01/17/2024
We pray for many things over the course of our lives, sometimes we pray thanksgiving for prayers of the past that have been answered, sometimes we pray for things we would like for the Lord to help us with in the future, but how often do we pray for God’s will to be done in the RIGHT NOW? It is easy for us to pray for what has already occurred, or for those thing that we desire to come, but do we see clearly that He is with us, and acting in the RIGHT NOW? Do we see the RIGHT NOW in scripture as we read and pray it?
“”Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””
Joshua 1:9 ESV
When we read God’s Word we often hear Him speak of what He has done, and what He will do, but do we give the proper attention to Him when He tells us what to do RIGHT NOW, and that He is with us RIGHT NOW as we are doing it? In the scripture we just read we heard our Lord speak of what He commanded us to do… to “be strong and courageous”, but do we hear Him when He speaks of the RIGHT NOW by saying that He is with us? Our Father gives us perspective on what He is doing in the RIGHT NOW by giving us the remembrance of the past. He tells us how we was with us then so that we will understand that He is still here with us RIGHT NOW. Jesus also reassures us that He too is likewise with us NOW. Listen to these words of Jesus…
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
When we contemplate God and Jesus Christ as we pray are we convinced that they are truly with us at that very moment, or do we pray as if they were at the distant end of some telephone line, or that an angel must carry our prayers to wherever they are? Do we pray to the great I AM, or simply to our God who will eventually walk with us in the cool of the coming evening? Perhaps we find ourselves so entrenched in the past, and thanking Him for saving us from yesterday’s trouble, that we lose sight of the fact that He is here with us RIGHT NOW as we are praying? He dwells in us… sure He might once have dwelled in us, and He will dwell in us in the distant future, but what is important is that He is dwelling in us RIGHT NOW.
“Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”
1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV
RIGHT NOW is the time of divine action. The past is but a remembrance of what once was, and the future is our hope and promise of what will be, but the RIGHT NOW is when God is acting in us. When we pray do we realize that God is with us there, that He hears the words of our prayers before they have fully left our lips, and that He begins acting on them at that very instant… in the RIGHT NOW? Is it any wonder why He referred to Himself as “I am” when He instructed Moses?
“God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:14 ESV
Are you praying in the RIGHT NOW? Are you living out your faith in the past, or by hoping in the future? Perhaps it is time RIGHT NOW to change your prayer life from what was, or what will be, and begin a renewed faith RIGHT NOW.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the many answered prayers you have blessed me with, and for the hope I have in the future as I wait upon you, but I thank you most for this current moment we are in together RIGHT NOW, and how it is the divine instant of your will and of my action as I obey you. I have failed you in the past, and have hope in the future, but I plead for your mercy and grace RIGHT NOW, and you forgive me here and NOW as I do. Holy, Holy, Holy are you my God who was and is, and is to come. You are great and eternal forever, and ever, yet you are always with me in the Now of my life, my faith, and my prayers. Your grace is like butter that is spread across the bread of time, and my prayers that are never ending as they too rise up from remembrance, to present, to promise. Praised be your name Holy Father, and keep me forever fixed in the RIGHT NOW of my belief, righteousness, faith, and your love.
““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:23 ESV
Rich Forbes