Laying Hold of His Willingness

II Chronicles 24:10-14

"All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king's officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. The king and Jehoiada gave it to the men who carried out the work required for the temple of the LORD. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD's temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple. The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the LORD's temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD."

The Bible reminds us, sisters and brothers, to "rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thess 5:16-18)." The young king, Joash becomes a leader who understands the importance of worship in God’s kingdom and so with the help of the priest Jehoida, "burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD (v. 14)." This resolution to continuously worship God affords much. Today, I read in the news that it has been helping protect a family in distress (death threats in their home country) from being deported from the Netherlands, "Bethel Church in The Hague has hosted a continuous worship service for the last five weeks... cycling out different religious leaders, to utilise a Dutch law that prevents immigration authorities from entering a place of worship while services are being held (http://bit.ly/BethelChurchTheHague)". There is something about constant communication with God in prayer, engaging His Word, consistently declaring to set ourselves apart for Him in the words of our minds and in the cares of our hearts, honouring Him with praise on our lips for His love, mercy, and power, remembering, and offering thanksgiving for all that He has done for us.  The LORD Himself taught His disciples of persistent petition, He "told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart." It was about the insistent widow who hassled the judge who "neither feared God nor respected people"; the judge initially refused but gave in, in spite of himself, eventually saying "yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice. Then she will stop wearing me out with her perpetual requests." And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge. Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth (Luke 18:1-6)?” Reformation leader Martin Luther wrote, "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness." Prayer is the power of God within our own, it is part of our spiritual arsenal (Eph 6:10-18): "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Eph 6:18)", and we wield it to our benefit and His glory. It is also a most potent treatment to our anxieties (Phil 4:6). Let us lay hold of God at every moment, strive to know Him and align ourselves with His purposes, for prayer is a wonderful gift of salvation that the veil of separation was to be torn the moment Heaven kissed the universe by the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ, that God listens and He will act according to His will and character.