Every Breath

"Jesus is the Amen."

TO SAY God does not hear prayer is to say He does not hear that one, lost in his sins, who cries out for “some God somewhere,” and we, in the church, don’t believe that. A full understanding of Jesus’ death and Resurrection is not required before praying the prayer of salvation. We believe this fully. Minister Jesse Duplantis says that when he was saved, he didn’t even know what “saved” meant. What of others then? A man addicted to drugs. Another locked up in prison. What of other cultures? Those in foreign religions? What of the Jews? God, in fact, hears all prayer and calls all to see the truth. He is a gentle, loving Father. A meek and humble Savior. The Spirit of God, a whisper.

They did not do what they did to rescue generations of mankind in order to nitpick between the lost.

“And everyone is important to him. He is never kinder to one person than he is to another person.” (Ephesians 6:9, EasyEnglish)

Jesus is a Jew, the King of Israel and the King of Kings. The gospel of Mark declares Him King of Israel many times. Pilate hung it above His head. The apostle Paul was a Jew, born of the lineage of the Jews, trained as a Pharisee, but called to preach the truth about Jesus, King of the Jews, to the Gentile world (Acts 26:17). Jesus’ sheep of another pasture (John 10:16). What His people have prayed to their living God is not wasted breath. Jesus is the Amen. Every paper tucked in the wailing wall He has read. Every synagogue worship, He has heard. Just as much as He heard the Muslim, in countries where no Bible can enter, or the Communist prayers of those underground in China, or again, someone here in the States whose life took them in the wrong direction. The only requirement of prayer is an earnest heart. That’s it. Wrong doctrine, wrong religion, wrong ideas about marriage, wrong beliefs about abortion, wrong politics, even wrong sermons don’t keep Him from hearing.

Or from working amongst men to love them, to bring them to truth. For in that wrong prayer, prayed to a wooden idol, or that curse flung heavenward, or one who swears the Messiah hasn’t come yet, is but a moment in time closer to that one knowing Him. And our prayers, those by us who know, move heaven on their behalf. We should be in continual prayer, as instructed in the Scriptures (Ephesians 6:18). Praying for all those we pass, who the Spirit points out to us because we are listening. There is the key. Are we listening? Is our gut-reaction to people a shake of our head, or do we call on the Spirit to work His grace in them? Do we pray for Israel with sincerity of heart or to tear down their culture and make them into us?

Because again, Jesus is a Jew. Raised under the Law, in the synagogue, obedient to the festivals and feasts set in order by His Father and Himself, though He didn’t know it as a youth. He spoke Aramaic, read Hebrew, was dedicated in the Temple in Jerusalem. He is called “Rabbi” in the Scriptures. He hasn’t stopped being Jewish. He isn’t Christian now and not Jewish. He is Christ, the Anointed One. And those people in Israel are covenanted with Him from the time of Abraham (Genesis 17:4). Rabbi Meir Solavachik defines a covenant as when “two ‘I’s’ become a ‘we.’” He says to be covenanted means you are no longer an individual, and it means you share all that you are. Nothing describes Jehovah more. He has given all that He is to be the God of Israel as much as the God of the church.

He loves Esau as well as Jacob. Speak to Minister Marilyn Hickey about this. She has ministered extensively in Muslim countries amongst cultures that don’t know Jehovah. Jesus isn’t Savior in their teaching, and yet, she has great success there. There are stories of many in Muslim countries who have seen Jesus without reading a word of the Holy Bible. No man or woman is ignored by Him. None. Whatever the words, whatever their disbelief, whatever their misunderstanding, or hatred and violence toward Him … Did not Jesus take all the mocking and ribbing of the soldiers, take all the hatred of the Jews, and give no reply? Have we done the same? Or are we too sure of ourselves, rolled up in our religion, to stand in His face and admit it? Because that’s what it comes down to.

Can you believe what you believe about other people, and say what you’ve said about His love for them, and justify it, knowing He heard you? Rabbi or priest, pastor or imam, Jesus knows them by name and hears their prayers. The right ones and the wrong ones. Paul hated Christians when Jesus spoke to him. It made no difference in what He was called to do.

Many, many preach incorrect doctrine in the Christian church. God never revokes their calling. It is without repentance (Romans 11:29). Many pray according to custom, according to tradition, God never refuses to hear them. Many pray to false gods. He hears even those. Non-Jewish cultures in the Old Testament, the sailors on Jonah’s ship are one example, feared the God of the Hebrews. He was known for being powerful. God isn’t nitpicking amongst us but seeking an opportunity to soften the heart. And for Israel, whose covenant makes Him their God, He is especially vigilant.

“As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:4)

“Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.” (John 1:49)

“And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John 19:19)

“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” (Revelation 7:4)

Wailing Wall Photo by Snowscat on Unsplash
Flag of Israel Image by Kaufdex from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com