The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Of Time and Eternity"
"How could it be otherwise as an infinite, eternal God calls creatures who walk in time and space to seek His presence, involvement, and working?"
We pray our prayers in time. God answers them in accordance with eternity.
"Now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:10-11).
As we seek to make our requests "according to His will," we must realize that our Heavenly Father acts according to infinite knowledge, wisdom, and understanding (I John 5:14; Psalm 147:5). Conversely, we pray with limited awareness of the eternal realities that lie completely and perfectly within the grasp of God's heart and mind. Certainly, this does not mean that we cannot have confidence in approaching Him. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). It does, however, instill the proper attitude of humility that leads us come to God with "Thy will be done" as the prevailing sensibility that guides our requests (Matthew 6:10).
Our perspectives and desires play a role in prayer. "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (I John 5:7). As we walk with our Lord, He works in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). We often rightly perceive matters about which we pray, make our requests accordingly, and God answers. However, this involves far from a perfect process in our current existence of seeking to live in time, with hearts directed toward eternity. Rather than "according to His will," we can "ask amiss" according to our faulty and limited fleshly perspectives (James 4:3). The possibility adds humility to confidence in our praying, which makes it far more likely we will offer our requests in accordance with God's purposes.
A good friend once said he often approaches the throne of grace with the admission, somewhat tongue in cheek, "Lord, I don't know what I'm doing here!" This does not preclude him from prayer, as he is Biblically astute enough to know the parameters of fellowship with God proclaimed by Scripture. However, no less than the Apostle Paul acknowledged the same sense of wonder and even bewilderment regarding prayer: "we know not what to pray for as we ought" (Romans 8:26). How could it be otherwise as an infinite, eternal God calls creatures who walk in time and space to seek His presence, involvement, and working? Thus, both confidence and humility escort us to the throne of grace through Christ, as led and enabled by the Holy Spirit to serve as praying conduits through which God fulfills His eternal purpose in finite time.
"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
(II Corinthians 4:18)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Cleanse Thou me from secret faults."
(Psalm 19:12)
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