Coffee With The Lord

Ever had one of these kinds of prayers… You were right in the middle of crisis… the situation demanded action be taken – that an answer be provided… You didn’t know what to do or what to say… So you shot up an unspoken prayer for help and guidance to God… It may have been as brief as “Oh God, help me now!” or simply, “Jesus!!!”

Does God hear those kinds of prayers? Does He answer them?
Well this morning during my time of “coffee with the Lord” I read about a prayer like that in the Bible (and God did answer it – and remarkably!)

It was preceded, however, by an intense, sincere, well-crafted, deliberate prayer. Nehemiah held an important position in the court of a pagan king, Artaxerxes, king of Babylon. He received news of the sad state of affairs among the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem, in his homeland. It was a humble prayer of intercession, of repentance, and appeal for God to help his people, grant forgiveness, and fulfill His promises! (You should read it – it’s in Nehemiah 1:4-11 – it’s really a model prayer!)
Heart sick, and burdened with concern, Nehemiah sought to fulfill his duties as cupbearer to the king. One day soon thereafter, Nehemiah “took up the wine and gave it to the king.” Artaxerxes, noticed the sad expression on Nehemiah’s face (an inappropriate and dangerous way to appear before the king!). The king asked, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart!”

“Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God heaven!”

In that crisis moment, Nehemiah did what many of us have done in an emergency situation – “He shot up a silent, unspoken, passionate prayer to God for help, guidance, and wisdom! His prayer is not recorded in Scripture (although his earlier prayer was recorded in the Bible)! This prayer on the spot, I believe, was a prayer for favor with the King – A passionate prayer for help in the moment!

God heard it! And God answered it – remarkable answered it! God gave Nehemiah favor with the king! The king granted Nehemiah a leave of absence to return to Jerusalem and help his people. He also granted Nehemiah abundant provision for the rebuilding of Jerusalem out of Babylon’s treasuries! Here’s how Nehemiah put it in his own words: “The king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me!” (From Nehemiah 1)

Here’s the deal then it seems to me… God hears and answers both kinds of prayer – those that that we thoughtfully and carefully craft and utter with sincere hearts of faith, and those that we passionately pray in a crisis within our hearts that are often unspoken! Don’t get the idea your prayer words have to be carefully crafted… Your Heavenly Father will hear and answer your prayer either way when you cry out to Him!

So what happens to you when you are “born again” or “born of the Spirit” (John 3:1-8)?  Well, one thing for sure, according to Jesus you get “eternal life!”  Physical death is not the end for you – it is simply a step into a whole new forever dimension of living!  But more… It introduces and inducts us into a whole new quality of life… “Life abundant” (John 10:10)!  Good stuff!  Everybody should be “born again!”

But this morning in my Bible reading during “coffee with the Lord” I was reminded of another benefit and blessing of being “born again” … You actually become a “child of God!”  And as a result of that, you experience a transformation from simply “natural DNA” to “Spiritual DNA” (gained and given by your Heavenly Father)!  And the result of that should be that, as you grow and mature spiritually, you more and more bear a “family” resemblance or likeness!  Wow!!  How good is that!

Here’s what the Bible says about that I read this morning…

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are… Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.  Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸ Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”  (1 John 3:1–10 ESV)

Gotta tell you… I’m glad the Holy Spirit is at work within me as a “born again” child of God – He’s the One who is at work within me transforming me into the image and likeness of Christ!  I want to do everything I can to cooperate with His life-transforming work!  And if I do, “When He appears I shall be like Him, because I shall see Him as He is!”  How good is “new birth,” eh?!!!

If you’re like me, there are times you almost despair at the leadership crisis that exists in our world today! Secular, godless, humanistic, arrogant… and then they seek to govern and lead without a moral or spiritual compass. They reject the teaching and principles of holy Scripture and act as if God did not exist! They move from one crisis to another… seeking to solve them, but instead causing more of them. They blame each other or persecute innocent, godly people as the cause of the crises that have been precipitated by their god-rejecting ways! Yes, we live in a world spinning out of control, steeped in a moral and spiritual morass! What is the solution? Where will this all end up?

Apostle John felt the frustration way back in the 1st century! And God gave him a vision of a Lion – the Lamb of God, crucified and risen as the prophetic Divine solution to the mess our world is in! He is the One – the only One – qualified to take over! (To take the “scroll” (the “title deed” to a fallen world and “open its seals”)! Here it is right out of the Bible…

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals!.’ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.

“And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (From Revelation 5:1–14 ESV)

Jesus Christ, crucified, risen and coming again to rule and reign is God’s divine solution to the leadership crisis in our world! He is the One worthy of our allegiance and worship! He has the answer – He IS the answer!