Chariots of fire

A dear friend reminded me today that I have a blog... I sometimes forget. (and other times I am simply ashamed that this blog has not gone anywhere near to the direction I had initially hoped. Oh well, gotta roll with the punches, I suppose)

It is nearly two hours past when I would normally be asleep on a work night but I cannot seem to get my eyes to close and my mind to rest in peace. I can't bring myself to crack open the Scripture that is growing dusty on the bookshelf next to my bed. Is it that I cannot handle the intensity, conviction, and implication of intentional living that spills from its pages? Am I ashamed of my perpetual failure to love the Author and composer of the words? Or am I simply a fleshy being who is so caught up in my own head that to peek outside of it means being blinded by the light?

I don't understand it. I don't understand myself. I don't really understand anything. One thing I am trying fervently to understand however is prayer. What is our role in prayer, what is God's role in prayer, and what is the role of prayer in salvation and sanctification? As usual when it comes to topics such as this, I feel that if I can begin to grasp the basics of it and begin to tear down the mysterious walls and mazes in my mind, I will finally be able to love God and pursue Him wholeheartedly. I understand intellectually that this isn't actually true, but it certainly is a romantic notion isn't it?

Anyways, to get back on the original intentions of this post, I stumbled across this article (oh the wonders of google) the other day whilst trying to do a little research and I wanted to share. to get the whole article in context just click here. Enjoy.

God's royal power appears in his control of history. 'The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand fast forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations' (Ps. 33:10,11).

The prophet Elisha prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant to see the chariots of fire that surrounded the besieging troops of Syria (2 Kgs. 6:17). Those who oppose the purposes of God are always outnumbered and overpowered. The prophet can pray with confidence to God as the Lord of history, and can proceed to capture those sent to take him captive.

The deeds of God that both invite and answer prayer are, above all, his deeds of deliverance and salvation. God hears the cry of enslaved and oppressed Israel, and declares to Moses in the desert that he has come down to deliver them and bring them to himself (Exod. 3:7,9). The exodus deliverance is God's answer to the groans of his chosen people. Yet here, too, God's answer both exceeds and precedes their prayer. Enslaved Israel is far from praying effectively for deliverance: the cry that comes to God is more the groan of affliction than the plea of faith. Moses, embittered by his own abortive attempt to champion the cause of Israel, is far from seeking God's commission to deliver them. Rather, he angers the Lord by his reluctance to accept the charge that God thrusts upon him. God promises deliverance because he would be faithful to his own promises, the promises that he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod. 3:6,13,16).

-EP Clowney