Selah is not translated in our English Bibles. We just have the transliteration of the Hebrew word. But if you follow its usage, you can get a good grip on its meaning. It is used at the end of each stanza of Psalm 46. I have italicized it for you.

Literally, Selah means, step up. It could have been a musical notation. I like the speculation that it was used when the people ascended Mt. Zion with singing. As they came to a pause in the music, they would all take a step, or several steps, up. They would pause to take a step nearer to God. 

There is a delightful little poem in Spurgeon's Treasury of David.

But as I said, whatever the meaning of the word, the most telling thing about selah is where it is placed in the text. Selah is a call to be still and know God.

Selah is used as a pause to reflect. 

We seldom use the word behold in common speech. But it is a crucial word in Scripture and an essential concept for our spiritual lives. I could have posted this on my thinking in the Spirit blog, but particularly because of the passage I have chosen, I believe it fits Watching In Prayer better.

Behold is used three times in Jacobs encounter with God in Genesis 28:12-14. I have italicized them to emphasize its significance.

Let me give you some applications of the word “behold,’ especially as it is used in this passage.

SEE
The foundational meaning of the word behold is simply to see. Here it means to see God. In Hebrews 11:27 we read that Moses endured because he saw Him who is invisible. Behold means to see the work of God. In John 5:19 Jesus said He could only do what He saw His Father doing. John 5:20 says the Father loves the Son and shows Him what He is doing. Behold is a command to see on a spiritual plane. We read about Stephen in Acts chapter 8. As he was being stoned for the gospel, the heavens were opened and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He said “Behold, I see.” But those who were intent on stoning him were not willing to look.

HEAR
Behold also calls us to pay attention to what God has to say to us. God spoke to Jacob standing above the ladder in his dream. And God will speak to you if you listen. He can speak to you in any way He chooses. He can speak in a dream. He will consistently speak to you in His word, in the fellowship of the church, in circumstances, and in all of these things, you will hear Him speaking as you pray.

THINK
Behold is a call to grasp the significance of what God is showing you. Jacob got it. He realized what God was saying to him. Realizing that God is speaking will open your heart you more and more meaning as you focus on what He is telling you, especially in Scripture. In Deuteronomy 6:6-9 God commands us.

BELIEVE
Beholding expects believing. When God speaks you need to recognize that He is real and that He is really speaking to you. In John 12 when Jesus prayed that His Father would glorify His name, a voice came from heaven saying, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The people standing there were amazed. Some said, “An angel has spoken to him.” But Jesus said, No. “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.” God is speaking to you.

EXPERIENCE
Behold calls us to experience the presence of the Lord. We seldom sing Surely The Presence in our churches. Its words come from verse 16 of Genesis 28.

Of course, these last words point us to the promise of the presence of Jesus any time we gather in His name. I have never sung the second verse of this song.

There is a special promise of His presence in church. We are also in His presence any time we are listening to His voice. 

TREMBLE
In verse 17 Jacob says he was afraid. He said what we should say every time we gather in church. “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
When you are in the presence of the holy God you ought to tremble like Jacob did. He was terrified. But it was not an earthly fear. He experienced the joyful fear of God.
The third verse of Surely The Presence sings.

We seldom use the word behold in common speech. But it is a crucial word in Scripture and an essential concept for our spiritual lives. I could have posted this on my thinking in the Spirit blog, but particularly because of the passage I have chosen, I believe it fits Watching In Prayer better.

Behold is used three times in Jacobs encounter with God in Genesis 28:12-14. I have italicized them to emphasize its significance.

Let me give you some applications of the word “behold,’ especially as it is used in this passage.

SEE
The foundational meaning of the word behold is simply to see. Here it means to see God. In Hebrews 11:27 we read that Moses endured because he saw Him who is invisible. Behold means to see the work of God. In John 5:19 Jesus said He could only do what He saw His Father doing. John 5:20 says the Father loves the Son and shows Him what He is doing. Behold is a command to see on a spiritual plane. We read about Stephen in Acts chapter 8. As he was being stoned for the gospel, the heavens were opened and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He said “Behold, I see.” But those who were intent on stoning him were not willing to look.

HEAR
Behold also calls us to pay attention to what God has to say to us. God spoke to Jacob standing above the ladder in his dream. And God will speak to you if you listen. He can speak to you in any way He chooses. He can speak in a dream. He will consistently speak to you in His word, in the fellowship of the church, in circumstances, and in all of these things, you will hear Him speaking as you pray.

THINK
Behold is a call to grasp the significance of what God is showing you. Jacob got it. He realized what God was saying to him. Realizing that God is speaking will open your heart you more and more meaning as you focus on what He is telling you, especially in Scripture. In Deuteronomy 6:6-9 God commands us.

