Praying
on the Promises
Isaiah
62
It
was late September 2003. Life was
happening. My wife and I had been
married for 4 years and we were well-acclimated to life together.
We had systems in place. We
each knew our role. We functioned
well together; we had created a team. I
knew my job was to do the vacuuming, handle the dishes after the meal, and
manage any nagging projects in the house. She
had become an outstanding chef, supported me well administratively and otherwise
in ministry, and was a huge part of all that I did. Sure, we had a lot to learn,
but life was, for all intensive purposes, functioning the way it should be.
I
remember the day. It was a
Saturday. I was relaxing in front
of the television, when I turned to see my wife prancing down the stairs.
She had this strange, but inviting smile on her face.
She delivered the message of the test…”We’re pregnant.”
I was overjoyed. We embraced
one another in one of those hugs that you just don’t want to end. Little did I know how much life was about to change.
In a sense, the pregnancy test had delivered a promise.
In about 9 months from now, you will have a little one.
Great news…I thought.
But,
based on that promise things began to change.
Where once my “junk” was always neatly cuddled in the corners of the
house, it began to find new “homes”…in the trash or outside.
What was once our office, quickly took the shape of a nursery.
Where computers and files were once housed, cute bears and blankets took
their place. Cabinets became more
difficult to open since they now had child-proof locks on them.
Strangely, our home began to fill with things that I didn’t even know
what they were supposed to do. I
could only guess that somehow it was useful in caring for a baby.
But not only did my surrounding change on the basis of that promise, my
wife herself began to change. My
wife starting eating more; where we used to go to a restaurant and I would have
the privilege of eating my plate and finishing hers, now the opposite had come
true. She was eating what I had not had the opportunity to scarf
down yet. She got these obscure
cravings, one of which I remember was for Big Red gum.
We drove around to several stores looking for an ever so elusive stick of
gum that could not be satisfied by Juicy Fruit or Cinnaburst.
When that promise came, life began to change…of course, for the
better, but life nonetheless began to change.
What changed our lives? A
baby? No.
It was the promise of a baby.
Today,
we are talking about the effect of the promises of God on our prayers.
You see, a promise is not just a nice thing that Christians can pass
around on email. The promises of
God should come as life-altering statements.
Just as the promise of a baby change our lives, an understanding of the
promises of God should change our conversation, or prayer, with God; they should
change our thinking.
The
promises tell us what God is going to do. Our
prayers are what bring us to participate in what He is going to do.
What God is going to do is affected by human participation.
Jonah said to Nineveh, “Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed.”
Why did it not happen? Because
of Nineveh’s positive reaction to the promise.
They repented because they believed the message, the promise that they
would be destroyed if they did not repent.
We
are going to see today that our prayer is what lines us up to participate in
God’s promises. This foundational
picture of the interchange between God’s promises and our reaction in prayer
comes from Isaiah 62.
Notice
Isaiah 62. In this chapter, Isaiah
is reacting to one of God’s promises to the nation of Israel. God has decreed His intent to send Israel into captivity
because of its disobedience before Him. Isaiah
is pleading that God would protect Israel and keep them from captivity,
preserving the glory of Israel. Notice
what he says:
1
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep
quiet, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, And her salvation
like a torch that is burning.
6
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night
they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for
yourselves; 7 And give Him no rest until He establishes And makes Jerusalem a
praise in the earth.
Isaiah
is imploring Israel to pray in light of its impending doom.
He is challenging Israel to continually seek the face of the Lord and not
to rest until He has affirmatively answered.
Notice the language that Isaiah uses, “I will not keep silent,” “I
will not keep quiet,” “All day and all night they will never keep silent,”
“take no rest,” “give Him no rest.”
This is no half-hearted request. I
picture tears rolling down His face as He implores God to action.
Perhaps his fists are shaking. There
are bags under his eyes because he has not had a restful night sleep in a good
while. He is on his knees begging.
This is a desperate plea.
So,
does this bother you? Does Isaiah
seem a little arrogant? How can he
make such demands of God to answer? Isn’t
it God who runs the show and we should submit to His purposes?
How can he command the people to petition God and give God no rest?
I want you to notice verse 11:
11
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of
Zion, "Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His
recompense before Him." 12 And they will call them, "The holy people,
The redeemed of the LORD"; And you will be called, "Sought out, a city
not forsaken."
