The Answered Prayer
Friday, November 20, 2015
For most of the time, we heard this verse mentioned in every prayer meetings and vigils. We heard it recited by children on Sunday school and extension classes. This was the promise that we always remembered every time we would lift our prayers to the heavens that we had even memorized it. There had been many messages shared out of this scripture.
Yet, there is still one message that we may haven’t heard of yet.
If we look back at this Bible passage again, we may not realize what really had happened before God spoke these words to the prophet Jeremiah.
So, what happened?
Israel was filled with wickedness and it displeased God so much that he would give the city up to its enemy, Babylon. (Jeremiah 32:3) The prophet Jeremiah was sent by God to prophesy His disciplinary judgment to Israel’s wickedness. The king got mad instead and put the prophet to prison. Then came the day and he realized that the prophet’s words were true. Bothered by his conscience maybe, the king transferred Jeremiah to a better place in prison called the court of prison (Jeremiah 33:1). Here, the prophet heard God’s promise of an answered prayer, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee…”
This promise of an answered prayer is first for Israel, that, when in the midst of God’s disciplinary judgment, they will repent and call upon the Lord for forgiveness, cleansing, restoration and blessings. In their situation, prayer is their only hope of survival. (Jeremiah 33:4-5). God promised to show them “great and mighty things” which he put in details in verses 7-18, that, whatever they had lost, it will be returned to them “as at the first”.
If you have observed, there has been a chain of events always happening in the children of Israel. God blessed them and he was with them providing their food, shelter and protection. Yet, Israel kept on disobeying God and turned instead to idols. For this reason, God would discipline them, giving them to their enemies so they would know again the true God. Then they would repent and the Lord restored them again. Later, in history, they would do the same sin again, and again they were punished.
What is the application?
We need to learn an important lesson from the history of Israel. It was meant for us to see what may happen to us also if we continue to do the same mistakes in our life.
Romans 15:4, For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
The lessons or Learning
- God’s saved us to become blessed people on this earth and beyond. But our blessings on this earth may be lost if we live in disobedience and wickedness.
- If we are blessed now, be careful, don’t forget, maintain your integrity or better yet increase it.
- God will withdraw his protection from Satan, and the enemy will make us miserable and oppressed us.
- God did it to correct us, remind us of his ways, and to call us to repentance.
- If we call on him with a prayer of repentance & restoration, God will answer us and will restore his blessings.
- If we had lost our blessings can still restore it when we earnestly call upon Him with true repentance and start again to follow his ways.
- We can even pray for the failures and sins of our brothers and sisters. As a church, we need to confess the sins of our comrades.
- As we pray for them, we strengthen ourselves and help our brethren.
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