Prayer-Soldier Newbie
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:44 am Post subject: Who Should be Offended by Prayer? |
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Who Should be Offended by Prayer?
Scripture:
In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory, And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts. And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this has touched your lips, and your iniquities shall be taken away, and your sin shall be cleansed. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me. ( Isaiah 6:1-8 )
Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received and wherein you stand. By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: And that he was buried: and that he rose again according to the scriptures: And that he was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven. Then was he seen by more than five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James: then by all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born abnormally. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace in me has not been void: but I have labored more abundantly than all they. Yet not I, but the grace of God with me: For whether I or they, so we preach: and so you have believed. ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 )
And it came to pass, that when the multitudes pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And going into one of the ships that was Simon?s, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting, he taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answering said to him: Master, we have labored all the night and have taken nothing: but at your word I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes: and their net broke. And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus? knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of the fishes which they had taken. And so were also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon?s partners. And Jesus said to Simon: Fear not: from henceforth you shall catch men. And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. ( Luke 5:1-11 )
Reflection:
We cannot stand perfect before the Lord because of what we have done and what we have failed to do. As we walk our daily lives, we are besieged by the world which surrounds us and and the choices which it requires us to make. Through its seductions of selfishness, our society has become one which is designed to tear apart families, communities and nations. It encourages iniquities as it seeks to suppress faith in God. Our governments are encouraged to remove any hint of God from our public square. Even the simplest of prayers are frowned upon when they are brought before the people. Where the holders of office once prayed freely and joyfully to ask for the blessing of the Lord upon their governance and the celebrations of the people, they are now under attack for somehow we are told that prayer may offend.
Who should be offended at a prayer unless they fear the truth of its power? Who should be offended at the sign of the cross unless they fear what it may inspire? Who should be offended by praise to the Lord unless they fear what may be exposed by their silence? But what of those who profess to be faithful, yet remain silent in the face of those who seek to silence the Word of God? If we are ashamed to be seen as faithful to Him and His Word for fear of how we may be judged by the social circles of the world, then, what do we expect of Him when we stand before His judgment?
A day will come when we shall be called to stand before Him. In that moment, what will we say about the times where we hid our faith to curry the favor of social acceptance? What will we say about the times we did not challenge those who worked to take away our freedom to practice our faith? What will we say about the times we remained silent when those who led us required iniquities of us?
When we fail to speak while we still have the chance to speak, when we hold our peace so that we may be accepted in a society of iniquity, we clothe ourselves within that iniquity. That is how we shall stand before Him. What will we do when we see what our silence has bought us? Will we beg for Him to forgive our weakness? Will tears flow from us when we realize what we were willing to trade away for eternity for the convenience or pleasure of a moment?
Blessed are we that our God is a God of mercy. Blessed are we that our God is a God who forgives. Blessed are we that He sent His only Son that our sins might be cleansed from us. Blessed are we for the Word He has brought to us so that we may learn and so that when we fail, we might start each day a new so that we may respond to His call, so that we may share of His blessings and so that we may do the works for which He formed us. Should we hear this day His voice, let us not close our hearts, rather, let us ask of Him that He guide us in the use of the gifts in which He has blessed us.
As we wake in the morning, we should pray that He guides us in what we might do to serve His will. We might be surprised at the simplicity of that to which we are called; to love Him and one another as He loves us; and yet, despite such simplicity, so many find love and charity so difficult. In such times, we should pray for wisdom and strength so that we may do what is right, so that we may be an example of His Word, so that our works may be held up. If all responded to His call to love, how small would we see the challenges of the world become?
His salvation is not beyond the hope of those who have done the worst or allowed the worst through their silence or what they have failed to do; for He holds His hand of forgiveness out even to those who have persecuted His church and those within it. No day is too late for us to turn to Him; but we should remember that we do not know when our last moment shall come. There is no one who can wake and say with certainty that they will remain in this world for the entire day. The moment will come where He will call us to Him, and in that moment we shall stand before Him clothed within all of our choices. We will not be able to hide our sin. Only by the grace of God will our soul be healed.
And so it was that He came to teach the people. And so it was that He called His followers together so that they too might spread His Word. Blessed are those who hear and understand, for they have been given a gift to share which is beyond all gifts. What men attempt to fill in vain, He will fill; for the heart which seeks to fill itself from the world shall find nothing which may sustain it, but the heart which seeks to fill itself of His Word shall become overflowing with the blessings which may only come from Him. His is the blessing which grows as it is shared. Let us, then, speak in praise of His Word and the glory of His name so that all might hear, so that all might see and may share in our joy. In prayer we should ask that evil shall be contained, that evil shall not be allowed to silence anyone who prays in His name and that no one shall be persecuted for their faith in Him.
May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier
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