03/29/2024
This morning our devotional contains many questions regarding prayer, Jesus and, his position as our Great High Priest. Yet for each question the answer is always the same “Yea”. Let’s listen as Pastor E.M. Bounds asks us a few of these questions, and then answers them, and let’s listen to Andrew Peterson’s modern day song in which he asks some amazing questions and then responds to them in song… “Is He Worthy”. These are questions regarding who, why, and what was given for us atop Calvary on this Good Friday, and there are so many more.
Questions asked by E.M. Bounds...
"Was Christ the Christ of prayer? Did He seek the silence, the solitude, and the darkness so that He could pray? Does He sit at the right hand of God in heaven to pray for us?"
These are questions about how Jesus intercedes and prays for us and Bounds answers all of them with a single statement.... "Of course!" As we struggle to understand the nature of Jesus and what it means for us to follow Him we need to ask questions as well. We need to resolve for ourselves the mysteries of faith that keep us from drawing increasingly closer to our Savior and Father. Among others, Bounds used this scripture in his quest:
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
Hebrews 5:7-10 KJV
We should do likewise and seek the answers to our own searching in the Word of God... And in prayer. Like Jesus, Bounds quotes scripture and like Jesus we need to ask God to teach us lessons and answer the uncertainties that keep us at even the slightest distance from Him.
Jesus is our Great High Priest and He prays for us. We should follow His example and pray as well. There is one scripture that, more than any other, details the importance which Jesus places in prayer. It speaks of Him praying in the garden of Gethsemane and this prayer was so exhausting and physically demanding that He needed help...
“And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Luke 22:43-44 KJV
Have we ever prayed this intensely for anything in your life? Have we prayed with such concentration and devotion that it physically exhausted us? Have we ever prayed on the way to our own Calvary? Maybe this is the first question we should seek an answer to... "Jesus, how can I pray with the focus and intensity you demonstrated at Gethsemane?"
I have asked different people a question and have been amazed by their answers. This is a personal question and requires more than the quick answer that Peter gave Jesus in the upper room. The question is this "Is there anything or anyone in my life that I love or believe in so completely that I would be willing to die for it or them?"
To pray as Jesus prayed we must have passion. A milquetoast life is mirrored in a bland prayer life and unfulfilled faith. Jesus made one request that determined this passion in lives, and it is recorded in three of the four gospels...
“Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”
Matthew 19:21 KJV
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
Mark 10:21 KJV
“Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”
Luke 18:22 KJV
Passion... Forget my earlier question and consider the request of Jesus. Would you give up everything you owned if He were to ask it of you? Do you have a passionate faith in God? Do you have passion for anything? Or, are you a mouth full of lukewarm faith that is destined to be spit out? ?
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Revelation 3:14-16 KJV
This morning is a good time for us to consider our passion, or the lack thereof, and it is a good morning to begin seeking the answers to many the questions that can limit our faith. Maybe this will lead us on a journey, or perhaps all of our questions will be answered like Bounds' or Peterson’s by a single statement, but one thing is for certain... It will draw us closer to God and His loving desire for us.
As we contemplate this, and seek our own answers today, let’s listen as Andrew Peterson sings to us of God’s Mercy, and asks us so many of our own questions… while giving us their answers.
https://youtu.be/OIahc83Kvp4?si=T4XPDn241_nYs7po
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who, on this day atop Calvary Hill, and on this day we call Good Friday, gave himself unto death to redeem all the world from sin. Thank you Holy Father for the Holy Spirit who leads us to the answers to our many questions regarding you, who gives us understanding, and leads us to pray as we should to you. Thank you Father for answering these questions in the affirmative when we ask if you are worthy, good, merciful, and full of grace. Every part of your character is perfect, and worthy of our praise, glory, and the offering of our lives unto you. How is it Lord that we can ever thank you in words today for the gift that is Christ, and the suffering He endured? Our tears, our heartbreak, our deepest despair, and yet our greatest hope, all combine as one to form our tears as we pray, and yet we still can’t express the magnificence of this day, nor match one drop of blood filled sweat that drops from His brow. Holy, Holy, Holy, are thou our God who was, and is, and is to come. Holy is your Son Jesus, and how lowly are we, and yet you stooped low to hold us in your arms, and Jesus was hoisted high on a cross adorned with a crown of thorns and His suffering to offer his greatest prayer of intercession for us when he prayed these words… “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” You are merciful Abba, and full of grace; your love knows no bounds, and forgiveness the gift that erases all the sin that stains and comes so naturally to us. You lifted us from our misery, and healed us by your grace… hear us today as we sing out Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, and chant with all of the heavenly host Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou!
Amen.
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
Romans 7:24-25 ESV
Listen now to a song written in the 1600s titled “Miserere” given here with English translation…
https://youtu.be/ZRsntxtLfyc?si=Hw8Hy0UIGXaPLSyl
Rich Forbes