We are living in a busy world where people do not even have time to listen to one another’s concerns and worries. Sometimes we avoid even listening to other’s worries, thinking that those worries would become ours. At other times we avoid listening to other’s troubles as we feel that we ourselves have enough concerns to worry about. But to our great comfort, Thomas Watson says,
“Prayer delights God’s ear, it melts His heart, it opens His hand; God cannot deny a praying soul”.
The thought for our reflection this Monday morning is, “Our God Reveals Who He is by Answering Our Prayers”.
“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord”
(Genesis 25:21-22)
Isaac had been married to Rebekah for twenty years but yet she could not bear a child for him. Like his own mother Sarah who was barren for many years, his wife Rebekah too faced difficulty in bearing a child. Why? Because God wanted to teach the spiritual truth that all blessings including children are a gift from Yahweh and even the timing of birth is firmly in God’s control. By answering the prayers of Isaac and Rebekah, God revealed who He was.
1. He is a God who is all powerful and to whom nothing is impossible (Omnipotent)
When Isaac found out that his wife Rebekah was barren, he turned to God and prayed. And the Bible says,
“The Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebekah became pregnant”
(Genesis 25:21).
Thus in answer to Isaac’s prayer, God opened the barren womb of Rebekah. That incident revealed that the power to give life was in the handsand that the word impossibility had no place inthe dictionary of our omnipotent God. Whenever we face a dead end, do we prayerfully seek God so that He could turn our hopelessness into an opportunity for Him to reveal His power?
2. He is a God who knows even how our future and that of our family would be. (Omniscient)
The Bible says that the babies jostled each other within her, and she said,
“Why is this happening to me” So she went to inquire of the Lord
(Genesis 25:22).
Thus prayer united both Isaac and Rebekah as supplicants of Yahweh’s mercy and grace. God’s answer to Rebekah’s prayer in Genesis 25:23 reveals that mysteries of life, including what happens inside the womb and how the future of the unborn children would be, are all known to God. The Lord said to Rebekah,
“Two nations are in your womb… one people will be stronger than the other…"
(Genesis 25:23)
Don’t we often forget that even if we may not know our future God does know everything?
When life’s challenges knock us down, that’s the best time to look up! Why? For our God is Omnipotent (all powerful) and Omniscient (all knowing). Let’s pray.
“Lord, realizing that we have no one else to turn to, I look up to you for help, knowing who you are. Use every difficult situation throughout this week, to reveal that you are all powerful and all knowing. I begin this week with the confidence that you know everything that is ahead of me.
In Jesus’ name,... Amen!"
Blessed week!