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Prayers
that Shake Heaven
The story of Jonah contains an
important lesson about effective prayer; prayer which shakes heaven.
Do you want your prayer to change
reality? This is one of the privileges of the children of God. They can
approach the throne of grace and speak to the Heavenly Father Himself. As they
ask Him in faith, He answers their prayers. One of His names is Jehovah Jireh,
the one who sees the need and provides.
The Old Testament story of Jonah
explains, in one part, the characteristics of such prayer; the type of prayer
which shakes heaven in our favour.
Jonah made one big mistake. He
disobeyed God and refused to go to Nineveh, where God had instructed him to
preach to the people. Jonah went astray due to rebellion and stubbornness,
fleeing to the distant city of Tarshish.
We all know the result. Jonah
ended up in the middle of a vast ocean, inside the belly of a large fish.
Can anything be more perilous?
How could he possibly be rescued? How could he get out of the great fish? How
could he then reach the surface and find the land he was supposed to go to? To
all appearances, the road to salvation was firmly closed. But faith says
something else.
Faith says that there is a God,
His God, who passing over, will preserve (Isaiah 31:5).
Faith says that God’s grace is so abundant that none of these frightful
circumstances could prevent Jonah from turning to God and praying the kind of
prayer which shakes heaven and changes reality.
The beginning of chapter two of
the book of Jonah finds Jonah inside the fish, engulfed in terrifying
pitch-black darkness, but its end finds him in complete safety. What happened?
How did this miracle take place?
Jonah prayed an effective
prayer. Studying this kind of prayer will teach us the characteristics of the
type of prayer that shakes heaven. Please read this chapter thoroughly and note
the following points:
1
- Love
The second chapter begins:
"Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God".
Note the words "his
God". Scripture does not say "to God" but "to his
God". In spite of all Jonah’s disobedience, God remained "his
God".
Do you feel that the Lord
Almighty is your God? Do you feel that you have a special
relationship with Him? Do you really believe that He still loves you with
His wonderful fatherly love in spite of everything you have done?
You will never see real answer
to prayer until you have the assurance that He is your God; that He is
bound to you by a covenant of love, based on the precious blood
of His own Son and that He is with you right in the middle of your
circumstances, intent on rescuing you.
Do you believe Him when He
said: "I have loved you with an everlasting love"
(Jeremiah 31:3)?
Do you understand what He
means by everlasting love? It is the victorious love that
outlasts all the changes time can bring. It is a constant love that
cannot be undermined. It is greater than all circumstances and mightier
than all your mistakes.
Beloved, let me assure you
that none of your sins could ever quench the blazing fire of
love which He has for you (Song of Solomon 8:6).
Consider the prodigal son
as an example. What was the key to his deliverance from humiliation, and
possibly even death? He betrayed his father, squandered his money and reaped
what he had sown. He sank into the deepest depths of degradation. He longed to
fill his stomach with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him
anything. Yet, he was able to find a way out. He said:
"I will arise and go to my
father" (Luke 15:18).
Note that he says "my
father", just as Jonah did. In spite of everything, he held in his
hand the key to deliverance – his belief that his father was
still his own father. He trusted that his father still saw him as his
son. Consider that he said these words while in a distant country!
Jonah disobeyed God with the
result that he walked the downward path until he came to a very
dangerous place, awaiting death in the belly of a fish, in the depths of the
ocean.
Logically, there was no way
out. How could he call out for help to the very God he had disobeyed? Could he
trust God to forgive him? Could he trust God to rescue him? Did he believe
that God was still his God?
There, inside the whale, Jonah
showed himself to be a true man of God. He trusted in God’s everlasting
love for him, a love greater than his acts of disobedience. He did not say
"O Lord God", but "O Lord my God" (Jonah
2:6).
Jonah was great in faith
because he believed that his sin would not undermine God’s love for him. In
this he possessed the first key to salvation.
Praise the name of the Lord
that nothing can prevent us from returning to Him, no matter what past
and present sin. Whatever the consequences of our sin, He welcomes our return.
He does not want us to reap
the fruit of what we have sown. He wants us to turn back to Him in repentance
so He can change our curses into blessings. What a wonderful God He is!
Beloved, do you find yourself
facing death in such a desperate situation because of your sin? You really can
lift up your heart to God right in the middle of your circumstances, just like
Jonah. Believe that He loves you and wants to save you, more than
you want to be saved yourself.
2-
The Word
Take a careful look at
Jonah’s prayer when he was in the fish’s belly, at the height of danger.