BELIEVE
Beholding expects believing. When God speaks you need to recognize that He is real and that He is really speaking to you. In John 12 when Jesus prayed that His Father would glorify His name, a voice came from heaven saying, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The people standing there were amazed. Some said, “An angel has spoken to him.” But Jesus said, No. “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.” God is speaking to you.

EXPERIENCE
Behold calls us to experience the presence of the Lord. We seldom sing Surely The Presence in our churches. Its words come from verse 16 of Genesis 28.

Of course, these last words point us to the promise of the presence of Jesus any time we gather in His name. I have never sung the second verse of this song.

There is a special promise of His presence in church. We are also in His presence any time we are listening to His voice. 

TREMBLE
In verse 17 Jacob says he was afraid. He said what we should say every time we gather in church. “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
When you are in the presence of the holy God you ought to tremble like Jacob did. He was terrified. But it was not an earthly fear. He experienced the joyful fear of God.
The third verse of Surely The Presence sings.

(Adapted from HOPE, The Anchor of The Soul)

The Anchor of Perspective

Understanding that Jesus really rose from the dead has transformed the lives of people who have followed Him down through the ages. They could minister in the midst of plagues at the risk of their lives. They gladly died to help their neighbors, and loved ones, and people they didn’t even know. They were willing to stand for the Bible and the truth of the gospel even in the face of martyrdom.

We see this in the death of Stephen. He could even pray for the men stoning him, “Don’t hold this sin against them.” And he could pray, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit,” because he knew the Lord was there to receive him. And this was not a unique testimony. Others have said similar things at death. He cried while he was dying, “Look, I see the throne in heaven and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.” I cannot help but wonder what his attackers might have seen if they had looked. Stephen was certainly convinced they would see Jesus as he saw Him.

The Anchor of Prayer

My heart throbs at the simple prayer of Stephen, and so many others who have died with prayer in their hearts and on their lips. When you come to know a risen Savior it radically changes the way you pray. And such prayer gives you hope in the face of life or death. Prayer is itself an expression of hope.

Are you cultivating the habit of prayer? This is crucial because you know you will face difficult circumstances. You will come under spiritual attack. 1 Peter 4 begins,

And 1 Peter 4:12 says,

You need to know, if you do not already, that your enemy will do everything he can to keep you from praying. If you are in the habit of spending time in prayer, you will still be able to pray when your enemy is telling you God doesn’t hear, or things are too bad for you to pray.

Some years ago I went to a training conference at Jefferson Baptist Church. Their primary program is helping people pray extended time every day. More people attend that church each week than the number of people who live in the little town of Jefferson Oregon. And they attribute their growth to prayer. At the conference they encouraged us to commit to pray for an hour every day. You have to rearrange your life to spend a full hour daily in prayer. But that is the kind of habit that will terrify the enemy and keep us praying when we are tempted to give up. 

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(Adapted from HOPE, The Anchor of The Soul)

The Anchor of Perspective

Understanding that Jesus really rose from the dead has transformed the lives of people who have followed Him down through the ages. They could minister in the midst of plagues at the risk of their lives. They gladly died to help their neighbors, and loved ones, and people they didn’t even know. They were willing to stand for the Bible and the truth of the gospel even in the face of martyrdom.

We see this in the death of Stephen. He could even pray for the men stoning him, “Don’t hold this sin against them.” And he could pray, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit,” because he knew the Lord was there to receive him. And this was not a unique testimony. Others have said similar things at death. He cried while he was dying, “Look, I see the throne in heaven and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.” I cannot help but wonder what his attackers might have seen if they had looked. Stephen was certainly convinced they would see Jesus as he saw Him.

The Anchor of Prayer

My heart throbs at the simple prayer of Stephen, and so many others who have died with prayer in their hearts and on their lips. When you come to know a risen Savior it radically changes the way you pray. And such prayer gives you hope in the face of life or death. Prayer is itself an expression of hope.

Are you cultivating the habit of prayer? This is crucial because you know you will face difficult circumstances. You will come under spiritual attack. 1 Peter 4 begins,

And 1 Peter 4:12 says,

You need to know, if you do not already, that your enemy will do everything he can to keep you from praying. If you are in the habit of spending time in prayer, you will still be able to pray when your enemy is telling you God doesn’t hear, or things are too bad for you to pray.

Some years ago I went to a training conference at Jefferson Baptist Church. Their primary program is helping people pray extended time every day. More people attend that church each week than the number of people who live in the little town of Jefferson Oregon. And they attribute their growth to prayer. At the conference they encouraged us to commit to pray for an hour every day. You have to rearrange your life to spend a full hour daily in prayer. But that is the kind of habit that will terrify the enemy and keep us praying when we are tempted to give up. 

