GOD’S INTEGRITY 2_ STORING, MIXING AND RELEASING PRAYERS
(week 34/15)
OLUBI JOHNSON
In our article last week, we saw that God’s integrity is the combination of His honesty, reliability and consistency and that He uses His infinite wisdom and power to maintain His integrity.
This week, we will see how God uses the prayers of His people over centuries and millennial to fulfill His promises.
To maintain His integrity, God watches over His Word to perform it:
Jeremiah 1:12 NIV: The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.“
Now even though, God is omnipotent, His power that is available to be used in the earth is LIMITED by the prayers of His people; because LEGALLY God has given the earth to men, so anything God does on earth MUST be done through the prayers of men:
Psalms 115:16 NIV: The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man.
Genesis 1:26 NIV: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Even when God does things SOVEREIGNLY on the earth, the power He used must be PAID BACK by the prayers of men.
So to fulfill His Word on the earth AT THE APPOINTED SEASONS, God STORES UP THE PRAYERS OF HIS PEOPLE OVER CENTURIES AND MILLENNIAL:
Revelation 5:8 NKJV: Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Then as the season of fulfillment approaches, God would MIX the prayers of those PRESENTLY praying on the earth, WITH THE PRAYERS OF ALL SAINTS THAT HAVE BEEN STORED UP OVER THE YEARS AND WITH HIS MERCY, SYMBOLIZED BY THE ALTAR BEFORE HIS THRONE (Heb. 4.16). These MIXED AND AMPLIFIED prayers are then RELEASED INTO THE EARTH through the ministry of angels to avail much and so fulfill God’s Word.
This is also why the seasons of God’s purposes and appointed times are indicated by signs in the sun and moon, which occur in time scales of centuries and millennial, like the present blood moon tetrad (April 14th. 2014-Sept 28th. 2015) that synchronizes with the feasts of Passover, Tabernacles, the Shemittah year of release (Dt.15.1) and the Jubilee (Lev.25.8-9).
Genesis 1:14 GW: Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.
We see this truth symbolically portrayed in
Revelation 8:3-5 NKJV: Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of ALL the saints UPON THE GOLDEN ALTAR, which was before the throne. (4) And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. (5) Then THE ANGEL angel took the censer, FILLED IT WITH FIRE FROM THE ALTAR, AND THREW IT to THE EARTH. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake (symbolizing the prayers availing much).
This is partly (the other reason was that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full) why God told Abraham it would take 400 years to bring His people out of Egypt and why it took Simeon and Anna about 60 years of prayer and fasting to cause the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus into the earth:
Genesis 15:13-16 NIV: Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. (14) But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. (15) You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. (16) In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
So, God must have MIXED AND RELEASED the prayers of Moses, with the prayers of Abraham, Joseph and other saints over the 400 year period to finally deliver the people of Israel by a series of staggering miracles on A NATIONAL LEVEL that have not yet been duplicated to date!
Luke 2:25-38 NKJV: And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. (26) And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (27) So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, (28) he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: (29) “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; (30) For my eyes have seen Your salvation (31) Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, (32) A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” (33) And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things, which were spoken of Him. (34) Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (35) (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (36) Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; (37) and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (38) And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
These saints who prayed over centuries and millennial but did not see the FULL answers to their prayers in their lifetime fulfill:
Hebrews 11:13 NKJV: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Hebrews 11:35-40 NIV: Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. (36) Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. (37) They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— (38) the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. (39) These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. (40) God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
These scriptures show us that our prayers are NEVER wasted or in vain and that in this END-TIME OR 3RD DAY, ALL THAT God has promised WILL BE FULFILLED BEFORE THE LORD JESUS RETURNS PHYSICALLY. The purpose of God through the prayers and faith of ALL THE SAINTS WHO HAVE DIED WILL FINALLY BE COMPLETED WITH US THE END-TIME NEW TESTAMENT PERFECT CHURCH THAT CLOSES THIS AGE!
Ephesians 5:27 NKJV: that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Matthew 5:17-18 NIV: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (18) I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Matthew 24:14 NKJV: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Selah!