You will find that it is far different from that of Christians in similar
situations.
Jonah’s prayer is marked by
one very important characteristic. It is filled with the Word of God.
Effective prayers usually are filled with the Word of God.
Just consider, in it there are
nine quotations from Psalms, which make up the greater part of
Jonah’s prayer (Psalm 118:5, 88:6, 42:7, 3:22,
69:1, 18:6, 31:6, 50:14, 3:8).
Whatever your situation is,
fill your prayers with the Word. Remember that Scripture is full of
verses, relating to every aspect of life. When our prayers contain the Word,
we pray according to the will of God, revealed to us in the Bible.
Many prayers go unanswered, in
spite of the fervour of those who pray them. This is because they are not
based on the Word, but rather on personal interests that may not be
according to God’s will.
God has promised to answer,
when someone prays with faith and according to His will. John
says: "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us" (1
John 5:14).
Essentially, God’s will is
revealed through His Word. Those who are ignorant of the Word, cannot believe
because they have nothing to believe in. Faith in God is based upon what
God says – it is faith in His Word. Ignorance of the Word deprives you
of faith.
God says through Isaiah:
"Therefore my people have gone into captivity because they have no
knowledge" (Isaiah 5:13).
Jonah’s prayer was effective
because it was rich in Word. He was not ignorant of Scripture; it was stored
up in his heart. That is why when the moment of danger came, and he had no
Bible to turn to, he found Scripture recorded within him. From his heart he
quoted appropriate verses for his dangerous situation. Thus he rendered his
prayer active and effective.
I will never stop encouraging
you to spend ample time, daily, in the Word. Only in this way will it
be stored in your heart. A time will come when the words of the Bible
will flow from your heart to your lips, filling your prayer and making it
effective. Jesus said: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John
15:7).
3-
The Assurance of Answered Prayer
When you pray for something
that you know is God’s will, does your prayer express the assurance
that God will answer you? Please meditate on the following verses:
"Before they call,
I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah
65:24).
"Ask, and it will be given
to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to
you: For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him
who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew
7:7,8).
In his prayer, Jonah confessed
that his situation was dangerous and difficult (Jonah
2:3-5). But, note that he not only admitted that he was in a
dangerous place, but also that God had heard his prayer and had answered
it. He declared God’s salvation; that God would rescue him
before he actually experienced it – this is faith.
Consider how rich in faith his
prayer was.
"I cried out to the Lord
because of my affliction, and He answered me… I cried and you heard
my voice…You have brought up my life from the pit" (Jonah
2:2,6).
Note that Jonah did not say
that God was "going" to answer, or that He "will" listen,
or "will" bring up his life from the pit. He did not use the future
tense, or even the present tense, but said "answered",
"heard" and "brought up". He used the past tense because
his spiritual eyes saw what his physical eyes had not yet seen. He saw with
his spiritual eyes that his rescue had already taken place. His eyes saw God
rescuing him.
When you pray in faith for
your deliverance or healing, it is important to see with your heart, in the
Spirit, that you have already been delivered or healed before you see it in
reality – this is faith.
The Lord says, clearly:
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe
that you receive them, [the more accurate translation says "received
them", in the past tense], and you will have them" (Mark
11:24).
Consider that "received
them", in the past tense, indicates confidence that what is prayed for
has already been accomplished and not still to happen in the future. Be
careful not to pray prayers that lack assurance that God will answer.
Prayers that have no
confidence behind them are dangerous. Not only do they go unanswered, but they
may cause harm and increase fear and doubt.
You can tell the Lord about
the danger you are in – be honest, say everything, but let what you
say be filled with words of faith, following the example of Jonah in
the belly of the fish. Let your words declare your confidence in God’s
boundless love for you.
Soak your prayers in Scriptures
which proclaim God’s promises concerning your situation. It’s wonderful to
be able to use the past tense like Jonah, declaring that you have
already received that for which you are praying.
Be careful not to let your
thoughts wander into expectations and dangerous deductions, dictated by your
human reasoning. Rather direct your mind to focus only on that which God says.
If you are sick, do not
be concerned with the complications of the disease and the dangerous
possibilities, these thoughts do not lead to faith.
Keep reading verses which
speak about healing and set your heart on them – this is faith.
If you have a financial
problem, do not listen to what people, who rely on their reason, say.
Their words will only stir up fear in you – this is not faith.
