The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Always To Pray"
Part 3 - "Sweet Is Thy Voice"
"Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."
(Luke 18:10)
I sometimes wonder if I have done more praying or fainting. I think I know the answer.
Thankfully, the Father who calls us to Himself bears a heart of longsuffering patience with problem children like myself. This must be the case because while I have spent a large portion of my Christian life thinking about prayer, talking about it, reading and writing about it, I still miss so much opportunity for close fellowship with our Lord. The more I learn about prayer, the more I realize how little I know. In the words of the Apostle Paul, I am certainly among those who "knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know" (I Corinthians 8:2).
In one sense, it must be this way. Human beings seeking to relate to the Divine will always feel a palpable sense of inadequacy. That such a possibility even exists boggles the mind, even as it overwhelms the heart. Job felt the enormity of the mystery:
"What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him, and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?" (Job 7:17).
I am not a proponent of self esteem (Christ and others esteem far more fulfills the hearts of those called to love God and others). It is true, however, that that God views human beings in such regard that He sets His heart upon us (which says far more about Him than it does about us). Moreover, "the prayer of the upright is His delight," leading Him to beckon, "Let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice" (Proverbs 15:8; Song of Solomon 2:14). We do well to frequently allow the thought to stop up in our tracks, escort us to our knees, and when able to speak, lift our voices to bring delight and sweetness to the heart of God. Anyone who ever believes himself able to comprehend God's desire for fellowship with human beings does well to make Job's mystified inquiry - "What is man? - more personal. "Who am I that God should magnify me by setting His heart upon me?" Waste no time expecting an answer, either in time or eternity: "the love of Christ passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).
This being said, I remain keenly aware that I have wasted much opportunity for fellowship with God in the forty six years I have known Him. I hope to waste less in time to come, praying rather than fainting. The desire served as a primary motivation for writing this series of messages. Many believers I know feel as I do. Perhaps you are one of those. If so, my prayer for you and for myself is that the Heart of Heaven will find us far more faithfully approaching His blessed throne of grace. Wondrously, He will rejoice as we do. He will find delight and sweetness, and we will find ourselves overwhelmed as the realization washes over us that even though we have too often neglected to come, our Father no less awaits our approach. The Lord's account of the prodigal son's father tells us nothing if it does not tell us that (Luke 15:20). Let us close now, because this moment would be a wonderful time to draw near to the throne, and to the Heart upon it that beckons our hearts…
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."
(Hebrews 10:19-22)
Weekly Memory Verse
I will go in the strength of the Lord my God.
(Psalm 71:16).
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