Prayers that change nations

As Winston Churchill famously said during the Second World War ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’ 

I believe that when the books of heaven are opened at the end of time when Jesus returns, these words will be aptly applied to praying Christians. These are vital days in our nations and the people need our prayers. Our friends and relatives need to be saved. People need to be healed, lifted out of debt, marriages restored, families become places of love and nurture. 

But over all these we need to raise our eyes to the bigger picture. Our nations need God. In these uncertain times we must lift our eyes from our personal preference to what does God desire for our nation. And what God desires is that his Kingdom come and his will be done because he has great plans for them.That is what our nations need. The Kingdom of God and it is the prayers of faith filled Christians that will accomplish this.

Your immediate response may be that this is too big, too hard but if we as a faith filled church and praying Christians don’t do this, what is the alternative? One that is too awful to contemplate. 

The prophet Isaiah said, ‘Here am I Lord, Send me.’ It starts with a willing heart and time carved out of our busy schedules. It begins with a life of devotion to our amazing, loving God, worshipping, reading the Word and praying. 

If 120 praying Christians on the Day of Pentecost could shake a city and 3000 were saved, think what a praying church could do. 

Simple, earnest faith filled prayers will change a nation. 

Ready for action

I make known the end from the beginning,

    from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say, “My purpose will stand,

    and I will do all that I please.”

From the east I summon a bird of prey;

    from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose.

What I have said, that I will bring about;

    what I have planned, that I will do. Isaiah 46: 10 – 11

All through the book of Isaiah, God tells the people that he is in charge of history; that the events unfolding and about to unfold before their eyes are not random happenings or the plans of men. He makes plain that what is happening is at his instigation. The Assyrians were a terrifying people who took all before them and yet the Lord says he has summoned them. In fact in Isaiah 5: 26 he says he whistles for the nations to come and they do! The Israelites and all the surrounding nations would have thought that Assyrians were unassailable. They were the dominant nation and yet Isaiah foretells their downfall.

It is as if someone prophesies the downfall of USA today. It seems unbelievable but we live in unbelievable times. Who would have foreseen the overthrow of communism on the planet and the iron grip of the USSR broken over the countries of Eastern Europe and yet in happened in such a short time? Who would have thought that some of the Arab countries would see the overthrow of their seemingly entrenched leaders?

Yet these events have been foretold. In 1896 a scholar, from reading the Bible, foretold both the rise and fall of communism before any nation was communist and made reference to what turned out to the First World War (AGS Consulting website). One incredible prophecy was from the lady who in May 1997 told us: …  this shall be a sign, that there will be a day very soon when the whole nation will mourn. And the whole nation will put flowers in their cities.” At the time no one in UK knew what it meant but by September, its meaning was obvious. Princess Diana had been killed in a car crash and the nation was covered in flowers.

Jean Darnall’s prophecy for UK given at least 40 years ago of fires being lit from Scotland to Land’s End and into Europe seems very relevant now. God spoke to her about young people reaching out and of ordinary believers being used to evangelise with signs and wonders following. That is exactly what is happening at Cwmbran in Wales and other places right now. (These prophecies can be found at the Crossrhythms website).

However fascinating though the prophetic is, especially in hindsight as we see that which was foretold coming to pass, God does not tell us these things to entertain us. He first of all tells us so we can know He is God and in charge of world events. Secondly he wants all men to turn to him.

In Isaiah’s day the Jewish nation was backslidden and in idolatry. God wanted the people to return  to him, the only source of their personal and national security. It is the same today. God is still looking to see everyone saved and he wants the church prepared and ready for what he is doing. It is like he is shaking the church awake through the prophetic so they are ready for action when God moves mightily by His Spirit. The prophecy about Princess Diana went on to say: 

For I am at work in this nation and I will bring this nation to it's knees before me and they will know the joy of their salvation in the mighty risen Lord Jesus.… Therefore let the rivers of living water flow from within you and know that you will have many opportunities from this point to speak of my grace, to speak of my love, to see in action my Spirit at work. Know that I will be with you in that and you will see the miraculous.

