Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good evening, dear people.

We just returned from our time in Dallas with Andy and family where we attempted another Bible lesson with the grandkids. Another family has been joining in. We did the run amidst storm warnings. They’re calling for a lot of wind and rain and blizzard conditions in higher elevations. We drove through an area of Salem that had the power out. I can tell that the power has blipped out here at home while we were gone.

What will people do when all utilities are knocked out? I don’t want to be negative, but I judge that’s not a matter of IF, but WHEN.

My little bald head needs a pillow about now. It’s not working very well. Oh, my…now Becki has a kind of emergency request. I guess the pillow is going to have to wait.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Prayer is a mysterious commodity that is deeply embedded in our biblical worldview. This passage with its description of prayer does not reduce the mystery. It does, however, reinforce and confirm its importance and effectiveness.

Is it appropriate to regard prayer as being mysterious? I think so. Consider the statement of mystery composed by Agur in Proverbs 30:18-19: “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.” I resonate with Agur’s expression. And I reason this way: If we don’t fully understand everything about the intimate love relationship between a man and a woman, how can we expect to fully understand the intimate love relationship between a man and God?!?! All that is required to understand is that loving God is extremely important, and prayer is the human side of that relationship.

The two basic components of prayer are PRAISE and PETITION. I suppose that “the prayers of all the saints” as symbolically pictured as being burnt upon “the golden altar before the throne” are of the PETITION type. I’ve never felt inspired to petition God to do thunder, lightning, and earthquakes. But when the angel symbolically casts the contents of the golden sensor onto the earth, which includes the “prayers of the saints,” that is the symbolic result. Bottom line: prayers processed in heaven have an effect on earth—whether we understand it all or not.

The modern world with its ever-expanding technology brings a lot of change. But I quite like the stabilizing truth that says “Two things never change: God still speaks to men through His Word, and men still speak to God through prayer.” I don’t know about you, but I have chosen to love God and sure have a lot to talk to Him about.