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I believe this is the most important truth that God has pressed upon me in the past few years. I wrote a book that was never published, titled, SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE. I abandoned that book because God convicted me that part of my purpose in writing it was to say, “I am smart.” I am still plumbing the depth of that wickedness. In addition to and because of my pride, the focus of about half of that book was wrong. I would rather write something on Spiritual Childishness. I have been stirred again and again by the words of Jesus in Luke 10:21.

I certainly don't understand enough about this concept to write a book. But I think I do see some really good things that relate to it.

First, in Spiritual Childishness we have The Humility of Understanding.

Like a child we come to spiritual things knowing we do not understand them. And God in grace reveals Himself to His children.

Then, Spiritual Childishness brings us to The Submissiveness of Understanding.

Most spiritual insight is blocked by our willingness to argue with God. When you come to something in Scripture that goes against what you think, the struggle to understand must be accompanied by an attitude that says, “If this really is what You are saying God, I will change my mind.”

Spiritual Childishness develops The Faith of Understanding.

Children automatically trust many things to their parents. The arrogance and fear of unbelief keep us from risking and resting in the arms of God.

Finally, Spiritual Childishness brings The Joy of Understanding.

Children often have a freedom to rejoice over many things. Fellowship with Christ brings us into the joy that overflows into our hearts from this verse.

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I believe this is the most important truth that God has pressed upon me in the past few years. I wrote a book that was never published, titled, SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE. I abandoned that book because God convicted me that part of my purpose in writing it was to say, “I am smart.” I am still plumbing the depth of that wickedness. In addition to and because of my pride, the focus of about half of that book was wrong. I would rather write something on Spiritual Childishness. I have been stirred again and again by the words of Jesus in Luke 10:21.

I certainly don't understand enough about this concept to write a book. But I think I do see some really good things that relate to it.

First, in Spiritual Childishness we have The Humility of Understanding.
Like a child we come to spiritual things knowing we do not understand them. And God in grace reveals Himself to His children.

Then, Spiritual Childishness brings us to The Submissiveness of Understanding.
Most spiritual insight is blocked by our willingness to argue with God. When you come to something in Scripture that goes against what you think, the struggle to understand must be accompanied by an attitude that says, “If this really is what You are saying God, I will change my mind.”

Spiritual Childishness develops The Faith of Understanding.
Children automatically trust many things to their parents. The arrogance and fear of unbelief keep us from risking and resting in the arms of God.

Finally, Spiritual Childishness brings The Joy of Understanding.
Children often have a freedom to rejoice over many things. Fellowship with Christ brings us into the joy that overflows into our hearts from this verse. 

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The Gospel of Luke, like each of the Gospels, gives us a little information the others do not. Look with me at two events recorded in Luke chapter 9. The first that I want us to look at is Luke 9:18.

Luke 9:28-29

Jesus was transformed in the heavenly intensity of His prayer. We are promised to be transformed when we see Jesus face to face. Although until that day our appearance will not be changed as much as Jesus's on the mountain top, we are being transformed day by day as we commune with our Heavenly Father in His name. The more we pray and grow in prayer and in His word the more like Jesus we will become.

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I remember my father saying the blessing at every meal as I was growing up. That memory continues to bless me everyday of my life. It was not unlike the blessing of Jesus over the loaves and fish.

Luke 9:16

This is a beautiful picture that is worth considering separate from the rest of the event of which it is a crucial part. The One who created all things made the bread and fish nourishing. He had already put His blessing on it. But it would only have fed one boy. Jesus looked toward His Heavenly Father, and by His power He blessed the meal so it would feed a multitude. Luke said there were about five thousand men there. How many women and children might have been there? That could easily have been a multitude of twenty or thirty thousand souls.

I would like to do something like that with my writing. As I write, I pray with all my heart that God will put more of His grace in my words than I know to write. And I also pray for a blessing like Jesus prayed for, that God will multiply it to touch the lives of multitudes of people.

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Last week I wrote a blog on praying for healing. http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/2020/01/healing-faith.html. Healing is close to my heart. For, although I didn't mention it in that blog, I have terminal cancer. However, I have an unusual testimony concerning praying for my own healing. It seems that every time I have prayed for healing, Hebrews 9:27 comes to mind. 

God has not exactly told me He will not heal me. But He has pretty clearly told me that I am not to pray for healing.

I have wondered why God would tell me this. He has certainly not retracted His promises of prayer or even of healing. He has not restrained me from asking Him to heal others who are suffering. But in the past few weeks God has shown some light on this for me. What God has been telling me relates to Paul's testimony in 2 Corinthians 12 where he said he prayed three times for the Lord to remove his thorn in the flesh. The Lord told Paul His grace was enough for him. God has comforted me with Paul's words. But He has spoken to me in the past weeks through Luke 9:23-25.