That is what is happening in UK today. God foretells events so we can know he is God, know he is in control, turn to him and be ready for what He is going to do in our midst. Do not let us be the generation that missed it but the people who grasped the moment and ran with it.  God is on the move – let’s be prepared and ready. 

Be still and know that I am God

Be still, and know that I am God;
      I will be exalted among the nations,
      I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46: 10

One of my favourite books of the Bible is Isaiah.  His gift of beautiful poetry and wonderful use of words is an inspiration. However Isaiah lived during some very troubled times in the kingdom of Judah and he must have experienced great highs and lows during his ministry.

The early chapters of Isaiah were written during the reign of King Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah who did not follow in the path of King David.  He reigned in the troubled times of the Assyrians whose total warfare of terror, destruction and deportation was both brutal and barbaric.  The surrounding nations of Syria or Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel suffered greatly at their hands. Indeed it was the Assyrians who took Israel into exile as God had promised because of their unfaithfulness to him.

These were truly terrible days and King Ahaz did all he could to appease the Assyrians but to no avail. Isaiah kept urging him to seek the Lord, turn back to him because only he could help. Instead King Ahaz closed the temple and set up his own altar which he had built modelled on one he had seen and liked in Damascus (II Kings 16).

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this, Isaiah prophesies one of his most famous and frequently read encouragements found in Isaiah 9. At Christmas we usually hear and read just Isaiah 9: 2, 6 – 7 because this is the most obvious prophecy about the Messiah but the first seven verses of the chapter taken together were indeed a source of great encouragement in the dark days of King Ahaz’s reign.

God promised through Isaiah that the northern lands of Zebulun, Naphtali and Galilee which had suffered terribly at the hands of the Assyrians would one day be greatly honoured. This of course was fulfilled during Jesus’ ministry there. God promised the people who were walking in the darkness of despair that a light will dawn, that the yoke of oppression will be broken and all the tools of warfare will be burnt.

This will happen because a child will be born, a royal child from the house of David who will rule with justice and righteousness for ever. ‘The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.’ God will make sure this happens and he has. He has sent his son Jesus who even now is reigning in glory and will one day return to the earth to establish his kingdom on earth for ever.

In the midst of despair and terror, God spoke words of life and hope to the Jewish people. God never left them even when they were eventually taken off into exile; he is indeed Immanuel God with us.

In the midst of our trials and difficulties, no matter their source, he will speak words of life and hope to us if we will be still and know He is God.

Higher thoughts

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55: 9

I am sure you have seen circulating round the internet and Facebook messages with words that appear all jumbled up and yet you can still read them.  The latest is one with numbers instead of letters and again after a moment you can read it.  It shows the abilities the brain has which we do not tap into. 

There was a picture on Facebook yesterday of an autistic young man who after just a 20 minute helicopter flight over New York, had drawn a huge intricate picture of New York with all the buildings in all their detail and in correct proportion to one another. It was incredible.

All this leads me to say that our brains and therefore our thoughts are an untapped resource. I know that statistically we only use a small percentage of our brain power and when you look at these things, you realise that is true. 

In eternity, our minds will be free from sin and restored to see, understand and think Godly thoughts.  We will understand things we did not have a clue about here; things that never made sense, especially in relation to God, will start to clarify in our minds. We have eternity to learn about things far too lofty for our minds at this moment.

However, I do not think that means we have to just sit back and wait for the sweet by and by and let our minds grind along the bottom of the sea of understanding. God wants to renew our minds, first of all to know him and then to realise what great plans and purposes he has for our lives. He wants to transform our minds so we will know his good plans for us (Romans 12:2). He wants to wash our minds with his word so that all those ungodly beliefs, doubts and insecurities get cleansed away (Ephesians 5:26).

