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| Previous Next Scripture tells of many prayers--urgent requests to God for help. In All Things Are Possible, author Daniel Partner tells of devotional meaning in seventy-five of these prayers. Partner's insightful, accessible readings show that no human problem is unique and that God hears believers' prayers. Not only can the answers be miraculous--prayer itself is a miracle. While reading All Things Are Possible, Christians will see their own struggles in the prayers of biblical characters, be encouraged to lift their voices to heaven like the saints of old, and embrace Jesus' promise: "All things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23 NASB). This devotional employs various translations of Scripture. Soft cover from Barbour Publishing, Inc., copyright 2002 |
"DAY FORTY-FOUR"
Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens,
that thou wouldest come down,
that the mountains might flow down
at thy presence, as when the melting fire
burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil,
to make thy name known to thine
adversaries, that the nations may tremble
at thy presence! When thou didst terrible
things which we looked not for, thou
camest down, the mountains flowed down
at thy presence. For since the beginning
of the world men have not heard, nor
perceived by the ear, neither bath the eye
seen, O God, beside thee, what he bath
prepared for him that waiteth for him.
- ISAIAH 64:1-4
Jesus Christ asks us the following piercing question about his second coming: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8 NRSV). This question is asked in the context of a parable about persistent prayer. Jesus told the parable to encourage people to "pray always and not to lose heart" (v. 1). He hopes that such prayer will continue until the end.In the midst of persistent prayer, believers become "able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:18-19). These are things that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). True, "we know in part, and we prophesy in part. . . . We see through a glass, darkly (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12). Yet, thanks to our faith in the gospel, we have been included in "the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (Ephesians 3:9). The blessings of the gospel are a part of what God "hath prepared for him that waiteth for him" (Isaiah 64:4). As Christians wait in prayer for the Lord's return, I hope our spiritual eyes and ears will be opened to know more of what God prepared for us. I hope that each heart will be prepared in love to exclaim, "The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills" (Song of Solomon 2:8). I pray that every ear will hear the Lord say, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land" (vv. 10-12). Click here to send this devotion to a friend!