Christians are to live as people who are going to die. 

This is a key to focusing on our purpose. Because of the urgency of time pressed on me I have been able to write 10 books. I would never have done that if God had not put this pressure on me. He had to remove some of my physical strength and energy to keep me from continuing to be busy with a hundred other things. They were not bad things. But they were not what God wanted me to focus on.

This is a key to courage. I need to be honest. God has had me write some things that have made people uncomfortable, including what I wrote about healing. I might as well admit that what I am writing here will make some of you uncomfortable. In these days of increasing devisiveness, I will surely have to upset more people with what He calls me to write. I want to do that with His love, gentleness, and wisdom. But I doubt if I will have to courage to be faithful, if I am not living and writing like someone who has already given up his life.

This is a key to peace that transcends understanding. Preoccupation with the wants and worries of life steals the peace of God from our hearts. But God instills His eternal peace in us as we begin to say with Paul in Galatians 2:20,

This is a key to God's glory being revealed in us. In John 12:27 Jesus said His heart was troubled and He asked if He should pray to be delivered from that hour. "But," He said, "for this purpose I have come to this hour. Glorify Your name." God can use illness and the most troubling of situations to bring glory to His name.

This is a key to ultimate hope. I need to fix my hope beyond success, beyond popularity, beyond my life on this earth. The fuller context of Hebrews 9:27 calls me to this hope.

Hebrews 9:27-28

I am waiting for Him in His eternal purpose.


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To the woman with the issue of blood who snuck up behind Jesus and touched the hem of His garment Jesus said. “Your faith has made you well.” Jesus taught us some powerful things about faith in Luke chapter 8. There are some principles of faith here that apply to praying for physical healing and much more. Look with me at this passage beginning with verse 43.

It is important to see that faith by itself is of no value. When Jesus told the woman her faith saved her, He was speaking specifically of her faith in Him. She had evidently had faith in doctors, but no one could heal her. The power didn't come from her faith. That power had gone out from Jesus. Her faith did save her when she trusted Him.

It is not true that there are no longer faith healings. They are fairly common in certain parts of the world. In China, for instance healings often accompany the spread of the gospel. But wherever they occur, the power comes from God. I think praying for healing needs to be encouraged in our churches. I believe we would see more healing if we prayed more. God might even use it to spread the Good News of His Kingdom. But our faith needs to be in Jesus. And He should receive all the glory. 

In Luke 8:16 Jesus warned us to be careful how we hear. This is a rather stunning warning against only catching the surface meaning of what He has to say to you.

Luke 8:18

I am not sure I have anything to say to those of you who are satisfied with whatever depth of spiritual truth that you have. But for those of you who hunger grow deeper spiritually I think I have some encouragement. Let me share with you four principles for hearing the voice of God better in Scripture. 

• Read it slowly.

Everything I learned about reading in my younger days encouraged speed. That is wonderful training for many things in life. It is even a good thing for reading through the Bible, say in a year. But slowly reading God's word may be something every Christian should learn to practice. James 1:21 calls us to,"receive the implanted word of God." We need the Holy Spirit to plant His word deep in our hearts and minds.

• Memorize it.

Many of us have memorized Scripture verses from time to time. Most of us would admit that memorizing Scripture is a healthy practice. Last year I began memorizing in a way that I never have before. I read the same chapter of the Bible everyday for a week. And each day I commit a segment of the chapter to memory. It takes me a little over a week to memorize some chapters, others a little less. They generally balance out. I am amazed at the nearness to God that I sense while memorizing larger segments of His word. Of course, this whole process has to be bathed in prayer. As I pray for God to help me memorize, I also pray to see deeper into what He is teaching me.

• Review it.

Anyone who has memorized Scripture knows that you have to review it, to really have it memorized. I find this need greater with whole chapters. I review these chapters every day for about three weeks. Still, I could not quote most of these passages without reviewing them again. To memorize them I have to read each verse over and over again. I usually have to do the same in reviewing them. This becomes meditation which gives me deeper and deeper insights into God's word.

• Submit to it.

For God to plant His word deep in our lives, we need to submit our hearts to it. There are two facets to this. The first is general. I have to yield to the over all authority of God's word. I have to surrender to the understanding that God knows better than I. God has a better grip on reality than my theological system, than my culture, than my limited experience. Have you ever heard something from Scripture, and said, "I don't believe that!"? You need to approach Scripture with the attitude that God is right.

You also need to come to each passage with an attitude of submission to what God presses on you that day. I quoted earlier from James 1:21. That verse continues, "receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."

