12/30/2024
I was incredibly blessed by my devotional reading today which was titled, "The Mark of God". In my reading, Pastor E. M. Bounds wrote that through our faith in Jesus, and our prayers, God does give Himself, His presence, and His grace to us... through them we receive His mark, and sign. There are physical marks of God, and spiritual marks of God, but none is any more powerful than those of prayer which can leave both on us. Physical marks on our knees, feet, and foreheads, and spiritual marks left by answered prayer on our souls and behaviors such as the marks of love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
"Answered prayer is the mark of God in our praying. It is the exchange with heaven, and establishes and realizes a relationship with God.
We give our prayers in exchange for the divine blessing. God accepts our prayers through the atoning blood and gives Himself, His presence, and His grace in return." - E. M. Bounds
Answered prayer is indeed a mark of God... All else might simply be happenstance or of ourselves. When we pray and God provides, it is truly the mark... the affirmation of our faith and His love for us.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
Ephesians 1:3 KJV
I find that when my prayers are answered, I am lifted up by His closeness even more than I am gratified by the answer of the prayer itself. His presence in the act of answering my prayer fills me with awe and wonder. At that moment I know He is with me and cares for me. Do you find that to be the case in your prayer life? Do you bear this, His mark, or see His sign in your life?
"It is by these answered prayers that human nature is enriched. Answered prayer brings us into constant, conscious communion with God, awakens and enlarges gratitude, and excites the melody and lofty inspiration of praise." - E. M. Bounds
Children long for our attention... Whether that attention is good or bad they need it. I think that man's relationship with God is similar to that. In the good times and bad, we long for His presence, His touch, His relationship... and prayer provides us with that way of establishing our closeness with Him. When our prayers are answered they are indeed the mark, the sign that our need for Him is being met. He is with us. The joy, peace, and warmth that rushes over us is without equal and our Heavenly Father speaks deep into our souls.
So yes, we receive both physical and spiritual marks of God through prayer, but each is meant to demonstrate God’s presence in our lives, and His ownership of us… by our faith and belief in Him He claims us. Do we pray as believers, or simply seekers? Are we immersing ourselves in Him, or using prayer as a means of testing the religious water of his divinity? Are we prepared to receive the indelible mark of God and Jesus Christ, or a temporary, and easily removed imitation? How will we pray today?
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for prayer, and using it to mark my life spiritually, and my forehead with your mark of protection and ownership. Father, let me bear your mark of answered prayer. Let my soul feel your presence and grow flush in praise of you. Lord I long to feel you close and witness your love for me through the answers to my petitions. As I stretch to touch your hand, let your breath blow forth in miraculous answer to the longings of my heart. Heal those for whom I pray, provide for all I lift up to you in prayer, Father fulfill every need, and every desire. Answer Lord, not because I deserve your attention in and of myself, but in the holy name of your Son Jesus who washes me clean with His blood and provides for our communion and divine relationship. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who marks the days of my life with your signs and wonders. Holy are you whose mercy, grace, forgiveness, and every virtuous characteristic of who you are seals me in you, revealing your mark for all to see. Holy are you who marks my forehead against Satan and as a sign of protection against all who would harm me. Encourage and lead me in prayer Lord. Bruise my knees as I kneel all day long before you, and my forehead as I prostrate myself at your feet. Mark me Abba, give me into the hands of Christ that I might bear his signs, and your Holy Spirit that will thrill my soul as I speak the words He gives me, the revelation of signs and wonders. Then send your angels to mark my life with your seal of eternity.
And in all our prayers we will lift them up in the name of Jesus, to serve your will, and to praise and glorify you. Then, we will call out so that all the saints will join us in praising you by saying… Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! and claiming our prayers with us by joining us in their Amen! Taking your mark upon themselves in the process.
And all who would take the mark of the believer say… AMEN!
Additional Scripture References:
“Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.”
Genesis 4:15 ESV
“And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.”
Ezekiel 9:4-6 ESV
“Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.””
Revelation 7:2-3 ESV
“Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.”
Revelation 14:1 ESV
Rich Forbes