DEVOTION
Before They Call
By
Missey Butler
Guest Writer
CBN.com
-- On my drive into work recently, the Lord and I were
conversing, as we often do. I said, “Lord, I know that You
are well aware of the deep suffering that Your children are now
enduring within the Gulf state region. Your heart must be truly
breaking.”
I heard Him say, “Yes, My daughter, you know My heart well;
you have understood that I am well acquainted with grief and sorrow.
I not only see this particular area of devastation, but I also
see the entire suffering world as My eyes roam to and from the
earth. Though you can only see what is directly in front of you,
I see the entire picture.”
I was immediately humbled as I thought of Isaiah 55:8, where
the Lord God says, “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts,
my ways are higher than your ways.”
“You are right, My Lord,” I prayed. “Our human
limitations many times cause us to quickly doubt Your capacity
of love and cause us to mistrust Your longing desire to deliver,
heal, and restore all of those precious souls who find themselves
in dire straits while living in a fallen world.”
God immediately reminded me of two powerful Scriptures that speak
of His omniscience. In the book of Isaiah 65:24, He reminds us,
“Before they call I will answer.” And again in Psalm
139:4, the Bible says, “Before a word is on my tongue, you
know it completely O Lord.”
Naturally, my initial response was “Well, Lord, if it’s
true that You know the answer even before we call, why would You
even have us pray to You at all?”
Right away I heard His voice speak, “Prayer never changes
Me -- but it does change you.”
Wow! I had never thought of it that way. But the longer I allowed
His words to settle within my spirit, the more I realized that
it was true.
For I am the LORD, I do not change (Malachi 3:6).
In that moment, I realized we don’t pray to God in order
to get Him to change His mind. God chooses to use our prayers
as a means of transforming US into willing vessels. He, in turn,
pours back His manifested power as we are made into His very image.
That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Nevertheless,
not my will, but thy will be done.” We become a human extension
of God to a suffering and dying world in desperate need of a divine
touch.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with
birth pangs together until now (Romans 8: 22).
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits
for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected
to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected
it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God (Romans 8: 19-21).
As the cars quickly rushed by me on the busy morning commute,
I quietly pondered the wonderful things I had just heard. Once
again I was seeing into the heart of the King of all hearts, and
I was moved with genuine compassion.
Will you answer the call to prayer? You may be surprised to find
that even before we call, He has the answer. What a wonderful
God we serve!
All Scriptures are NKJV.
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