Prayer is a common subject, but we never learn all there is to know. We need reminding of how important it is. No matter how cloudy the day, it won’t stop a prayer. It is a two-way street and a two-person experience. When you call someone on the phone the other person talks back to you. While you talk they listen. Both of you can’t talk at the same time. When God seems silent, remember he is listening. I’m sure you’ve been rattling off to someone on the phone before and then asked “are you still there.” God pays attention to what we have to say. Shame on us when we ask how he can do it. God is stronger and greater than we are. He’s not as weak like we are. When we don’t see him, he sees us.
Job 22: 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; 11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. 12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! 13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. 25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. 30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
This is the conversation of Job and his friends. They got carried away in their speaking. While they spoke, the truth about life came out. Our life is like the weather—hard to forecast. We don’t know what’s ahead. God is an all-weather God. Jesus is an all-weather Savior. The postman may have days he couldn’t deliver the mail due to the weather. I’ve never seen a time when God can’t deliver! God sees. He delivers. Even when we look up or around and can’t perceive God, he is there. Stars are far away. That doesn’t mean God is. The Bible says he’s afar but that he’s also at hand. He is the near and far God, the infinite and unchanging God.
God created prayer. If he hadn’t first spoken to us we would not have spoken back. He reminds us to pray. When daddy and mommy were alive, daddy always had lunch ready on Sunday afternoon. If we didn’t go for some reason, he would call to find out where we were. God calls on us.
If clouds are so thick, how does Go know what I’m going through? That’s a foolish question. We may ask how man knows something, but remember that God is in that question. God is God. He knows all. He has all power. He knows the whole story. How does he know what we go through? The Son of God went through the darkness on Calvary to know what we go through. Some of the patriarchs of old had their greatest experience with God in the dark. God is not Lord of the darkness but he’s still Lord in the darkness. Don’t ask how he knows. Just believe that because he’s God, he knows. The clouds are nothing to him.
If you’ve ever flown, you know the clouds are clearer on top even if they are dark on the bottom. Cloudy days sharpen our prayers. Clear days make us slack in our prayer life. God allowed the clouds to come over Job, and he trusted the Lord. God heard him and talked to him through the whirlwind. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. When all you see is a dark cloud above you and the fog closes in, look up. The clouds of life may make all point of reference leave but look up. God is still God. Prayer breaks through. The clouds don’t last forever. That’s why we ask in faith. The cloud answers by letting the light break through. God cleans up the sky and the light shines. Last week God put a rainbow in a tornado. He can do the same for us. Rainbows require storms. Keep looking up. One day the final storm will be over and we’ll see the rainbow around the throne.
Verse 29 tells us when men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. Keep praying. When we see others down, remind them there is a lifting up. Heaven comes down and glory fills the soul. Let the prayer go through the cloud. God will move.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 