Prayer Journal
Friday, September 1, 2000
"When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Isa 1:15-17
A lot of people sound like an authority on the subject of prayer. God knows my heart and I can honestly say I don't feel like an authority. Rather, I agree with a pastor friend, "I don't know much about prayer. All I know is that I want to be with God all the time."
One thing I know - the more time I spend with God, the more I learn. What I know about prayer, God's tells me - first in his Word, then in confirmation by the Holy Spirit. I learn something everyday and I am confident that, as long as I maintain a teachable spirit, God will continue to teach me.
I have also learned this lesson from men of faith like Isaiah, Jeremiah, David and the apostle Paul: When I fail to regard the weak, outcast, lowly, lonely and isolated brother, I demonstrate an arrogance that God can't ignore. Isa 1:15-17 says my life is so adversely affected by such sin that my failure becomes an open book for everyone to read. When God hides his eyes from me, His protecting hedge from trouble, disease and sickness is removed. Then it seems they're attracted to me like metal shavings to a giant magnet.
We look at 1 John 1:9 and know that confession of sin restores fellowship and sets righteousness back where it should be - "front and center". But could it be that confession also restores the hedge of protection once enjoyed? God's word says it can:
"Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the Lord delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. Ps 41:1-3
(1) Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society
(2) The images used herein were obtained from the Learning Company's ClickArt Christian Graphics Deluxe product, (c)1999 The Learning Company, Inc and its subsidiaries, 88 Roland Way, Novato, CA 94945 USA. All Rights Reserved.
