SCRIP-BITS

Psalm 65:2.       O thou that hearest prayer…unto thee shall all flesh come…

And so it’s Friday; with the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ reaching up to heaven with different levels of intensity and sincerity, according to our particular circumstances. (smile) Yes, in times of dire need our intensity level does ramp up, while in good times our prayers have a greater calm and peace to them. We don’t need God or His help as quickly and desperately, so we’re much more relaxed. And that’s only human, as we can see in the Bible, where many great people of faith prayed desperate prayers. Let’s look at a couple of them. 

Now, the first one that comes to mind is that of Jesus Himself, where on the night before His crucifixion, after the Passover meal, His disciples and himself went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There, He took His three favourites, Peter, James, and John aside, and began to be sorrowful (grieved) and very heavy (deeply distressed). Then He told them: ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: Tarry (stay) ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. 

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing , but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except (unless) I drink it, thy will be done.’ (Matt. 26:38-42) After that second prayer, Jesus came back to the three disciples and again found them asleep, but left them alone and went back by Himself and prayed the same prayer. 

Then we pick up the story from Luke: Jesus prayed: ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.’ (Luke 22:42-44) Yes friends, three times Jesus prayed asking the Father to abandon the crucifixion, and He was in so much agony that His sweat seemed like drops of blood. And as the Lord is won’t to do when we are in need, He sends an angel to strengthen Christ. 

Oh, Jesus knew that the cross was the reason for His coming to earth, and according to the Scholars, ‘He wrestles, not so much with death itself, but with His own destiny to be made the sin-bearer for all mankind for all the ages. The punishment that had to be borne for our sins brings Jesus to His knees in anguish.’ And so it should, with the mighty weight of all sins placed on one person’s shoulders. 

It should also be noted that Jesus was agonized by the coming separation from His Father, for they had never been separated before, and since the Father could not tolerate sin, when He became the world’s sin bearer, He’d become accursed of God, and the Father would automatically turn away. Thus His plea the next day on the cross: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46) 

And sadly we have time for only more one example of desperate prayers from people of great faith; that’s Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. She was the barren second wife of Elkanah, a prosperous man who LOVED her deeply. But she was constantly laughed at and scorned by the other very fruitful wife for her barrenness. One time when the family went up to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord, Hannah couldn’t take it anymore and went into the temple. 

The Bible tells us: ‘And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, wand wept sore (in anguish). And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine hand maid, and remember me, and forget not thine hand maid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.’ (1 Sam. 1:10-1) 

And we all know that eventually the Lord answered her desperate prayer with the birth of the prophet Samuel. But most important of all, Hannah kept her vow to the Lord. When Samuel was of age she took him up to the temple in Shiloh and feasted and sacrificed to the Lord before the priest Eli, who, had seen her praying that day for the child but thought her drunk and accused her thus, but found our differently after their conversation. (1 Sam. 1: 12-18)  

‘And she (Hannah) said, Oh my lord, (referring to Eli) as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent (granted) him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.’ (1 Sam. 1:26-28) 

Oh friends, our God does answer prayers, especially sincere and desperate ones. (smile) Now, let’s offer up our sincere and desperate prayer for help through our Friday Chant. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough…  because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. 

Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times. 

We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’ 

And do we ever need to improve our Christian witness in these very troubled times… if we expect to receive divine aid! Much LOVE!

…O thou that hearest prayer…unto thee shall all flesh come… (Ps. 65:2)

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