Look
at what God has promised; “Your salvation comes.”
God has promised to restore Israel.
He has promised that they will once again be a sought out city.
That they will be rewarded and order will once again be restored to this
special city in God’s eyes. They
will be bought back by the Lord, once again centered on His purposes.
These are the promises that the Lord has given.
It will be done. You can
take it to the bank.
So,
the question is, “Why?” Why did
Isaiah pray so diligently for what God already promised He was going to do?
Why couldn’t he just have sit back and waited for what God said that He
was going to do? It almost seems like a waste of time in light of God’s
promise. That’s like asking
you to alphabetize all of my CD collection with the caveat that once you do so I
am going to throw them all away and begin my collection again.
It just doesn’t make any sense. Why
would you invest all that energy in something that just doesn’t matter?
The
reason is because as Isaiah and Israel prayed for the things that God already
promised, they were aligning their heart with Gods.
They began to shift their perspective from their smaller story and began
to invest in the larger story of God’s kingdom work. “If He’s going to do this, here’s what I ought to
do.” God was giving Israel the
opportunity to experience the movement of God on a first hand basis and, not
only that, was giving them the opportunity to participate in the things that are
on the mind and heart of the Creator of the universe.
In praying for the things that God has already committed to doing,
Israel, and by extension, us can delve deeply into the mind of God and
participate with Him as He seeks to accomplish His purposes on earth.
Praying on the promises of God links us in an undeniable way to God’s
beautiful heart.
So
in the remaining moments that we have together I would like to explore three of
God’s promises and investigate the impact that they might have on our prayer
lives. I Peter 5:7 teaches us that
if we believe that God cares for us, we will specialize in prayer of casting;
casting our cares on Him. Notice
the language, “cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you.”
Here is the promise; “God cares for you.”
Think about it for a moment. This
is a promise that you perhaps have heard from your early childhood, but I want
you to think this morning how your life has changed since you have been
introduced to this promise.
You
see, embracing the promise that God cares for you, ought to move you to do
things in your life differently. It
demands that you no longer bear your burden’s, but you place them at the feet
of God and allow Him to take care of them.
You will quickly note that living your life on the basis of this promise
goes against the pride within us. God
asks us to lean on His promises and in order for us to do that we have to stop
making provision for ourselves. When
we commit to the promises of God, we commit to not doing things our own way.
I
care for my daughters, both of them. But
each of them responds differently to my care.
My youngest daughter, who is 7 months old, accepts whatever care I give
her. Sure she cries if she’s
hungry or tired, but whenever I intervene and offer my care for the most part
she is satisfied in that. But my
oldest is different. Getting
dressed has become almost a dreaded ritual in my house.
For most people you change your clothes once, twice a day at the most.
But my daughter for some reason or another has concluded that it is
necessary for her to change her clothes up to five or six times a day for no
particular reason at all. And she
never has once offered to do the laundry. Perhaps
one outfit over the course of day becomes dirty and she is bothered enough to
change it, but for the most part she changes simply because she can think of
nothing better to do and once she gets something on her mind there is no talking
her out of it. So, we help her
change. When we go upstairs the
following conversation may ensue.
Ella:
“I want to wear this.”
Daddy:
“Ella, its 34° outside. I
think you might want to consider more than a tank top and shorts.”
Ella:
“But I want to wear it.”
Daddy:
“Ella, can I help you pick out another, more suitable outfit?”
Ella: “Ehhhhh,
I want to wear this one.”
Daddy:
“OK,
Ella, but you cannot change again.”
Ella: “OK.”
(with big smile on her face)
Five
minutes later we are back in the room trying on a different outfit.
As I consent to this one (being the final of four outfits that she has
tried on) I watch as she struggles to put her head through the arm hole.
Daddy:
“Ella, can I help you?”
Ella:
“Do it by myself.”
Daddy:
“It really looks like you’re struggling there.
Are you sure that you wouldn’t like me to help you?”
Ella:
“Do it by myself.”
So
I let her continue, until she gets so frustrated with her attempts to put her
head through the arm hole that she finally succumbs and asks for my help.
So, why didn’t she ask sooner? She
knows that I care for her and will help her.
Is it because she didn’t believe that I loved and cared for her?
Probably not…I hope that if there is one thing I have communicated to
her that would be it. Did she not
ask because she did not know my help was available? Nope…I offered several times.
