The Prayer of the Righteous
- Conclusion
In
times of adversity and depression, the righteous simply pray to Almighty God
for guidance and reassurance of His unfailing love. Some biblical scholars suggest the Lord Jesus
Christ prays the entire twenty-second psalm as He dies slowly on the cross. Consider
this lifelong prayer of the righteous, at your leisure.
The
Bible is replete with examples of persons whose lives demonstrate God hears the
prayers of the righteous. They are
disciples who rightly relate themselves to His holy character and sovereign
nature. God never leaves nor forsakes
anyone. After many years of separation,
Ishmael reunites with Isaac to bury their father, Abraham. (Genesis 25:9) After his murderous rage subsides over the
course of twenty years, Esau genuinely forgives Jacob. In fact, God blesses Esau as abundantly as He
blesses Jacob. Ruth, the Moabitess widow
who shows kindness to Naomi, is in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Rahab, a prostitute who
demonstrates generosity to the Israelite spies, eventually earns admission into
the “Hall of Fame of Faith” in Hebrews 11.
The Samaritan woman at the well, who had had five husbands, becomes an evangelist
to her people. The disciples, although
they walked and talked with our Lord for three and a half years, betray, deny
and desert Him in the gospels. Yet, in
the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit enters them, they become the living
foundation of the Church. In total,
these biblical narratives remind us of Almighty God’s enduring and unfailing
love toward the righteous.
The
cross of our Lord teaches the redemptive nature of pain and suffering. As the righteous cry out to God, He answers
their prayers by utilizing their struggles to transform them into the character
of Jesus Christ. He uses darkness surrounding
the righteous to lead them to His presence and wisdom. Accordingly, we cease and desist with any notion
that God only works in the light of our lives.
Interestingly, He uses darkness to our advantage, spiritually and
personally. Harry Emerson Fosdick, the
founding Pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, once suffered a nervous
breakdown. In retrospect, he acknowledged
that dreadful experience as one of the most beneficial occurrences in his
life. In the midst of that agony, the
dross of personal preference and ambition were burned away and the gold
crystallization of his pastoral ministry solidified. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, the
great Ertha Kitt learned to rely genuinely upon Almighty God early in life. Ironically, in the darkness, God actually
changes our character and desires.
Out
of the horror and bleakness of crucifixion, God brings new life. He does not forsake His righteous Son as He
dies on the cross. The three hours of
darkness that surround this inimitable act of injustice do not signal a failure
of the ministry of Christ. They are
hardly a symbol of defeat. Rather, they
are an intermission in the grand cosmological drama of salvation. Behind the scenes, Almighty God is changing
the setting, costumes and characters.
When the curtain opens again on the first Easter morning, an empty tomb
has been transformed into the scene of the resurrection. Death gives way to new life. Darkness yields to the marvelous light of new
creation. The sound of weeping becomes
totally silent, creating the pregnant pause before rejoicing over the victory
of Christ. He triumphs over the final
enemy, death! Thereby, in the words of
the great apostle, He makes us “more than conquerors” as it relates to life’s
daily challenges.
It
is extremely sad to observe how many believers appear indifferent to the power
prayer. This spiritual discipline remains
one of the most powerful sources available to us. A close reading of the gospels demonstrates
how often Jesus himself prays. The book
of Acts posits prayer as the vehicle of life, sustenance and progress for the
early Church. Practically, every episode
of the first churches and three missionary journeys detail how diligently they
prayed. We, therefore, should follow
their example. As the people of God who
endeavor to rightly relate to Him, we must pray to Him. Notwithstanding myriad
daily tests, the righteous should not forsake their most enduring and reliable
weapon, the power of prayer. James
5:13-16 promises us that the prayers of the righteous are effective and powerful.
Indeed,
God hears the righteous when they pray!
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