FROM TODAY'S READING (2/18/2014)...
Be patient in discerning and embracing the will of God you pray for. Through several centuries and many prophets, God implored a spiritually wayward Israel to return to a place of sincere commitment to Him. Sadly, however, they did not. The "Weeping Prophet" Jeremiah lamented (Lamentations) over the plight of his beloved nation, Jerusalem, and the Holy Temple. Though he prayed sincerely and fervently, he did not live to witness an answer to those faithful prayers. His prayers were answered some seventy years later...in God's time.
Lamentations 2:11, 18-19 (NLT) I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets. Cry aloud before the Lord, O walls of beautiful Jerusalem! Let your tears flow like a river day and night. Give yourselves no rest; give your eyes no relief. Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children, for in every street they are faint with hunger.
1 John 5:13-15 (NLT) I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