So why? It was because she
wanted to do things her own way. She
did not want to humble herself and ask for the input of others in her life.
She did not want to change the way that she was doing things to accept my
care.
I
believe too often we are the same way with God.
In many senses we fail to adjust our lives on the basis of the promise
that He actually cares for us. We
fail to cast our burdens on Him because we do not want to humble ourselves and
quit doing things our own way. We
fail to submit to God’s larger purposes and lean on His care.
What then would it look like to pray on this promise?
And again, I want to reiterate that prayer is simply an ongoing
conversation with God.
God,
I know that you care for me. You
love me and desire good for me, so I am going to give this thing that is
weighing so heavy on my mind back to you. I
am going to leave you to work it out your own way.
I trust that your way will be the best.
You promise that you care for me, so I am placing this matter into Your
capable hands. I want to learn to
give to you the things that are consuming my mind.
In
this conversation, God is honored. I
can think of no greater demonstration of faith, than speaking to God in this
manner. This kind of prayer is a
prayer that allows the promise to change you, to realign your thoughts with the
thoughts of God.
But
lets look at another promise this morning.
I John 1:9 teaches us that if we believe that Jesus forgives and cleanses
we will offer prayers of confession. “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There
is the promise; God will forgive us and cleanse us. Again, just as the promise of the pregnancy test changed my
life, so this promise ought to change ours.
We can’t believe this promise and remain unchanged.
“If we confess” then “He forgives and cleanses.”
You have to do something with this promise.
You have to move. So, why is
it so hard to do that? Allow me to
illustrate with a clip from a movie. In
this clip, Bob (who is played by Bill Murray) fears everything and has sought
the help of Dr. Marvin (played by Richard Dreyfuss).
To this point Bob has followed Dr. Marvin on his vacation, a clear breach
of the client/patient relationship, and wormed his way into Dr. Marvin’s
family. Dr. Marvin has every reason
to be at the very least frustrated with Bob and his antics that fall well
outside the bounds of normal, but in this next clip we will watch as Dr. Marvin
is asked to apologize to Bob and see how he responds.
I
imagine that you don’t have to work too hard to discover why Dr. Marvin found
it difficult to apologize. Here
is a renowned psychiatrist who has to humbly ask the forgiveness of one of his
wayward patients. This is not easy.
No one likes to admit that they are wrong unless of course they are a
glutton for punishment. No one likes to confess; even before God it is difficult to
admit that you are wrong and I John 1:9 doesn’t say “confess to God” just
“confess.” We have to learn to
admit our sins in light of the fact that they are forgiven and that God will
cleanse us from sinning that way again if we let him.
We are asked to humble ourselves and begin to see things from God’s
perspective. We are being asked to
live our lives around this promise. The
fact that God will forgive and cleanse us persuades us into action; to live like
we are forgiven.
I
fear that many Christians are not sure of the fact that they are forgiven.
Sometimes when we ask for forgiveness we fail to understand that we are
actually forgiven. We walk around with guilt and doubt that does not fit someone
who has claimed the words of I John 1:9. We
are forgiven, free to invest ourselves fully into the plans and purposes of God.
We no longer have to bear the weight of our sin.
He has taken that from us. We
confess and then move on with the life that God has given us.
I love this quote from Brother Lawrence: “For
when I fail in my duty, I readily acknowledge it, saying, 'I am used to do so; I
shall never do otherwise if I am left to myself'. If I fail not, then I give God
thanks, acknowledging that the strength comes from Him."
If sin is confessed its covered. So
what would praying on this promise look like?
Allow me to give you an example:
Lord,
here I am again in need of your cleansing.
I have fallen again. Lord, I
am deeply sorry and understand that I have caused you sadness.
But, Lord, I also thank you that you have nailed these shortcomings to a
cross and I bear them no more. I am
confessing these before you, claiming your forgiveness and anticipating the
cleansing work of you Spirit in my life. Teach
me to confess; teach me to be open that I might know your promised forgiveness.
Thank you, Lord.
Again,
God is honored. What better way to
tell God how much you appreciate and value the sacrifice of the cross than by
claiming the promise that comes directly from that work. Pray with humility and lean on the promise.
Nearing
the end now, lets take a look at one final promise. Let’s flip over to 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
This verse teaches us that if we believe that Christ can satisfy us in
all circumstances we will boast in the strength that God provides.
