Prayer and the Graciousness of God
Prayer is not about us getting our way or telling God what to do. I have shared that many times. Prayer is about learning God's will and conforming our lives to His way of doing things. However, there are times when we cast ourselves upon the graciousness of God, and we pray to see if He will decide to be merciful to us or to someone else. That is what David did after his terrible sins of adultery and murder, so he prayed for God to spare the life of the baby born to Bathsheba.(II Samuel 12:22) We all can learn much about prayer and God's character from this verse.
God is gracious. He always gives us more than we deserve. At times, He decides to give us more than we deserve, even after He has proclaimed a judgment against us, like He did for the Ninevites in the time of Jonah. Even though Jonah was sent to tell them they would be judged by God in 40 days, when they repented with fasting, God graciously decided not to punish them. The same can be true for us when we pray.
David prayed for this innocent baby to live, even after Nathan had said the baby would die. This was because David knew the character of God. He prayed and fasted until the baby died, because He knew God might decide to be merciful and gracious. In that case God did not change His plan of action, but David wept and fasted sincerely knowing it might happen. We need to do the same things when we pray for people and for things to happen, because we are trusting in God's gracious character and in His perfect knowledge and justice. Sometimes, we will see great miracles, if we will pray in this way.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 13-16.
God is gracious. He always gives us more than we deserve. At times, He decides to give us more than we deserve, even after He has proclaimed a judgment against us, like He did for the Ninevites in the time of Jonah. Even though Jonah was sent to tell them they would be judged by God in 40 days, when they repented with fasting, God graciously decided not to punish them. The same can be true for us when we pray.
David prayed for this innocent baby to live, even after Nathan had said the baby would die. This was because David knew the character of God. He prayed and fasted until the baby died, because He knew God might decide to be merciful and gracious. In that case God did not change His plan of action, but David wept and fasted sincerely knowing it might happen. We need to do the same things when we pray for people and for things to happen, because we are trusting in God's gracious character and in His perfect knowledge and justice. Sometimes, we will see great miracles, if we will pray in this way.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 13-16.