Finally I think he wants us to know and understand things that we never knew or understood before.  He wants to open up the wonders of creation to inquiring minds and as the Creator reveal his thoughts and ways to us. He wants to release creativity in ways we have never been able to even imagine before. I believe we should be asking God not just to renew our minds to Godly thinking but also to expand them and reveal truth, wisdom and creativity to us; to help us learn and express fresh wonders every day.

Even in eternity, I do not think we will ever plumb the depths of Godly wisdom and knowledge but our renewed and liberated minds will wonder and marvel afresh at what an incredible, almighty and truly awesome God we love and serve.  Nevertheless we can start now to revel in enlarged minds that soar to higher thoughts than we ever thought possible.

 

Wonderful Counsellor

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

This wonderful prophecy given hundreds of years before the birth of Christ foretells the Son of God coming to earth to save his people.  The Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and save them but Isaiah makes plain that this person will be born as a baby.  He will not come down riding on clouds of glory to smite Israel’s’ enemies as portrayed in Psalm 18. He will come as a baby and this wonderful announcement is similar to those given in our newspapers today; a son has been born to – us.  How personal is that? This son is given to – us.

Yet if we doubt that as a baby he will be able to be Messiah then, as in the personal column of a newspaper, his names are given – each one an indication that this baby is actually God and therefore more than able to save his people.  The first name is in itself amazing because the word ‘wonderful’ used here can also be translated ‘beyond understanding’.  Indeed when Samson’s parents ask the angel that foretells Samson’s birth what his name is, he says it is ‘beyond understanding’ or ‘wonderful’ (Judges 13: 17 – 18). 

Jesus is a wonderful or beyond understanding counsellor.  He plans and purposes things that we may well not understand.  Indeed we probably will not understand them unless the wonderful Holy Spirit brings revelation and understanding to us.

I am constantly concerned about how small some people’s God is.  When they cannot understand something about God or his ways, they dismiss it.  Too often people do not have any expectation of God intervening in the affairs of man; God seems distant and disinterested. Some seem to feel that the ways of men will prevail – especially wicked men - over the ways of God.  God is called upon only when other options have failed and then often with no real sense of wondrous anticipation.

However if God really is God then we should not understand most of what he does but if we open our spirits, hearts and minds to him, he will help us grasp things beyond our understanding.  I am just so conscious of how stupid I can be yet I would far rather be that than feel I know what God is doing.  If God is my size, he is pretty small!

Thankfully, the one thing I can be assured of is that God’s ways are wonderful, beyond understanding, incredible, amazing, unbelievable, awesome and every other word that leaves our finite minds gasping in amazement and overwhelmed by God’s manifold wisdom.

Friends let us raise our eyes upwards and be amazed by this ‘Wonderful Counsellor’ and at the same time hold the thought that he loves us more than we will ever know, that he never condemns us especially when we do not understand but rather he takes our hand and leads us into all truth, one step at a time as we trust him. He will enlarge our hearts and minds to comprehend wonders we could never have grasped alone; wonders that truly are beyond understanding.

Yet not my will but yours be done

Yet not what I will but what you will Mark 14: 38

King Hezekiah was one of the best kings that Judah had because he 'trusted in, leaned on and was confident in the Lord, the God of Israel' (II Kings 18: 5 KJV).  The most wonderful thing he witnessed was when the king of Assyria threatened Judah just as he had threatened and invaded all the surrounding nations including Israel. The Assyrians were ruthless and brutal soldiers and Hezekiah spurred on by Isaiah prayed to God who wonderfully delivered Judah by killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers overnight. The king and remaining soldiers fled home in disgrace.

Soon however Isaiah came to tell Hezekiah that God was going to take him home (II Kings 20: 1). But Hezekiah had no son so he pleaded with God not to die yet. God graciously gave him 15 more years but if Hezekiah had known what would happen after his death, he may have preferred to die at God’s timing.

During those 15 years Hezekiah had a son, Manasseh, who after his father’s death became the most wicked, idolatrous king that Judah ever had, leading the nation into all kinds of evil. Hezekiah just could not imagine what would happen if he died without an heir but never imagined what might happen to the nation at the hands of his heir.

