THE LORD WILL ADD BLESSINGSSpeaker: Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Gist: The year 2004 is going to taste the fulfillment of the prophecy in 2 Timothy 3:1. But the Holy Spirit assured to me that the Lord’s words found in Matthew 24:22 will sustain us and carry us through: “For the elect's sake those days will be shortened.” When I was praying at the feet of the Lord to know what would happen during the year 2004, the Holy Spirit descended and began to speak. The Lord’s face at that moment was full of sorrow and my spirit also fell within me. I have never before seen the Lord so sorrowful. The year 2004 is going to taste the fulfillment of the prophecy in 2 Timothy 3:1, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.” In this year, we will see a taste of the terrible things. Difficult days are ahead of us. But the Holy Spirit assured to me that the Lord’s words found in Matthew 24:22 will sustain us and carry us through: “For the elect's sake those days will be shortened.”
The first six months are going to be full of sufferings for the Lord’s people; however, the following six months will see an abundant outpour of the Holy Spirit upon the churches. This will bring together God’s people into one fold.
The Lord’s children can overcome these sufferings only in one way: like king Hezekiah, we must pray and gather at the feet of the Lord. We have the promise of God that He will listen to our cry and answer them exactly according to His promise for us for this year:
“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 John 5:14)
So, let us learn to pray just as Hezekiah prayed. Let us see how he prayed.
He wept bitterly
“Hezekiah wept bitterly.” (Isaiah 38:3)
In 2 Kings 16:2, we read about king Hezekiah’s father, king Ahaz who did evil in the sight of the Lord all his days, due to which he died at the young age of thirty six. He lived a sinful life. Looking at the evil deeds of his father, Hezekiah made a covenant with the Lord and departed from the ways of his father. He did what was right in the sight of God and believed that he would live longer. But, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 2:16, “How does a wise man die? As the fool!” So also, the threat of his death came to him when he was thirty nine. His hope was demolished in a moment.
In Job 17:15, the devout Job cries, “Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?” There comes a point of time in the life of every child of God, when he or she has to cry without hope. When my beloved daughter, Angel died at the age of seventeen, my wife came to me and wept, saying, “My faith is gone.” I was broken in my spirit and I said in my agony, “I will not preach anymore. My faith is broken.” My son, Paul, having lost his beloved sister and having both of us hospitalized, with a broken heart, wept, “My hope is lost.” Every child of God has to walk through the valley of tears at some point of time.
The Psalmist says, in Psalm 84:5-6, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.”
King Hezekiah accordingly made the Lord as his strength, when he passed through the valley of tears. He wept in the presence of God. He did not leave the Lord till He got the answer from Him. Hezekiah mourned like a dove (Isaiah 38:14). The dove has a unique quality. When its partner dove dies, the dove that lives after it keeps on weeping and mourning till its death; it will never come out of the mourning till it falls down dead. In such a manner, king Hezekiah mourned before the Lord.
When Jacob wrestled with God in prayer throughout the night, it was a similar scene. The Lord told him, “Jacob, stop crying and leave me now; for its daybreak.” But Jacob held the Lord by his tears and said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” (Genesis 32:26).
My dear friends, the Lord is calling us to pray in that manner, with tears. It is necessary that we should obey Him, exactly as He wants us to pray.
Once I was working in Alleppey in Kerala, when I got news that Pastor P.M.Philip, one of the founders of the Indian Pentecostal Mission in Kottayam was severely ill. He had been to minister in Vijayawada, where he was afflicted by sunstroke. The Lord told me to go and pray for him in Kottayam. When I went there, over fifty pastors were praying for him with fasting in that hall, where Pastor Philip was lying on a cot. In obedience to the Lord’s word, I told everyone to step out and began to pray. When I prayed, the Holy Spirit came down in deep silence. But, exactly that moment, one of the pastors stepped in and disturbed His presence, and the Holy Spirit returned. I began to pray again and this happened five times. At last, I burst into tears and pleaded, “Lord, do not return back. Have mercy on us.” And accordingly, the Lord touched him and healed him instantly. And we all rejoiced and celebrated that day.
