Greetings Prayer Warriors...
"Give EAR to my WORDS, O Lord...consider my MEDITATION/GROANING...heed the SOUND of my CRY for help, My King and my God. For to you I PRAY. In the morning...O Lord...You will HEAR my VOICE...in the morning I will ORDER my PRAYER TO YOU and EAGERLY WATCH."
(Psalm 5:1-3)
This Psalm...is a duet with stringed instrument...accompanied with flute. This is another blues Psalm...or a Lament Psalm.
God has set up his divine communication system between Him...being de-vine...and us being
de-branches (John 15:1-7) This communication system is called PRAYER. Wow...the Creator of the universe...wanting to communicate...two way conversation...with us. Notice the words relating to speaking and hearing: ear, words, meditation/groaning, sound, cry, pray, hear, voice,
prayer. As a Speech-Language Pathologist...who studies, evaluates and treats the disorders of Speech, Language, Cognition, Swallowing, etc...when I read stuff like this...it strikes a chord with me like a fingernail strumming the stringed instruments of the Psalmist.
The word for MEDITATION/GROANING...is haw-gaw which means...murmuring, meditation, musing, a muttering under the breath that which you are thinking about.
In Joshua 1:8...we see..."This book of the Law shall not depart from your MOUTH...but you shall MEDITATE (haw-gaw...mutter under you breath) on it (the Law) day and night...SO that you may be careful to DO all that is written in it...for then (cause and effect) you will MAKE your way PROSPEROUS...and then you will have GOOD SUCCESS."
Notice that this prosperity and success is hinged on the thinking and muttering of the mouth... which prompts DOING.
This GROANING...this SIGHING out...this MUTTERING PRAYER...was not a new thing that David was doing. We see that Joshua was acquainted with this...and the children of Israel were also familiar with it. They may or may not have known what they were doing in their sighing and groaning...but it got God's focus.
"Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died and the sons of Israel GROANED/SIGHED because of their bondage...and CRIED OUT; and their CRY FOR HELP because of their bondage ROSE UP TO GOD. So God HEARD THEIR GROANING; and God REMEMBERED His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God SAW the sons of Israel...and God TOOK NOTICE of them."
Exodus 2:23-25
In this Psalm of Lament...David did NOT just moan and groan...but sent up his PRAYERS with faith and confidence that His God would deliver Him. There was HOPE (confident expectation) that God "WILL HEAR MY VOICE." David not only ORDERED his prayers...he EAGERLY WATCHED for the coming answer. That is like praying for rain... and CARRY AROUND AN UMBRELLA IN ANTICIPATION OF THE RAIN.
"Therefore CONFESS your sins to one another, and PRAY for one another so that you MAY BE HEALED. The EFFECTIVE (effectual, fervent) PRAYER of a righteous man can accomplish much (availeth much). Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he PRAYED EARNESTLY that it would not rain and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he PRAYED AGAIN...and the sky POURED RAIN...and the earth produced its fruit"
James 5:16-18
The Elijah prayer is recorded in I Kings17:1; I Kings 18:1--46. The answer to the EFFECTUAL, FERVENT PRAYER...did not manifest immediately. But there was eager anticipation. Elijah sent his servant to look for the ANTICIPATED RAIN... 7 times. He had already told Ahab..."Go up, eat and drink; for there is the SOUND OF THE ROAR OF A HEAVY SHOWER." (I Kings 8:41)
NOTE: This is one of the earliest mentions of a weather man...since Noah.
"He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. So he went up and looked and said THERE IS NOTHING. And he said...GO BACK SEVEN TIMES. And it came about at the SEVENTH TIME...that he said, Behold, a CLOUD AS SMALL AS A MAN'S HAND IS COMING UP FROM THE SEA. And he said...Go up, say to Ahab...prepare your chariot and go down, so that the HEAVY SHOWER DOES NOT STOP YOU. So it came about IN A LITTLE WHILE that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a HEAVY SHOWER."
(I Kings 18:43-45)
I said all of that...to say this. In Psalm 5...when David ordered his prayer (not ordered God to answer his prayer...but got his prayer in order)...he was walking by "faith not by sight"...but as he walked...he EAGERLY WATCHED. Like Elijah...he prayed for rain...spoke forth in faith the expected HEAVY SHOWERS. Between the point of prayer and the point of provision...walk by faith, eagerly watch...and don't give up. The manifestation...was the sound of a roar of heavy showers...and 7 times on the look out for the answer...and on the seventh time...there was a small cloud the size of a fist...sky grew black...more clouds...and more wind...then "THERE WAS A HEAVY SHOWER."
FINAL WORDS...FINALLY
As you eagerly watch...for you groanings and cry for help...eagerly watch. You may be in the phase of CALLING THINGS THAT ARE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE. You may be on the look out for the 7th time. You may be seeing a small cloud the size of a fist...you may see skys growing black...you may see MORE clouds...and MORE wind...but the bottom line...THERE WILL BE A HEAVY SHOWER IN YOUR LIFE.
Love and Anticipate, Eagerly Watching Kisses
Rodney "Ordered Prayers" Boyd
No comments:
Post a Comment