You've had it for a while, that feeling that the cracks are starting to show. I'm here to confirm your suspicions: TODAY, ALL IS NOT WELL WITH THE WORLD.
Today, the economic reality is grim. Questions abound. What does the future hold? Who's really in charge? If the almost $3/4 of a trillion dollar bailout package cannot save us, what will?
I have to ask a tough question: are we so naive as to believe that civil order is permanent, that human government is homogenously beneficent or that the kingdoms of this world will last forever? Shall any eagle on a pole, Roman or American, outlast the Word of the Living God? A different way to say the same thing: when the bottom falls out, what do we land on?
Rise and shine, Johnny! It's time to take your pill. Let's check your chart. Oh, you're U.S. American. Yep, we've got what you need. Here's a healthy dose of election coverage to take your eyes off your true Commander-In-Chief. Take that twice a day, morning and night. Media of any sort will do; you can get this stuff over-the-counter. It's just that these candidates can be oh-so-tantalizingly like the Messiah who already came about two millenia ago. A great generic alternative, wouldn't you say? If your lucidity persists, just get busy! You don't need to do anything in particular; just do something to take your mind off that nagging feeling that ALL IS NOT WELL WITH THE WORLD.
I had originally written a different blog, but I knew I had to write this one. I don't want to be the one to say it, but someone has to. Things cannot stay the same anymore. God is asking us if we are willing to pay the price in prayer, and so far, the answer has been a resounding, "No."
You can ignore this message. You can write it off as another doom-and-gloomer out to get his negativity fix for the day. Too much network news, maybe. You can compartmentalize it so neatly, so perfectly, that in a few seconds it will all be out of your mind. But the cracks are starting to show.
If you've chosen to read this far, chances are you find yourself in a similar predicament, or you're just curious to see why one more person in the world thinks telling you to pray more will make a lick of difference. I'll answer that question: I'm stirred; I'm broken; I'm absolutely desperate, and I strongly believe that a new wave of individual and corporate prayer is the answer.
When the volume of our rhetoric expands beyond the mass of our convictions, prayer keeps us grounded on the Rock.
When our heart gives itself to idols, prayer reminds us of our One True Love.
When life is intense, prayer is our shelter.
When life is easy, prayer is our safeguard.
When the best option seems the easy road, prayer reminds us the narrow road is the way.
When all is not well with the world, prayer is the best way to make things right. You're only as alone as you perceive to be, so take courage: Jesus is praying for you.
Sources/Additional Reading Material: Put everything in context. Emphases mine.
A VISION OF THE FUTURE (Rev 8:1-3):
1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
A MESSAGE FROM THE PAST (JOEL 1:14):
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the LORD your God,
and cry out to the LORD.
THE NEXT STEP (MATT 5:5-13):
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT (MATT 11:12-15):
12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear. -Jesus