Allow me to read it for you:
And
He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness.” Most gladly,
therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
may dwell in me. Therefore I am
well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions,
with difficulties for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Here
is the promise. “My grace is
sufficient. You can be satisfied in
all circumstances.” Here we are
in one of the most affluent countries in all the world, and I wonder how many of
us can truly echo Paul’s words. I
wonder how many of us can say that the only thing we need is God and His grace,
nothing else. We don’t need our
cars, our motorcycles, our nice houses, just God.
I know I find it difficult.
Its
hard to be content. One match was
not enough. Two was not enough. The
entire pack was not enough. A
portion of a haystack was not enough to fulfill my pyromaniac tendencies.
I had to burn the whole thing down.
When you try to fill your desires apart from God you get yourself in
trouble. Leaning on God means
allowing God to fill your every desire, to allow Him to meet you in the context
of every situation. Truly God is
enough. So, what would praying on
this promise look like? Let me show
you.
God, here I am again feeling as if I need more than you. I want things that are not my own, things that are far from you. God you are sufficient. I am asking You to fill me with the fullness of Yourself, knowing that I have the ability to be completely satisfied and complete in you. God, come fill me. Teach me to view my weaknesses from your perspective so I can come to “boast” about them as Paul
Promises of God When You:
Feel
Guilty
2
Samuel 14:14; Psalm 130:3-4; Romans 8:1-2; I Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 3:12;
Hebrews 10:22-23
Feel
Dejected
Psalm
130:7; Isaiah 65:24; Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 4:16; James 4:8,
10
Feel
Despair
Psalm 119:116; Isaiah 57:15; Jeremiah 32:17; Hebrews 10:35
Are
Disappointed
Psalm
22:4-5; Isaiah 49:23; Matthew 19:25-26; Mark 9:21-24; John 15:7; Ephesians 3:20
Are
Depressed
Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 49:13-15; Romans 5:5
Are
Persecuted
Genesis
50:20; Psalm 37:1-2; Matthew 5:10-12; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 2 Timothy 1:11-12; 1
Peter 3:13-14
Are
Anxious
Psalm
55:22; Isaiah 41:13; Matthew 6:25; Matthew 11:28-29; Philippians 4:6-7; I Peter
5:7
Are
Filled with Longing
Psalm 37:4; Psalm 84:11; Psalm 103:5; Luke 12:29-31
Are
Sick
Psalm 23:4; Psalm 73:26; Isaiah 57:18; Matthew 8:16-17; John 16:33; Romans
8:37-39; James 5:14-15
Are
Impatient
Psalm 27:13-14; Psalm 37:7; Romans 2:7; I Timothy 1:16; Hebrews 6:12;
2 Peter 3:9
Are
Confused
Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 42:16; John 8:12; John 14:27; 1 Corinthians 2:15-16; James
1:5
The
Promises of God When You (continued)
Are
Tempted
Job 23:10-11; I Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 2:18; Hebrews 4:15-16; James 1:2-4,
13-14; I Peter 5:8-10
Are
Weak
Psalm
72:13; Isaiah 41:10; Romans 8:26; I Corinthians 1:7-9; 2 Corinthians 4:7-9; 2
Corinthians 12:9-10
Are
Afraid
Psalm 4:8; Psalm 23:4; Isaiah 35:4; Romans 8:37-39; 2 Corinthians 1:10;
2 Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 13:6
Obey
Exodus 14:23; Matthew 16:27; John 8:31-32; John 14:21, 23; James 1:25
Are
in Need
Isaiah 58:11; John 6:35; 2 Corinthians 9:10-11; Ephesians 3:20-21; Philippians
4:19
Grieve
Psalm 119:50, 76-77; Jeremiah 31:13; Matthew 5:4; John 16:20-22; I Thessalonians
4:13-14; Revelation 21:3-4
Suffer
Psalm 34:19; Nahum 1:7; John 16:33; Romans 8:16-17; I Peter 2:20-21;
I Peter 4:12-13
Fail
Joshua 1:9; Romans 3:23-24; Romans 5:8; Romans 15:14; Hebrews 10:36;
I John 1:8-9
Doubt
Psalm 34:22; John 3:18; John 11:25-26; Romans 4:5; I John 4:15-16