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One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire. It tells the story of men competing in the 1924 Olympics. At one point in the movie the fiancee of Harold Abrahams, who would win the 100 meter race, asked why he was so possessed by his training. One of the other runners said, “Because he has the chance of being the fastest.” She counters, “But all of you are running in the Olympics.” He answers, he does not just have the chance of being a fastest man, but the fastest man who ever was.”

In Luke 7:28 Jesus spoke a much higher greatness. He said John the Baptist was the greatest man ever born. 

“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.”

But that is only half the verse. Jesus goes on to say you will be greater than John.

“Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Now to be honest, that is hard to understand, much less to believe. I told someone last week that God's standards of greatness must certainly be different from ours. How could any one of us, in fact the least of us, be greater than the prophesied forerunner of the Son of God? I still believe that is the case. There is more to this than I can grasp. But I have been thinking and praying about it. And I think I see ways that by the grace of God we are actually greater than John.

We have

A Higher Purpose

John was the forerunner who prepared the way for Jesus. But you and I have a higher calling than that. We are to tell people the good news of forgiveness and grace. We invite people into the embrace of our Lord. Paul said we reconcile people to God through Christ.

We have

A Greater Message

John's message was for people to repent to prepare their hearts for the coming Messiah. It was in a sense, a mandate. He told people what they had to do. We bring people the good news of what only God could do for them in the gospel. 

We have

A Deeper Ministry

John told people to do what they could do to prepare for the Messiah. We lead people to receive Christ and be transformed by the power of God. In the transformation of the Holy Spirit we become more and more like Jesus until we are changed into His likeness, seeing Him face to face.

But make no mistake—none of this greatness can be accomplished by human effort. We are trusting God day by day for this grace in our lives. The Scripture says,

 “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

Romans 1:17N.I.V.

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Jesus’s statement about justifying God before men is among the quiet things in The Gospels. Yet this his is at the heart of what God does with our lives. Luke 7:29-30 says,

“When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.”

How do we justify God? The common people and even tax collectors did it by radical, public, heart-broken repentance. This is apologetics, although with many of us it is more personal. Note several facets of justifying God that are highlighted in Luke chapter 7.

Justifying The Righteousness of God

You can actually read or hear people who accuse God of evil. We are living in a time when many people are dissatisfied with everything in their lives. They usually express their discontent with government, teachers, or anyone in authority. I believe this may reflect a deep seated resentment toward God Himself. It is the underlying notion that the problems we endure in a fallen world are God’s fault. From what I have read, this discontent seems to be a world-wide phenomenon. Although it may be worse in the west because discontent is greater where people have freedom and more material blessings.

And make no mistake; this infects people in our churches. John the Baptist himself was offended by what God was doing. He sent a delegation to Jesus asking if He were really the Christ. We know from Matthew's Gospel that John was in prison. So we can understand his disillusionment. But Luke, by the Holy Spirit, points out that John's disciples reported to him what Jesus was doing as the news of His raising a man from the dead was spread abroad. I wonder if John thought Jesus should have been bringing final judgment rather than raising the dead.

The very word “just”* indicates that the issue is the justice or righteousness of God. The people who repented at the preaching of John justified God. Confessing their sins publicly declared God’s righteousness.

Justifying The Wisdom of God

John may also have been questioning the wisdom of God. Have you ever thought God did or allowed something that went counter to His purposes? One of the brightest and godliest students in seminary with me died in an automobile accident shortly before we were to graduate. It was difficult not to feel like God had wasted all his education, talents, and spiritual gifts by allowing his life to be cut off so early.

We have to trust that God knows what He is doing even if we don’t understand. In the long run God will use us as a testimony of His wisdom. Jesus told a parable in this passage using the ministry of John and His ministry to point out that they were like children playing in the market who wouldn’t cooperate no matter what the others did. He concluded,

“Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Our faith declares the rightness of God to those whom we love. We can even trust God to make enough difference in us to touch the lives of people we don't even know. This even goes beyond our world. In Ephesians 3:10 Paul says he was entrusted with the gospel,

“So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Justifying The Grace of God

Most of all our faith in God demonstrates His grace in our lives. Scripture warns that things will be difficult in the last days. Whether we are coming into those harsh days or not, we need to be a witness in times that will be worse because of the cynicism and discontent of people around us. 

Note the final word Jesus sent back to John the Baptist. 

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Blessedness refers to what God does in our lives. A good attitude is something we need to pray for God to produce in us. And a godly attitude comes from saturating ourselves in His promises and spending time in fellowship of God.

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* The Greek word is, δικαίoω, dikaioo, just or righteous.

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There has to be a point where any of us begins to pray to a God that we know little about. I often think those are refreshing prayers. We find one of these in the 24th chapter of Genesis. Abraham sends his servant on a mission that would be impossible without the direction of God. After traveling for weeks he stops outside the town where Abraham's family lived, and prays.

