Requirements for Answered Prayer

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul.  I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.  But truly God has listened.  He has attended to the voice of my prayer.  Blessed be God, because He has not rejected or removed His steadfast love from me.  –Psalm 66:16-20 (ESV)  “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” –Luke 18:1 (ESV).  “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” –James 5:16b (ESV).

What are God’s requirements for our prayers to be answered?  The focal scriptures for today give us very useful clues.  First is to fear God.  This means we hold Him in awe, as Sovereign, Majestic, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent—and a God of love who wants our best interests if we meet His requirements for godly living.  He alone is worthy of our reverence and honor.  Because of Who He is and what He does, we ought always to give Him our highest praise. 

Second, we must recognize that He wants us to come before Him with a clean heart.  If I “cherish iniquity in my heart,”  I cannot expect Him to hear and answer my prayers.  If I am beset by sins of resentment, rebellion, or any sin that separates me from His love and forgiveness, I cannot expect Him to answer my prayers.  We pray after first repenting of any iniquity we hold, approaching Him as the Psalmist says, “with clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:4).  How reassuring to know that God hears and answers prayers of His followers when they have made themselves right with Him.  With the Psalmist we can then declare:  “He has attended to the voice of my prayer.”

Jesus gave a parable that well illustrates what He meant to “pray and not lose heart.”  He told the story of a widow who kept approaching the judge to plead for what she needed.  At first the judge did not grant her plea, but because of her persistence, her request was granted.  It is not that God does not hear when we first approach Him with a request.  But to keep on asking, as the widow did to the judge in the parable, God is pleased with our persistence—and at the same time we have learned to patiently wait. 

James wrote a great truth about fervency in prayer.  We probably memorized this verse in the King James Version:  “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).  In these words are bound up all the characteristics of earnest prayer:  coming from a righteous person, being fervent (intense, ardent, zealous, heart-felt); then it “availeth much”—or brings assistance, aid, profit and gain.

Let us measure our regular, daily praying by these standards:  fear God; cleanse ourselves of iniquity; be persistent (zealous, intense, earnest).  Then, when God hears and answers our prayers, as He will—either with an immediate answer, and  usually much more than we even prayed for; with a “No,” and turning us in another better direction; or with a “wait awhile” because we are not yet ready to receive His answer.  And then when answers come, let us not forget that our gratitude and thanksgiving are vital characteristics of prayer.  Thank Him! Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “More things are wrought through prayer than this world dreams of.” 

                                                              -Ethelene Dyer Jones  02.23.2014

Jesus’ First Miracle: Turning Water into Wine at the Wedding Feast

“And on the third day here was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there…And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’  Jesus said to them, ‘Draw some out now, and take it to the headwaiter.’  And they took it to him…And the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer.    you have kept the good wine until now.’ This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed Him.’ –John 2:1, 3, 7-8, 9b-10 (NASB).  [Read John 2:1-12]

Imagine having Jesus physically present at a marriage celebration!  His mother was there at the location found and believed by archaeologists to be at Khirbet Kana, located 8.3 miles (13 km) north of Nazareth.  Even shards of pottery have been found, highly indicative that they might be remains of (or some similar to) the six water jars used for this miraculous provision.  Weddings even then were happy occasions, lasting about a week.  Feasting and merry-making were the means of celebrating, with the groom’s parents providing the repast, including wine.  Some believe the honored couple getting married might have been related to Mary, hence her concern that the wine was running low.  As a kinswoman (or friend) she may have been assisting with the serving. Why did she approach Jesus?  And was he unkind to her when he said,  “Woman, what have I to do with you?  My hour has not yet come”  (verse 4).  Mary knew who Jesus was, although she did not yet know how his Messiahship would be manifested.  She did not ask Him to do a miracle; she merely reported a shortage and did not want the hosts to be embarrassed.  And Jesus, in answering her, may seem a bit curt to us, but “Woman” was a polite way to address her.  Telling her that His “hour had not come,” was also a reminder that the timetable for His life and ministry was in the Father’s hands.  Mary, in telling the servants to do whatever Jesus bade them do, must have known assuredly that He would take care of the situation and not allow embarrassment to come to the host family.

The servants followed Jesus’ instructions and brought water to fill the six large vessels.  Tasting the wine, the headwaiter found it far superior to that which was served at the beginning of the feast, an unusual occurrence at week-long wedding celebrations.  John calls this “the beginning of Jesus’ signs.”  Wine symbolized joy.  Jesus made this statement early that his mission was to bring joy to a depressed and imprisoned people.  By turning the water into wine He was showing that He would enter into the daily affairs of the people and make a difference.  Turning  the water into wine also manifested that Christ is Lord of matter as well as things of the Spirit.  His presence sanctifies marriage and gives it a prominent place in the events of life, thus stamping His approval on the institution God established in the Garden of Eden for family life and procreation.  He also approved the mirth and gladness of the celebration of marriage.  Jesus and his disciples arrived at the wedding on the third day.  The miracle may point to and be a symbol of Christ’s own resurrection from the dead on the third day. 