Concentrate on what God says
about His faithfulness in supplying all your needs and keeping His
children. Do not let these verses depart from your mind – this is faith.
When you pray with a mind full
of God’s Word, your prayer will be like Jonah’s; it will speak more of the
answer. Jonah prays from the perspective of seeing the answer, and declared
that he will once again see the temple of the Lord (Jonah
2:4) – this is faith.
Let your prayer be rich
in God’s Word, believing in His answer. Express your trust and
confidence that He will answer you, even if everything seems to be getting
worse. Sometimes things do become worse because God wants to give your faith
the opportunity to be refined like gold, which shines brighter when passed
through fire (1 Peter 1:7).
4-
The Precious Blood
David said: "If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (Psalm
66:18).
If there is sin in your life, it
will not hinder your prayers, though you may continue to fall, if you keep on
repenting of it, confessing it and taking a stand against it.
But be careful if there is sin
that you surrender to and welcome, instead of opposing – for that will hinder
your prayers dramatically. This is what David meant by "regarding
iniquity". If this is the case, God will not listen to you.
Scripture clearly warns us
against sins that will surely prevent answer in prayer. Please refer to Ezekiel
14:3, Mark 11:25, Proverbs 21:13, 1 Peter 3:7, James 4:3 and Matthew 6:5.
If you are still tolerating any
sin in your life, please do not even continue reading before you have taken very
strong action against it.
Reject
Reject it, with all your being.
Confess Confess it, believing in God’s forgiveness.
Resist Resist it seriously.
Flee from Flee from every situation which leads you into
temptation.
Ask for Ask for God’s help.
You can be confident that the blood of Jesus has
caused your sin to be cast into the depths of the sea, so that it will never
again stand in between your prayers and heaven.
Beloved, glorify the precious blood of the Lord with all your
heart, for it is by the blood that you may enter before the throne of grace as a
son. It is written:
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to
enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus..Let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled (with the blood)
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews
10:19,22).
And again, "Let us therefore come boldly to
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
Let your heart be filled with faith in His blood
and think about it as you pray. Do not forget that this great blood is the main
reason that your prayers are answered.
This is what Jonah did. He depended on the blood, so that
this prayer would be answered. He depended on the blood to hide his sin,
of which he repented in the fish’s belly.
You may ask me how I deduce that Jonah depended on the blood
to cover his sin? Look at these important words that he prayed:
"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple" (Jonah
2:7).
Why does Jonah say that his prayer entered the temple of
the Lord? It is because there he sees the blood, over the altar of
sacrifice and on its horns, and on the horns of the altar of incense, and in
front of the veil, and over the ark in the Holy of Holies.
Blood, much blood was shed every day. I am referring to the
blood of the Old Testament sacrifices which was shed every day as a constant
symbol, pointing to the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.
Jonah believed God’s Word in Leviticus which says that the
blood of the sacrifices atoned for his sin – the word "atone"
means to cover.
Jonah believed that the blood of these sacrifices covered
his sin and hid it from God’s sight. Jonah said that his prayer reached
the temple of God. God could not see his sin because the blood hid it
from His sight.
The blood in the Old Testament only atoned in the sense of
"cover" or "hide", but the blood of the Lord Jesus to
which it points, did a far greater work. It "takes away" sin (John
1:29); it removed and blotted it out; or rather, in
the words of Scripture, it caused it to be cast into the depths of the sea (Micah
7:19), not to be seen anymore as if it had not been committed at
all.
When Jonah looked to the temple, and saw the blood
covering his sin, he believed that God heard his prayer. You have an even greater
privilege than Jonah – you can believe that God hears your prayer because of
Calvary; the Cross where He sees His beloved Son, Jesus, slain for your sake.
There He sees the precious blood that removes your sin and causes it to
be cast into the depths of the sea.
Beloved, I repeat, everytime you pray, let your mind dwell on
the blood of the Lord and let your heart believe in it.
It is the blood, the blood of the Lord which
takes away sin, the main hindrance to your answer from heaven.
The blood, the blood of the Lord is the main
reason your prayer is answered.
Lord Jesus,
Alpha and Omega,
What you open no one can shut.
Thank you for opening the Gates of Heaven to us.
Thank you because no one can close them.
Thank you that we can confidently go through these gates
and approach the throne of grace.
Thank you that our sin has been cast into the depths of
the sea, never to be seen again.
Thank you that we can now speak to you as your children.
When we ask of you, you answer.
Thank you for the blood and for all your love for us.
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