“And thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat…” Exodus 25:21,22
Dear Ones:
The whole, and every facet, of the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness, and later the temple built in Jerusalem, was to unveil the means by which the eternal and holy God can, and will, meet sinful man. Everything in the construction of the tabernacle, and its use, was a picture, portraying to Israel, and to us, of the SURE way by which man can know and worship God, more specifically, how man can be truly met BY God, and commune with Him. Essential to every facet of this picture is the element of TRUTH. The response of man to God, according to the revelation of this truth, is faith, but faith that is applied in believing prayer. God has never left man in the dark with regard to His ways, except when man has chosen darkness instead of light, the lie instead of the truth. The “Prayer of Faith” is a very concrete, certain reality. It is to be the very normal, daily experience of the believer in his communion with God. How can this be?
Certainty is built on two things in the spiritual realm, the first being the truth. The second is the nature, and character of God. What God says, He will do. What He has done, we are called upon to believe, and act upon it. In the tabernacle, there was what was called, “the ark of the covenant.” The ark was the physical expression of the “total commitment” of God to act according to His immutable word. It was a point of promise, a promise that would span civilizations, time, and all changes on the face of the earth. The promise, or covenant, was of such resounding value because it would be the very basis by which God would meet man, and man could know and have communion with God. Above that ark, there was to be a “mercy seat.” Why, and why would it be called such? Since God is a God of truth, and holy, He can only meet man if man is willing to come to Him IN TRUTH. What is the truth he must know, if he is to come? It is this: God only meets man on the basis of His mercy. There is NOTHING that man has, can do, or be, that can merit him being able to come to God. Only by God looking beyond all that man is in his sin, and lost condition, to see the Son of God on a cross, will there be any way man can, with certainty, come to God, and be accepted by Him. But this God has done, and does. He declares: “And THERE I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee above the mercy seat.” Where then does prayer enter in, and the experience of its certainty?
Prayer begins with personally coming to God. James the apostle wrote: “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” (James 4:8) This is the promise. The writer of the letter to Hebrews wrote: “…for he that comes to God MUST believe that He IS, ,and that He is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (11:6) To truly come to God is to come trusting in the certainty of His mercy and grace. Mercy is that essential reason for which He accepts us in His mercy, as He beholds the Lord Jesus. The prayer of faith is the expression of coming to God, receiving all from God. It is coming to commune with God, living by His word, in the expectation of Him drawing near unto us.
Dear Father, faithful God, grant us to see what You have done in Christ, that we might have boldness to come unto Thee. Give us a greater vision of what it means that you meet us in Your mercy, dealing with us daily by Your grace, bringing us ever-increasingly into a more consistent fellowship with Thyself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad