered by God, even if your present situation may be painful and bleak, with no breakthrough in sight. For looking at it all with God’s perspective is what can heal you.
David was able to look back at the confusing times of his life, that brought pain and misery without bitterness that would have polluted his soul, but with gratitude unto the God who had lifted him up to be anointed as the king of Judah, according to His glorious purposes. It also leads to the higher ground of forgiveness; the position and attitude that was in the apostle Paul who went through a tribulation in which no one stood with him, when he could also confidently declare that he did not hold it against them. The Lord remembering him and standing with him, empowered and strengthened him, keeping him from losing heart.
And Stephen, as he was being stoned to death, prayed for the forgiveness of his assailants, ass he saw the heavens open, and Lord Jesus standing up to receive him in glory. Above all the greatest example for you and I is the Savior’s love and forgiveness. He died on the cruel Cross, not with a grudge, but with grace.
c. Conspiracy of men,but,protection of God :
Life that is flowing along smoothly can sometimes be thrown out of gear and become tremendously unsettled, filled with painful uncertainties. Having been through the pandemic, you and I, and the entire world can attest to it! But as a child of God, you need not consider yourself to be a victim of life’s difficult challenges, for you have a faithful God, who is there with you, through it all. And therefore, you can like the psalmist, be led to a place of humility .
David went through long periods of time when he was tremendously unsettled. Fleeing from selfish betrayal that came from unexpected quarters, would have been an unbelievably bitter experience. But in the midst of it all, he could sing and praise the Lord, in the knowledge of the protection of God that was upon him, though his enemies were conspiring against him. It was simply because of his relationship with the Almighty God, through which he knew that it was not about the protection of mere mortals, but the protection of God. For, even in our nation’s history, it was a bodyguard who took the life of the head of state, the one he was supposed to protect!
Conspiracy theories abound even now, and there may be envious people plotting to pull you down. But even in such a scenario, when you are able to view it with God’s perspective, you will be led to a position of humility, to say as David did ‘Who am I Lord, that you have brought me thus far?’ And God gives grace to the humble, the grace that builds you up, for , unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers toil in vain, and unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman watches over it in vain. The over riding principle therefore, even in the unsettled times of your life is to keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus, and His word that gives to you the right perspective and hope of a more glorious future. And may God bring flashes of memory in you of His goodness towards you in your past, and a revelation truth in you in your time of prayer, about the greater blessings that He has in store for you.
And yet this was a small thing in your sight O Lord God and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord God? [vs 19]. Being taken from a lowly position of watching over sheep to be upon the throne of Judah was God’s goodness in David’s past. But that the blessing of God was not limited to him, and will flow to his family, the generations to come after him, was the promise of God to David. To him it was the promise of the Messiah who was to be born in his line to be forever seated on the throne of God.
And the God who is the God of generations has promised in a covenant, the blessing of His word upon your family, your children and grandchildren [Isaiah 59:21]. Indeed, ‘Who am I Lord?’ can be your grateful prayer of thanksgiving unto Him, too.
d. Reviled by men, but, lifted up by God :
Job, in the scriptures, had been very prominent and wealthy only to see it all disappear swiftly in just a day. And then with a skin condition that severely troubled him, he became prominent for the wrong reasons! For his friends could only stare at him in shock, even as they stood afar, having no words to say. With David too, there was a time, when in his affliction people were only watching and waiting for his story to end, as they said of him, ‘There is no help for Him in God’ [Psalm 3:2]. And the scripture declares a pause, a selah.
For, pausing and remembering all the good that God had done in his past, David’s words then are a prayer both purposeful and powerful, But You O Lord, are a shield for me; My glory and the One who lifts up my head [Psalm 3:3]. And David, as the king, when he sat before the Lord knew that there was nothing that he needed to add to the thoughts of God concerning him, and his family, the house that God was going to build for him. All he needed to do was to lift up his cup of salvation in the pinnacle of worship which is to hear from Him to submit to it. It is saying ‘Be it unto me according to Your word’, even as the prophet Isaiah said, ‘Here I am, send me’, on hearing God ask, ‘Whom will I send?’ [Isaiah 6:8,9].
God has a plan for your life; are you hearing it, to surrender to it, in willing submission? It was what David, the man after God’s own heart, was able to do. For, he had shared with God his exuberant enthusiasm to build Him a house. And God’s reply to it was an agreement to a temple being built to be filled with His glorious presence, but also that David would not be the person building it.
e. Not opportunity missed, but, maturity :
And then it was the godly perspective in David, that made him rejoice, knowing and confessing that God knew what was right and good. He did not lament over a missed opportunity, but displayed spiritual maturity in accepting the answer of God, to pray, ‘You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears’ [2 Samuel 7:22].
And may the knowledge of the greatness of God, the Name above all Names, who is worthy of all our praise fill your heart and soul this day, leading you to thank the Father, for reminding you, that He remembers you; and may you rejoice in the answer that He speaks to your prayer, whatever it may be, whether a ‘Yes’ or a No’ knowing that it is for your goodness, the working out for a greater future in your life.
In the Name of Christ Jesus – Amen.
