Monday, September 21 2020 Devotional

"When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple."

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭2:7‬

It happened one night on a two-lane mountain highway in Mexico. We were trapped between two semi trucks; one on my right that I had been trying to pass, the other suddenly bearing down in us, with  nowhere for us to go. I heard my own voice crying out, “¡Dios! ¡Dios! ¡Dios! ¡Sácanos de aquí!“ ("God! God! God! Get us out of here!")  Suddenly we were safely behind the one truck and the other one was roaring past us.

I have heard testimonies from friends, some of whom were living lives very contrary to the will of God at the time, who when they were at the point of death cried out to the Lord. It was a reflexive prayer, not one they thought about or reasoned through, thinking, “I should pray!”  There wasn’t time for that. Their heart just cried out, “Jesus! Help!”

Like Jonah, some of them were believers who were rebelling against God’s way and fighting against Him when it happened. In fact some of them have told me they themselves were surprised to discover faith in their own heart when the moment came!

And God heard their prayers the way He heard Jonah’s. Some of them are still alive today; I still see them regularly.

Faith is deeper than our rational mind, and God continues to work in our hearts even when we are not aware of it. His Word, implanted in our hearts, will not return void; it will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it.

Rest in that knowledge. God hears the cry of our hearts, yours when you can’t think to pray and that of your loved one who may be rebelling against Him now, for whom you pray, and His mercy is great.

Lord, You are good and great, merciful and kind, powerful to help Your children. Keep my heart; keep the hearts of my loved ones whose lives make me wonder whether they have forgotten Your Word. Help, save, and deliver by your great mercy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Dan Giles