Rightfully His

What concerns do you carry on your heart?  Where do you hope God will move to improve a situation?  Who are you asking God to bless?  What are you praying about? 

This past winter, I have carried several things on my heart.  They go with me where I go.  My spirit is praying all the time.  Whether I’m thinking about them or not; there is a constant stream of awareness in my spirit of need in those areas.  I pray for my nation.  I pray for my loved ones. 

In the past, there have been times that I have felt that something was required of me to make sure that God’s will was done.  Pray enough.  Pray the right words.  Say the right things.  Do the right things.  Have you felt that way?  Surely, that is not really the case.  There is clearly relatively little that I can do.  It all comes back to God, and His faithfulness.  Even the fact that I have concerns that rest on my heart, is evidence of a work that God is doing.  It all comes back to Him. 

It encourages me to know that Jesus is also praying – constantly.  And He is praying for us.  Romans 8: 34 says, “Christ Jesus is the One who died – more than that, who is raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”   I know His prayers are heard, and that He has a solid basis from which to pray. 

When I pray, I often find myself begging; asking again and again for the same thing.  But I know that God hears me – ever time.  Even if I pray only once, I know that God hears, not because of my merits, but because of who He is.  He is kind.  He is good.  He is love.  He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11: 6).  I pray on the basis of God’s love, mercy, and grace for His children.  I pray expectantly because I am a child of God, and He loves me. 

But Jesus prays from an additional basis.  Like us, He can pray from the standpoint of being a child of God, and approach God on the basis of His love, mercy, and grace.  But Jesus can also pray from the basis of justice.  He can expect answers because answers are owed to Him.  He can say, “I paid the price for this.  I gave myself completely.  I wore the crown of thorns. They struck me with rods.  They beat me.  They mocked me and spit on me.  They stripped me and tore my flesh with the whip.  I felt pain in every inch of my body.  I know what it is to be so weakened that I can’t take another step.  I felt the fatigue and weakness.  I felt the vulnerability.  I felt muscle pain, and nerve pain.  They stripped me naked and nailed me to a tree, lifting me up for all to see.  I hung there for hours under the sun, in full view of all.  There was no mercy given to me.  I died there – from lose of blood, and exhaustion, and suffocation.  And then, Father, I went to hell. And I beat the enemy at his own game.  And I won the keys of death and hades.  See, Father, here they are!  I won the battle.  I have the keys.  And the enemy is trespassing now.  These are rightfully mine now.  I paid the price.  I paid the price in full.  I now have all authority, and it is rightfully mine.  And I make my request on this basis – that it belongs to me.”

What can a just judge say?  Justice is only served when the One who deserves to receive the answer gets the request granted.  When the price has been paid, the thing purchased belongs to the one who paid.  When the price is like the price that Jesus paid, there is no refund possible.  It is impossible to un-experience what has already been experienced.  Price paid.  Possessions must be delivered.  The power of Jesus’ intercession is that justice is on His side.  His request is rightfully His.

Finding that I can rest in His intercession, knowing that He is aware of things that need His intervention, and remembering that He always cares immensely; encourages me to leave things in His hands.  Therefore, I will watch, and see what He does.  I will trust.  I will put my hand in His.  I will thank Him for who He is and what He does.  I will wait.

Romans 8: 31-34