Jesus described man’s last days upon planet earth in these words – “Distress of nations, with perplexity” – Luke 21:25b. Distress alone is often more than human kind can bear, but distress becomes doubly serious when we are “perplexed” in not knowing how to deal with these distresses. The word, “perplexity” is a translation of the Greek word, “Apopia” which literally mans “No Way Out.” Illus.: Winston Churchill died in 1965 and even before he died, he described the conditions of our world in these words, “Our problems are beyond us.”
Some years ago I addressed the General Assembly of North Carolina, and I began my address with these words from Churchill, but immediately pointed out to our legislators, “Our problems are not beyond God.” Jeremiah 32:17; Luke 1:37; Matthew 19:26 and other Scriptures state, “There is nothing impossible with God.” Amen. Some of our legislators, “distressed and perplexed,” came streaming to me to thank me for giving them some hope in such hopeless days.
But the question is, how can modern man, distressed and perplexed, invoke God to act in removing his distress and perplexities? The answer is simply this: To pray in a way that God hears and answers our prayers. How can we do this? By aligning our will with the will of God. God clearly makes this promise through the Apostle John in 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
- Moses aligned his will with the will of God and prayed and water flowed from the rock – Exodus 17:6.
- Daniel aligned his will with the will of God and prayed and God locked the jaws of the lions – Daniel 6
- Elijah aligned his will with the will of God on Carmel and prayed and God answered by fire – 1 King 18.
- Elijah aligned his will with the will of God and prayed and he ascended into heaven, by passing death – 2 King 2:11.
- Abraham aligned his will with the will of God on Zion and prayed and in his heart sacrificed His son, but saw him spared in the nick of time – Heb. 11:17.
- Paul and Silas aligned their will with the will of God and prayed and the prison opened and released them – Acts 16.
- The early church aligned their will with the will of God and prayed and Peter was released from prison – Acts 12.
- On the other hand, we read in the Old Testament that High Priest, Aaron’s sons, Nahab and Abihu ”lighted their own fire” and God intervened and killed them – Lev. 10; Numbers 3.
Today, there is much praying, much calling upon God, but much of our praying is “lighting our own fire” and most everything is dying. We “light our own fires” when our prayers are totally self serving rather than God exalting (James 4:3). Dr. Albert Mohler, in his latest book, He is Not Silent, describes the churches today in chilling words like this: “Even among our churches, there are many in whom the scent of death is present. Statistics indicate that between 70 and 80 percent of our churches have plateaued or are declining in attendance. Even worse, many churches are not only in decline but also in spiritual dissipation. Entire denominations are in confusion and compromise or even worse. Lacking spiritual energy, devoid of biblical knowledge and conviction, many of our churches wear the pallor of death. Spiritually, our culture has wasted away to nothing – nothing but a valley of dry, desiccated bones.”[1]
Final Question: If we must align our will with the will of God, how can we know the will of God? The answer is: The will of God is the Word of God. The Bible spells out the will of God specifically in some passages: 1 Thess. 5:18; Ephesians 5:17-18; 2 Peter 3:9. But His will is often stated in principles. Example: The Bible does not say, “Do not smoke,” but Romans 12:1 sets forth the principle forbidding it. Therefore, the more we know of the Word of God, the more we will know the will of God. And the extent to which we will know the Word of God is the extent to which we INTERNALIZE the Word of God.
A person who regularly and prayerfully reads the Word will know a little of the Word of God.
A person who hears the Word may pick up some knowledge of the Word.
A person who studies the Word will know even more of the will of God.
A person who preaches and teaches the Word will know something of the Word.
But for any person to know the Word in a way to be assured that he knows the will of God will be to do with the Word what God commands in His Word: Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3 and James 1:25. These verses command these 4 things:
- Memorize the Word,
- Meditate on the Word,
- Obey the Word of God,
- Receive the Blessing of God.
Also, please encourage your struggling friends to join you in coming to MMM, where they will be taught how and encouraged to “Internalize” the Word.
Illus.: The Financial Tsunami now facing every person in America, either directly or indirectly, has created, STRESS, STRESS, STRESS. If you are not very careful, Satan will lead you to “light fires,” such as self-centered praying, Bible Studies for personal profits, playing church, serving by guilt, religions without substance, saying and not doing, etc. And remember, just as “lighting false fires” in the Old Testament brought death, the same is the destiny of many who are today “lighting false fires.” God forbid that this would be the experience of anyone who reads these words.
I repeat: Aligning our will with the will of God until we can get our prayers answered is the only solution to the “Distress and Perplexity” sweeping over our souls, our nation, our world. Would you be ONE who will follow God’s prescription and be delivered from death.
[1] Dr. Albert Mohler, He is not Silent, Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008, p. 153.