“O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink’, and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

Genesis 24:12-14

I don't believe it is wrong for the servant's approach to God to be tentative. He begins by addressing the LORD as the God of Abraham. I believe it would have been wrong for Abraham to pray such a second-hand prayer. It would have been foolish for this servant to continue to pray like that after God had revealed Himself in these events. But at this point he seems to be reaching out to the LORD for the first time. I think his approach was humble and fearful. And even if it lacked faith, it was a step toward firm belief. 

This is not merely a prayer for success or blessing even for his master, Abraham. This is a prayer to Know the will of God. He is praying for God to show him the young lady that He had appointed for Isaac. He recognizes that just any girl will not do.

And he is praying that he might know God himself. He prays that he might know God's steadfast love to Abraham and Isaac. And of course knowing that would be a good step toward knowing God. I don’t think this was much different that someone today praying as Fancis Schaffer suggested in one of his books.

“God, if you are real, speak to me.”

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I have had several striking coincidences this week. I am reminded of something I recently read, and you have read or heard many times. A hard-bitten detective in a mystery novel said, “I don't believe in coincidences.” Accidental coincidences are an unlikely explanation of many things that take place.

This week I wrote a pastor friend whom I have not seen in several years. I said I was praying for God to do more in their services this Sunday than he knew to ask for. He wrote back that for months they had been praying Ephesians 3:20.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us;”

This was a divine coincidence.

At about the same time I wrote a blog on God preparing the way for revival. I had not yet posted it when I saw a blog written by a friend in which he prayed for God to do whatever He needs to do to bring about revival in America. I was encouraged by his prayer so similar to my blog. This morning I noticed that today's devotional in John Piper's SOLID JOYS was on the same scripture as my blog. 

Let me point to two coincidences in Scripture. One is in the 24th chapter of Genesis that I just came to this morning in my regular devotional reading through the Bible. Abraham sent his servant all the way back to Mesopotamia to find a wife from among his own people for Isaac. The servant makes the great journey coming to a well outside the city. Now finding the right girl seems like an impossible task. He prays for the Lord to show him the girl He has chosen for Isaac by having her water his camels. He had not finished praying when a girl comes to draw a pitcher of water. He asks her for a drink. She quickly agrees, and offers to water his camels. Sure enough, this was Rebekah who came from Abraham’s extended family.

Another is in Mark 14. Jesus sent two disciples into Jerusalem as they came to it for the first time in over a year. 

“Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

These things happened just like Jesus said. 

Seeing God at work in these situations is more reasonable than telling ourselves, “This just happened.” When we see such coincidences, we need to consider what God may be up to. It is reasonable to assume some things about some coincidences.

GOD ARRANGED THEM.

God is not barred from His creation. He plays an active role in history, and in our lives. When you see something like this you can assume that God is at least as aware of it as you are. And it is worth asking yourself and asking Him if He arranged what took place.

GOD IS SPEAKING.

When you see something like this, you can assume that God put you in the place where you would see it. He could have done these things without our knowing. My friend who wrote the prayer that was so much like my blog wrote me that God often sends us such assurances. It is worth asking what God is saying to you when things like this happen. Abraham's servant and the two disciples sent into the city knew the Lord was speaking to them. God is also speaking to you in these Scriptures. And you need to ask what He may be saying in your situation.

GOD IS PREPARING.

In both of these Bible accounts, God was preparing His children to be ready for what He was yet going to do. We too need to be ready to participate in what God is preparing to do in our day. In the devotional I mentioned, John Piper, in preparing people for Christmas encouraged us to, “build God-centered anticipation, expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.”

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Looking at the 3rd chapter of Luke, a contemporary application of the prophecy fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist struck me. Verses 4-6 read,

“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

    make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

    and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall become straight,

    and the rough places shall become level ways,

 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

This is what we desperately need in America and in other countries in these days. This needs to be a matter of serious prayer. We need to be listening to God and watching to see what He is doing. And there are preparations that we need God to make in us. We need God to prepare our hearts and our culture for His work in our lives and country. He may very well raise up prophets whose words would cut us to the heart. He might also have to do more radical things in the economy and in our lives to get our attention. 

When I read this I think of a freeway built through the mountains. We have flown through mountain passes on the freeway without even considering what went into making the way for us. It took weeks and weeks for pioneers to make it over the mountains in wagons. Our modern automobiles would never get through.

We need God to smooth out the rough by ways of our thinking, to dynamite our cultural mountains, to straighten out crooked paths, to build up the prayer lives of His people for Him to bring revival to our nation.

Such cultural demolition and construction may not be revival itself, but the necessary preparation for all people to see the salvation offered by our God.

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The Scripture I want to look at in this blog actually addresses only men. However, I believe ladies can read over our shoulders and get a firm grasp on some things that we need God to do in our marriages. My experience is that ladies are much better at doing that than men.

