The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Plead Thine Own Cause"
"Arise, o God, plead Thine own cause" (Psalm 73:22).
The Psalmist asks the Lord to act in accordance with His purposes and intentions. This perfectly correlates with the Apostle John's calling to pray in God-centered terms:
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us" (I John 5:14).
Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ direct many requests to our Heavenly Father regarding matters of condition, circumstance, and situation. At the heart of all, whether directly stated or not, must be the attitude and supplication that God's glory, will, and eternal purpose in Christ will be fulfilled by His answers. If we pray for a loaf of bread to be provided for a needy person, we ask that the provision of earthly sustenance will bear great impact on the Bread of life being revealed to the spirit of the recipient. The emphasis applies to every prayer, that God will plead His own cause of honoring His Son by working to reveal Christ unto and within hearts. "Out of it - the heart - are the issues of life" declared Solomon (Proverbs 4:23). We must pray accordingly.
We will never offer the "effectual, fervent" prayers that "avail much" apart from emphasizing the glory, will, and purpose of God (James 5:16). This does not mean that earthly things do not matter, nor that our Heavenly Father does not take vital interest in every aspect of our lives. He numbers the very hairs of our heads (Matthew 10:30). His primary focus, however, keenly affixes upon the heart of human beings, wherein He works to birth and nurture the presence of the Lord Jesus. Prayers answered regarding condition, circumstance, and situation will always bear impact on love, faith, and devotion. This involves God's working to strengthen the believer and convert the unbeliever. We ever pray with this primary purpose in mind, and God ever answers accordingly, or "according to His will."
The matter of the heart must always serve as the heart of the matter in our prayers. This begins with our understanding of God's heart, and His devotion of the glory of the Lord Jesus. We then pray with our hearts for the hearts of others, even if our requests involve matters of earthly existence. Yes, the provision of a loaf proceeds from Heaven with the purpose of a life - Christ's life - being revealed in redeemed spirits. The Lord Jesus taught us to pray accordingly, to ask God to "plead Thine own cause"…
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
(Matthew 6:9-10; 13).
Weekly Memory Verse
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
(Hebrews 4:15)
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