I am not wondering about the sheer fact … “God answers prayer.” In my heart that is a settled issue. YES, He does!
I am today wondering if God “enjoys” our prayers. I mean to the level that He remarks about such delight!
A verse in Ezekiel this morning. “Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” Ezekiel 36:37
Looks like God “wants” to be consulted (“enquired of,” means “sought” a total of 84 different times in our Bible, Old Testament) about the issues we face in life!
(I know He commands us to pray. I am just wondering if He “delights” in our prayers! For example, Jeremiah 33:3 is a clear command, beginning with imperative mood verb: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee.”)
In our Text today … in Ezekiel 36 God has just promised something He IS GOING TO DO for Israel. As far back as verse 33 (in Ezekiel 36 God informs the Jews … “In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.” Three promises are here … Salvation, Resettlement, then Restoration! (Cleansing, Gathering, Rebuilding!)
Abundant blessings to this point … “And they (people) shall say: This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.”What word pictures!
God is obviously determined … He will accomplish these goals!
No doubt about it … “I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.”Hear His Resolve?
But still … He wants His people to pray for these “sure things” to come to pass! Again, verse 37: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; I WILL YET FOR THIS BE ENQUIRED OF BY THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.”
The idea behind “will be required” (in Hebrew “darash”) is to approach God, seek God, spend time in God’s Presence, present Him petitions, in other words PRAY!
This is God’s DESIRE!
This is His LONGING!
This is His DELIGHT!
He wants to have His people come to Him for communion, praying even for “sure things!”
Jesus informs us in John 4:23 … “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the FATHER SEEKETH SUCH to worship him.” See that? The Father “seeketh” us to worship Him! “Zeteo” (in English that little verb “seeketh”) means “to desire” 3 times in the New Testament!
God thrills at our worship of Him!
God enjoys our prayers!
If we live godly lives anyway!
Point made, I trust.
“I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” Absolutely amazing!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
Oh, one or two more Bible thoughts.
“The sacrifice (worship) of the wicked is an abomination (sickening, disgusting) to the LORD: but THE PRAYER OF THE UPRIGHT IS HIS DELIGHT.” And “delight” here means “pure pleasure!” Proverbs 15:8 (We end where we began … YES, God “delights” in our prayers!
Then too Proverbs 28:9 … “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even HIS PRAYER SHALL BE AN ABOMINATION.” Here is prayer, however, that nauseates God!
Surely, enough said.
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