The verse is 1 Peter 3:7.

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

The goal of Peter's admonition points to a great spiritual power afforded to husbands and wives. In Matthew 18:19 Jesus said,

“If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

The depth of unity that can be developed between husbands and wives brings an Earth shaking power in prayer. Need I say that our enemy the devil will do anything he can to hinder our united prayer. Let's look prayerfully at what the Holy Spirit teaches in this verse that will enable us to overcome the barrage of the enemy.

DWELL WITH

Peter begins by telling men, “live with your wives.” There is a mindset related to this. We need to develope an attitude of unity with one another in marriage. It is God's will for the two of you to become one. Thinking together requires time together? We should desire for our unity to be as complete as that of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bound together in ultimate love. This may be counter productive to say, because such unity is absolutely impossible for us. But I can say, Men, we are to live in union with our wives. We are to bind ourselves to them with the love of Christ.

UNDERSTANDING

Possibly the most crucial thing God tells us here is to live with our wives with understanding. If you think this is easy, you probably haven't tried. You will not think like your spouse. In the 1990s John Grey wrote, Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus. He made a clear point that men and women don't think alike. Although I believe the differences commonly pointed out by social scientists are too uniform and simplistic, we are different. You will not be able to understand your partner by reading a book. You will have to spend time with your wife to begin to understand her. You will have to spend time thinking about what she needs and wants. Most of all you will need to pray about it. If God does not show you how she is thinking, you will remain obtuse. And while this is a life-long endeavor, what God shows you should change your attitudes and behavior. If you are not considerate, you don't understand at all.

HONOR HER

We are to put our wives on a pedestal of the love of God. First, because they are the weaker vessels. I am aware that all women are not physically weaker than men. And there will always be ways in which the wife will actually be stronger than her husband. But there is something precious about her weakness. Treat her like fine china.

Then we are to honor our wives as spiritual equals, “heirs together of the grace of life.” Of course, this is how we begin. But in many, possibly most cases, the wife has matured beyond her husband spiritually. And in every case, God will give each of you strengths and gifts that He has not given the other so you can draw from one another.

The point of all this is that you can pray for one another and pray together. Each person in a marriage ought to have a list of things you consistently ask God to do in your partner. These should include some things you feel like you need from your spouse. They should include things you know your spouse   needs, possibly from you. And you need to pray for the purposes God has revealed for the person with whom you are partnered.

And because our lives are so busy, we need to work at finding time to pray together. Every couple may do this differently. You may need to be patient with your partner in this. But make it a goal. You can even pray for God to help you find time and incentive to pray together. Who knows what God will do in answer?

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HOPE IN A WORLD OF EVIL

“We know that we are from God, 

and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

1 John 5:19

I don't think we should need the Bible to tell us that we live in an evil world. Can you explain Germany's Third Reich without reference to evil, both in those who planned it and those who did not oppose it? What other explanation can you give for Joseph Stalin putting millions of his own people to death? How many millions died in China's Cultural Revolution or the Killing Fields of Cambodia? How else do you explain mass shootings in schools and churches across America?

Although I suspect some of you reading this would deny it, every human heart is infected with evil. But God has given us hope, even in the face of evil.

Hope In The Law of God

Few people in these days would think of hope coming from the law of God. But it is a great source of hope for those who see it from the right perspective. The law was not given to save us from our sin. The law shows us God's standard of right and wrong. Those who see the law as a means of getting right with God will not find any hope in it. But when we come to the law of God with transformed hearts that hunger to do what pleases God, we find joy in God's laws. The law teaches us what righteousness is. 

The Ten Commandments even show us the sin beneath our sins. Let me show you one facet of this. The first commandment is, “I am the Lord your God . . . You shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 6:5 applies this.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and all your might.”

The final commandment is, “You shall not covet . . .” In Colossians 3:5 Paul identifies covetousness as idolatry. These two commands frame the 10 Commandments. Whichever command we break shows that we love other things more than we love God. Strengthening my devotion to God goes a long way toward freeing me from the grip of sin.

There is hope in the judgment of God. Relationships depend on righteousness. We could not have them without honesty, decency, and love. Without these things society disintegrates. The law teaches that God will yet judge evil that ruins our world. In the end God will make all wickedness and injustice right. Yale professor, Miroslav Volf grew up in Croatia. In his book, Exclusion And Embrace, he wrote that not retaliating against those who wrong us depends on our understanding that God will eventually judge evil.

“My thesis is that the practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance . . . Imagine speaking to people whose cities and villages have been first plundered, then burned, and leveled to the ground, whose daughters and sisters have been raped, whose fathers and brothers have had their throats slit…Should we not retaliate? Why not? I say–the only means of prohibiting violence by us is to insist that violence is only legitimate when it comes from God. . . If God were NOT angry at injustice and deception and did NOT make a final end of violence, that God would not be worthy of our worship.”

