“Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands command ye me.” Isaiah 45:11
The story is told of two elderly women of faith who addressed the great preacher, Dwight Moody, saying to him: “Mr. Moody, the world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is totally His.” Moody responded, “I will be that man.” The result of Moody’s commitment to God to be such a man, and this by seeking the grace and mercy of God to be such, is that he became a great preacher of the gospel, with great numbers of souls being saved as a result of his preaching. God, through those elderly sisters in Christ, spoke to Mr. Moody that day, and gave him a glimpse of things to come if he would surrender entirely to Him, to walk with Him, and serve Him by the Spirit. Is God the same today? Does He communicate to His church, Christ’s body, and every member in it, “things to come,” so that one can pray earnestly, and effectively, seeing the hand of God work in a mighty way?
In the forty-third chapter of Isaiah, the Lord spoke to His people declaring, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? (v.18,19) He goes on to declare that He will give a clear path by which His people were to follow, along with a corresponding abundant provision of water. His purpose was to “give drink to My people, My chosen.” Why? Ultimately it was for the purpose of forming a people for Himself, who would declare His praise. In other words, God’s objective was to bring the people under His authority, in order to truly bless them for time and eternity, so that the testimony of His gracious dealings with them would be declared, and proclaimed far and wide, so that many would come to a saving knowledge of Christ. However, the promise of such great blessing was dependent upon one thing that was missing. The Lord made this very clear when He told them: “…But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob. And you have become weary of Me O Israel.” (43:22) The great blessing of God in the world, among nations and peoples, but also in the hearts of individual believers, is limited, and hindered, for lack of prayer, that sincere, earnest calling upon God our Creator and Redeemer.
Why is calling upon God so very important, both from an individual standpoint but also as a group of believers? In Moses’ pursuit of his quest to know God, he asked God for two things in particular. The first was that God would give him a knowledge of His ways, that he might truly know Him. The second, was that God would show him His glory. In Exodus, chapter 33, we find where God gave Moses both of these, in answer to his requests.
In the book of Isaiah, we read where the Lord desires to reveal Himself to the heart, even concerning things to come. In fact, God would promise to confirm His word to Israel by telling them what would occur later in their history, especially in regard to the “new thing” that He desired to do. God would often give a vision, or clear perception, of His will, and then work wonderfully to bring it to pass in answer to prayer. If the faith of the individual believer is to grow greater, especially in the face of the opposition of an unbelieving world, then the believer, and the church, needs to know His will concerning things to come. How can one know this unless prayer is made for the clear understanding of God’s will?
What will God do if the believer asks Him concerning things to come, concerning His sons, His people? God will give wisdom and grace, so that intercession can be made, effectively believing God for the full outworking of His purposes.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to pray. In Jesus’ name, Amen.