Call to Prayer: Reminding Ourselves of God’s Future
I love this song, and find it so fitting, especially in this time. It is good that we remind ourselves of God’s future. It is good for us to dwell on the fact that he is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the author of the whole story and he will accomplish all that he has planned. He will not fail, indeed, he cannot.
One day we will look and see “a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb…shouting with a great roar, ‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!…Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen’” (Rev 7:9-12 NLT).
God means for us to rejoice in the new heavens and new earth that he will create, “…the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more…they will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit…the wolf and the lamb will feed together and the lion will eat straw like the ox” (Isaiah 65:17,19,21,25 NIV). God wants us to imagine it and rejoice even now, in its coming.
So often, our prayers reflect our present sorrows, weariness and broken hopes. Our Father God wants to hear those things, for he cares deeply about us. But, God also wants to speak to us about what he wants to do.
When we lived in India, we were surrounded by sorrow and crushing need. It would have been easy to feel defeated and overwhelmed. Right across the street from us, there was a tent community where hundreds of people set up make-shift homes for their families under tarps and cardboard, whatever they could find. Many others overflowed out onto the road, sleeping on the median strip of grass at night, begging along the same busy road during the day. We spent much time building relationships with them and praying in this area.
One day, as we were worshiping in the morning and asking God what God would like us to pray for that day, we saw images of that area. Instead of being oppressed, haggard and full of trash, there were jasmine trees growing in that strip of grass, their flowers bringing beauty and fragrance to the area. We drew the images and hung them in our prayer room. We prayed for old things to be made new. We prayed for his living water to flow through that place. We prayed for fresh life, healing and restoration. Then we headed out to pray onsite.
When we arrived, we were amazed to see a big truck, full of small trees that were being planted right there in the median, just as we had prayed. It was God’s confirmation to us that we were on the right track as we prayed. How exciting, encouraging and powerful our prayers can become when God shows us his dreams and plans. We are then able to praise God for what will be.
Ruthy Hershey is a VMMissions worker serving with Immerse International in Millersville, Pa.