Philip however knew the right time to go. He had been in Samaria (Acts 8) and they had been experiencing revival with salvations and wonderful signs and wonders. God told him to leave this revival and go to the desert road. This must have been very hard as he would have known there was not much going on there! However God had a divine appointment for Philip with an Ethiopian eunuch that we are still reading about today 2000 years later.

Doing God’s will is not always easy but God’s way is best and sometimes we have to just trust him even when we do not understand why he is asking us to do something. We may desperately want something believing it is the best thing but we need to take our lead from Jesus, ‘Yet not what I will but what you will.’ If God wants us to do or even not do something, leave a flourishing work, turn down a promotion, not have our heart’s desire, whatever it may be, God is doing it because he has the bigger plan in mind and he is doing it because it is best for you and everyone else.

Come now, let us reason together

‘Come now let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow.’ Isaiah 1:18

I love the book of Isaiah because it is the most prophetic of the books of prophecy in that it predicts and foretells the word of God in extraordinary ways.  Isaiah lived during the time of the Assyrian attacks against the nations in the region including taking Israel into captivity. However he predicts the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians which did not happen till over a hundred years later and the return from exile by the hands of Cyrus, nearly two hundred years before the event. He also prophesies the coming of the Messiah and prophesies his character and wonderful redemptive work not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles.

The verse above is a favourite of mine because when we first visited Uganda many years ago we went to a small rural church thatched with banana leaves. Here we were introduced to a man called Come Now. When we asked why he was called this he said his mother had read this verse on the morning he was born and that is why she named him Come Now. You don’t tend to forget things like that.

In the same way we don’t tend to forget how wonderful God’s forgiveness of our sins is. Isaiah was promising the rebellious nation of Judah that if they would only repent and turn from their wicked ways then God would forgive their sins and they would be white like snow. I am sure you have looked over a snowy landscape and seen the beauty of it. All the humps, bumps and imperfections are covered in a beautiful layer of snow. As my son once remarked, ‘even bags of rubbish look beautiful covered in snow.’

This is the same as our sins when every imperfection is forgiven and covered over with the layer of grace and mercy and we can see them no more. When God forgives our sins we must let go of them and not hang onto them in any way. They are gone forever, never to return. God remembers them no more and neither must we.

Holy, holy, holy

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.  Isaiah 6: 3

Isaiah 6:1 tells us that Isaiah was commissioned into ministry in the year King Uzziah died. He was a Godly king who reigned for 48 years an enormously long time in those days. However in later life he presumptuously offered incense in the holy place, which only the priests could do and was smitten with leprosy for the rest of his life. It was a significant year that God commissioned Isaiah to begin his prophetic ministry and he gave Isaiah an awesome vision which would, no doubt, remain with him all through his long years of prophesying to the apostate Judah during the turbulent years of the Assyrian oppression.

This vision may have been given to Isaiah not only to commission his prophetic ministry but also to be a constant reminder of who God is and of his holy splendour. Isaiah would always have before him the vision that God is indeed holy, unlike anything or anyone else. God in his holiness is separate from everything evil and unto everything good. Even the seraphim could not describe his holiness any other way than to call God, ‘holy, holy, holy’ - infinitely holy.

In these marvellous days of soaking in the Father’s love, let us remember that God is ultimately holy. There is truly no one like him and he is transcendent not just unique. We are all unique but God is so much more magnificent, awesome, incredible, wonderful than anything we may imagine. According to my dictionary transcendent means God exists apart from and is not subject to the limitations of the material universe. If we remind ourselves of his amazing creation, all those stars and galaxies – there truly is no one like our God. So we must hold in balance the wonderful love of God that longs to draw us ever closer into the circle of intimacy of the Trinity whilst at the same time not forgetting that he is truly awe inspiring and nothing like anything we can see or imagine.

He is holy, holy, holy.