Hope In The Power of Prayer

We can pray for God to deliver us from the evil lurking in our hearts. I can pray for God to work in the lives of people around me. Our prayers are to be entwined with needs that God shows us in the lives of others. 

We can pray for God's forgiveness where it is not being practiced. God hears our prayers to comfort the broken-hearted. Our hearts need to break with the needs of people in a world of evil. I have often been amazed by what God does when I and others pray.

Hope In The Promises of God

Even in evil times we can cling to the promises of God. The powerful affect of God's promises take hold of our lives as we hear and come to know them. Throughout the New Testament we are encouraged by the words, “We know.” Hope blossoms in our hearts as the Holy Spirit helps us understand what God has done for us. 1 John 5:20 continues from the verse I quoted at the beginning of this blog. It said we are from God even though the world is in the grip of the evil one.

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

If you are struggling with despair because of wickedness around you, you will only break free by focusing on the promises and blessings of God until you begin to worship and praise Him with all your heart.

Hope In Fellowship With God

Evil is always personal. It is crucial to see the words from the Lord's Prayer  correctly translated,

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

1 John 5:20 is also personal. God Himself has come to give us understanding to know Him. Hope in a world of evil only comes through personal fellowship with God in Jesus Christ.

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THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, 

who is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:11

Do remember the thrilling anticipation you experienced as a child as Christmas drew near? There is something very appropriate about that thrill. On Christmas we celebrate the hope of human history and of all mankind.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Luke's Gospel has the fullest account of the birth of Christ. It begins with an angel appearing to aging Jewish priest named Zechariah. We read this from Luke 1:13-17

“The angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.’”

I have an inkling of how this wondrous news struck Zechariah and Elizabeth. My wife and I wanted children from the time we were married. But children didn't come. We went through the ordeals of gynecologists and urologists with no results. After six years, we had pretty much given up. We moved to a different state so my wife went to a new doctor who was thrilled to tell her she was pregnant. Our daughter was a wonderful answer to prayer.

But Elizabeth and Zechariah were far beyond seven years. They were well into old age before God proved that nothing was impossible for Him. It does not surprise me that Zechariah was skeptical even while standing before the angel. When he asked how he could know this was true, the angel answered.

“I am Gabriel. 

I stand in the presence of God, 

and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”

The words “bring you good news” translate only one word in the original language of the New Testament. It is the word from which we get our word evangelize. The angel was sent to Zechariah with life changing news! His son would be the forerunner to prepare the way for the Lord.

A WONDERFUL PROMISE

Six months later God sent Gabriel to Mary, a young girl in a backwater town in Galilee. He told her she would give birth to a child who would be called the Son of the Most High. Mary asked how she could have a child, since she had not had relations with man. Gabriel answered. 

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

This is the climax of everything in The Old Testament. When she went to visit Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea, Mary's very soul magnified the Lord. God was keeping age old promises.

“He has helped his servant Israel,

 in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

    to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.”

Isaiah 9:6 reads,

“For to us a child is born, 

to us a son is given.”

It is important to see that the child was born on this Earth, but the eternal Son was given. John 1:1-5 speaks of Jesus when it declares,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

THE FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The final prophecy of Christ's birth in the Old Testament determined the place He would be born. Micah 5:2 says,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

    one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

    from ancient days.”

The best known announcement of the birth of Christ was to a band of anonymous shepherds near Bethlehem. You can probably imagine yourself with those shepherds trying to stay awake when the angel appeared.

“In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'”

Immediately the angel was joined by an entire angel army.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest,

    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!'”

The shepherds must have stood there in stunned silence before one of them said the obvious. “Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” When they arrived, they found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was actually lying in a manger. They went away telling everyone what they had seen as the angel had told them. And everyone who heard it marveled. Surely no one was as amazed as Mary. Luke 2:19 tells us.

“Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

We too can ponder these marvelous events. 

When their days of purification according to the law were completed, they took the child to present Him to the Lord and make sacrifice. There was a man in the temple named Simeon. The Lord had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ. He met Mary and Joseph when they brought the child Jesus into the temple. He took the baby into his arms and praised God. 

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

    according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation

that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

    and for glory to your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32

LAST MINUTE COMPLICATIONS

Of course, God knew that the powers of this world would oppose the gospel and the kingdom of God. Mary would pay a terrible price. Simeon said to her,

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Mary would stand beneath the cross and endure something of the price her son paid to redeem our world. Everyone is not happy to see signs that God who created is intervening in our world. The good news reveals what is in the hearts of all who hear it to this day. 

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