Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
“The prayers of all saints” which are “before the throne” of God (Revelation 8:3-4) reassure us that our intercession matters to our Savior. James 5:16b confirms, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” The word “fervent” indicates a fullness of focus and includes our emotions. However, we must be careful that we do not replace our emotions with emotionalism, for emotion for emotion’s sake is a worldly worldview that is central to postmodernism. Verses 17-18 provide a helpful example: “Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” The full account is found in I Kings 17-18. The prophets of the false god Baal engaged in emotionalism: “They cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them” (18:28). Obviously, we are not to follow their example. By contrast, Elijah methodically repaired the altar of the Lord, offered appropriate sacrifice, and “prayed earnestly.” Elijah was not superior in faith to us (“a man subject to like passions as we are”); in fact, he suffered from spiritual depression (I Kings 19). However, he prayed, and his Almighty God heard and answered. Let us then continue in consistent, whole-hearted supplication.