A wedding is a significant and happy occasion.  To think that Christ was a guest at a wedding in Cana of Galilee helps us to know that He cares about and wants to sanctify, make sacred and meaningful, our own wedding celebration.  “The miracle showed the glory of Jesus as the sovereign Creator and ruler of the material universe and also as the merciful God who provides abundantly for His people’s needs.” (ESV Study Bible,   note, p. 2023).  Think back to the beauty and sacredness of your own wedding.  Or if you have helped to plan or assist with a wedding, this event is held dear.  For Christ to honor the bride and groom and their guests with His presence makes the ceremony a heavenly blessing. –Ethelene Dyer Jones  02.16.2014.

Both Daytime and Nighttime

“By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” – Psalm 43:8 (ESV).  “For Your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in Your faithfulness.” –Psalm 26:3 (ESV).

To know the presence of the Lord both in daytime and nighttime should be the steadfast aim of our spiritual journey.  If we consider wisely, we know that God is as near as a thought, as easily accessible as breathing.  It is we who fail to turn our minds, our attention toward Him.  Jacob, when going away from his father Isaac’s house after he had cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright and blessing,  saw in a dream as he slept the angels of the Lord descending and ascending on a ladder.  He awake to exclaim:  “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it!...How awesome this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16b-17, ESV).  Jacob secured the stone on which he had rested his head and named the place Bethel (meaning house of God).  Jacob learned that wherever he was, God was there, seeking him.

Psalm 139:8-12 declares in lofty poetic language the truth that God is everywhere, in daytime and nighttime, and is seeking fellowship with us:

  “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

   even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

   If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’

   even the darkness is not dark to You; and night is as bright as the day,

   for darkness is as light to You.”

In the daytime the Lord walks with us.  In the night times of our life he gives us songs to sing and light to guide us.  Many of us have no doubt read the autobiography of the inimitable Corrie ten Boon.  She and her sister were in the terrible concentration camp and endured great privation and suffering during that dark night of world history.  Corrie, despite her own suffering, found ways to praise God and to encourage her fellow prisoners.  Her story and her speaking engagements in many places in the world following her release have inspired millions to turn to God for guidance by day and by night. Many of her quotations from her writings inspire and encourage; here are two:  “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”  “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off.  You sit still and trust the engineer.” 

In the day times of our life, when things proceed well, may we be aware that “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17, ESV).  When we face challenges in the night times of our life, let us hold steadfastly to the songs He gives us and the strength to endure.

Prayer:  Lord give us stability when we falter, resilience when we fall.
By day and by night, Lord, let us hold on to Your steadying presence.

Let us “never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”  Amen.

                          -Ethelene Dyer Jones  02.09.2014

How to Deal with Trials

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” – James 1:2-4 (ESV).

Trials, meaning hardships, ordeals, difficulties, tribulations, adversities, have been said to “break or make” us.  James wrote that Christians should count it “all joy” when trials beset them.  Trials are designed to produce Christian maturity and should therefore be accepted with joy  Trials provide a testing ground for our faith,  and how we handle trials and with what perspective we view them makes us more steadfast.  James mentions in these verses that trials help us to grow into perfection and completeness.  We have a theological term for growing toward perfection; it is called sanctification.  We can aspire toward it in this life, living a life of faithful endurance; but the ultimate in sanctification—growing toward perfection—will occur completely only when Jesus returns.

Most of us would like to avoid trials, run from them, seek a means to evade or ignore them.  How can we face them head-on, and grow through them?  James tells us a way in 1:5:and warns us not to doubt or be double-minded in 1:6-8:  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

In retrospect, looking back upon trials we have endured in life, we can see that they did indeed help us grow in steadfastness.  I can recall many times in my life when I felt that I was, as we say, “at the end of my rope.”  One was when I was fourteen and my mother died.  I was faced with two large challenges (I prefer this word to trials).  One was being the mainstay to manage our farm household, even at that tender age.  The other was to stay in school, because I had a strong desire to be educated.  Was the going easy?  Indeed not.  But with daily prayer, dependence on the promises and Word of the Lord, and exceeding determination, I reached these goals.  I like to think I came through those years stronger and more able to meet life.  But what I found as I progressed through life was that, without fail, trials were a part of almost every phase of life I entered.  Just because I had “grown up” did not make the way difficulty-free.  But the One, if we ask Him, who provides wisdom to overcome trials, was always steadfast. I join in the prayer by Rev. Charles Wesley who wrote:  “Father, let our faithful mind rest on Thee inclined; every anxious thought repress; keep our souls in perfect peace.”  -Ethelene Dyer Jones 02.02.2014.