This, I say, because for this moment, it is necessary to perfectly obey God’s call. When you are led by the Holy Spirit, perfect submission is necessary. If He calls you to pray alone, you must pray alone. If He calls you to have fellowship, you must gather at the church. So also, now He has called you to pray with tears like Hezekiah. It is your duty now to do that.
He prayed, “Remember Me!”
"Remember now, O Lord, I pray.” (Isaiah 38:3)
David, the psalmist says, “I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel” (Psalm 31:12). This world is a forgetful world. It never remembers the good. David further cried to the Lord, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Psalms 42:9).
When I was working in the bank, I had been to Coimbatore on an official visit. After the work was finished, I went to a nearby village. I used to receive many prayer requests from a poor sister living there. Her husband was sick at that time and everyone had lost hopes on him. In his vexation, he forced everyone in the home to put him outside the house under the sun, so that his death may come sooner. When I went there, I saw him lying on a cot under the hot sun, lamenting, even unable to open his eyes. Everyone around him were mourning. When I went there, the sister told her husband, “Look here, who has come. Bro.Dhinakaran has come to see us.” He didn’t believe. He said, “The whole world has forgotten us. Do you think Bro.Dhinakaran will come to this remote village, that too in this scotching sun?” But when he opened his eyes, he cried out, “Oh, there is still someone who remembers us. The Lord Jesus remembers us.” I then prayed for him and he got up from his sick bed. We walked inside the house and had dinner together. His joy knew no bounds.
The Lord Jesus remembers us, when we are forgotten by the world. He remembered Martha and Mary and went to them when they had lost all hopes. When He saw the tears of Martha and Mary, pleading before Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died”, He was moved with compassion and He wept. He cannot keep quiet seeing His beloved children’s tears. He groaned in His Spirit and brought Lazarus back to life.
When you pray with tears, saying, “Lord, remember me”, He will come down to your rescue and will grant your petition. Samson cried out to the Lord, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray, just this once” (Judges 16:28). The Lord never forgets us. There is an old song in Tamil, which means, “Do not be troubled, oh my heart, for the gracious Lord is standing by your side, watching over you, yet as if not seeing.” The Lord is always mindful of us. Yet, we need to cry out like Hezekiah at this moment, “Remember me, Oh Lord” to obtain His grace.
He prayed the prayer of a saint
“I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” (Isaiah 38:3)
The Lord loves those who walk uprightly before Him. He is near to everyone who is faithful. “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly” (Proverbs 2:7).
God loves the upright and He becomes a shield for us when we walk uprightly.
“A faithful man will abound with blessings.” (Proverbs 28:20)
When my daughter Angel passed away, I decided that I will never preach again. After six weeks of mourning, when we were praying together as a family, the Lord Jesus came down and stood before me. He said with a sorrowful face, “My son, you are mourning for your daughter and you have decided not to preach My word. But, I have seen your faithfulness and have declared before the angels and the devil that My son Dhinakaran will continue to preach My word, though I have taken away his daughter. Will you now put me to shame before the Heavenly council?” I could not hold back my tears. I immediately returned to the ministry.
When you walk uprightly, sickness will come; losses will come; sorrow will come; but in spite of all these, the Lord will be your shield and He will fill your life with blessings. The whole world will mock at you, when you walk uprightly. Job 12:4 says that the upright will be mocked at. Late Pastor G.Sundaram, Founder of the Apostolic Christian Assembly spoke on these lines to console me, when I had lost my daughter. When you cry before the Lord, “Lord, I have walked uprightly before You,” He will look at your faithfulness and fill your life with abundance of blessings. In 2 Chronicles 32, we read how Hezekiah was blessed with abundance of silver and gold and glory beyond comparison with any king, because the Lord answered the prayer he made, being a faithful man.
So my dear friend, let us pray with faith, with tears and with uprightness. The year 2004 may stand against us; but when we pray as Hezekiah prayed, even as the Lord heard his prayer saying, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years” (Isaiah 38:5) and added fifteen long years filled with prosperity and glory, He will bless us too. Let us be careful in holding ourselves upright before God and being fervent in praying. May the Lord be with you and protect you throughout this New Year! |