06/23/2024
Our devotional for this morning is regarding the absolute certainty of God, who is light, and who answers prayer. On a day in 2016 I was sitting in complete darkness in my eerily quiet house thinking about the fact that God answers prayer. A severe storm had just passed through and although it had moved off into the distance I could still hear the rumble of thunder... My neighborhood was dark and without power. To those without faith, this is like their prayer life... they sit in darkness with no hope, and no power. But to those of us who trust in the Lord our prayers are answered in the midst of the surrounding darkness and our battery operated cell phones still communicate our faithfulness.
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
Mark 9:23 KJV
Pastor E.M. Bounds had written that morning about the faith we have in prayer when he wrote this of God and prayer:
"He hears and answers every prayer where the true conditions of praying are met. This is either true or not. If not, then there is nothing in prayer. Then prayer becomes but the recitation of words" – E.M. Bounds
What a sad state of affairs life would be without being able to pray. Prayer is so central to our relationship with God that for us to even entertain the idea that it could be untrue is devastating. But thankfully we know better and Bounds continued on...
"But if what the scripture verse says is true, then there are vast possibilities in prayer. Then it is far-reaching in its scope and wide in its range.
Then it is true that prayer can lay its hand upon God Almighty and move Him to do great and wonderful things."
So, as I sat there in the midst of an expansive darkness in which people were stumbling and groping in the houses around me, I had my faith , the light of my cell phone, and a flashlight. I was able to call the electric company to alert them to the power outage, and I could communicate my faith to others. That was my physical condition, but within my spiritual world of faith and prayer there was no darkness, no power outage, and the terrors of the night couldn't harm me.
The book of Psalms contains more complete prayers than any other book in the bible, and it is fitting to quote from it when we are reassuring ourselves regarding prayer. Here is one that comes to mind…
“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”
Psalms 91:5-6 KJV
Our God doesn't abandon us to the dark, He hears our prayers and surrounds us with his comfort and light. Scripture is true... Prayer is answered... and as the unbelieving world struggles to defeat the darkness on its own, we have our prayers, and the Almighty God, to conquer the darkness in our lives.
On that morning long ago, though my house and neighborhood was draped in physical darkness, I was praying. I was talking with the all-powerful creator of the universe, and He was comforting me. I was thankful that He never abandons me and that His word is true. I praised Him for hearing and answering my prayers. In closing, I was looking at the dark world surrounding my house, and I was reminded of the words of Joshua...
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15 KJV
In serving the Lord we are never left alone in the darkness. His light surrounds us despite the condition of the world outside. God provides us with that light which is His Son Jesus Christ. He is not only our light, but the hope of all those who sit lost in the darkness…
““Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””
John 8:12 ESV
“the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
Matthew 4:16 ESV
Prayer:
Father thank you for giving us the gift of prayer, and greater yet, your Son Jesus Christ who is the light of the world. Thank you for our faith, and the hope He represents to all who remain in darkness today. We pray for them Father that they might come to believe in Jesus, and finally walk in your light with Him. You are light Father, and in you there is no darkness. If we are in darkness then we know you not, so we pray that not only will we sit in your amazing light when the world is in darkness, but that all those about us will come to know you through Jesus and see as we do. Holly, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you whose eternal light shines on us without fail, and shines also on those who are blind to it. We praise you for separating us from the darkness of the world, and allowing us to come to you in the glowing radiance of prayer. We praise you Father, and honor you for your light that flows through Jesus, and gives hope to the world. We thank you for the light we too radiate when we come to abide in Jesus, and we give you all the glory for it… it is the love you feel for us, the love we have for you, and the manifestation of the promise of eternity in your presence. Great are you, and greatly to be praised.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:5-7 ESV
Amen, Amen, Amen!!
Rich Forbes