Nancy Taylor Tate
Recently, I received a note from some longtime friends. They mentioned a lot going on, some good and some difficult, as they pressed on. Then they said they had been reading about Hagar—when she ran from Sarai and the angel spoke to her and Hagar had a revelation of “the God that sees.” They closed with, “He does see and upholds us.”
These words have come back to me time and time again in the days that have followed. The God that sees! He does see, and He upholds us.
Now I think of these words again as we pray for Israel: God sees. May the God who sees uphold Israel.
There is a promised blessing which we can pray into for Israel:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
The Bible instructs us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good” (Psalm 122:6–9).
With confidence, we can pray for the intervention of God in all that we are seeing and hearing today: “Lord, we ask for Your intervention. You see! You are touched by the feelings of our infirmities. You see the pain and suffering. We pray for Your intervention.”
God sees! God will uphold Israel.
“But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).
1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us we are to “pray without ceasing.” How can we do that? There are to be set apart times for prayer. But we also can pray when we are washing the dishes, cutting the grass, or shoveling snow. However, we cannot pray when we are worrying, holding resentment, or preoccupied with thoughts that are not from God.
May we clear our lives of all attitudes that would hinder our prayer life and times of fellowship with the Lord. May we learn to maintain the poise of spirit He is calling us up into. May the Lord begin to move in the dimension He desires and which is desperately needed in the world today.
Spending quality time in prayer in my closet and throughout the day is my choice. From these times of prayer will come deeper times of intercession.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).
We are privileged to join in with the many who are praying today.
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Revelation 19:6).
God sees! God will uphold Israel. And may a harvest of salvation come in all nations.
Revelation 5:9–12 speaks of a people redeemed by His blood out of “every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” They are singing a new song, “worthy is the Lamb.”
The Lord is calling us to be a part of that which He is about to do! It is so important that we learn to govern our time wisely and also learn to maintain our inner communion with the Lord. May we be ready, willing, and available in the days ahead, as we also take time today to pray. Lord, teach us to pray.