Our God is a God who hides Himself; He seems not to act when we pray, and He seems not to judge when we ask Him to vindicate us, but we need to bother Him with our persistent prayer until He does what He wants to do.
We need to pray persistently, and our prayer needs to be done by faith, being full of faith. Part of the extraordinary prayer needed for us to match the age is the persistent prayer with faith.
There are many different kinds of prayer; prayer is not just of one category.
In 1 Tim. 2:1 we see prayers, petitions, intercessions, thanksgivings, and supplications.
As Eph. 6 mentions, we need to take the sword of the Spirit – which Spirit is the Word of God – by means of all prayer (v. 17).
We need to have many kinds of prayer, and in particular these days, as we are nearing the end of this age, we need to have an extraordinary prayer, a prayer that matches the age, a prayer that matches what God wants to do in this age.
We are in an extraordinary situation today, and this calls for an extraordinary response; when we look at the human response outwardly we realize that our spiritual response should also be something extraordinary.
The kind of prayer that we need to offer in order to cooperate with the Lord’s doing today is the one talked about in Mark 11; here we see the Lord cursing the fig tree and then telling the disciples that they need to command the mountain to be cast into the sea, having no doubt in their heart, and it will happen.
This is an unusual kind of prayer – it is a commandment, not a request, it is a prayer addressed to the mountain and not directed to God.
This is a prayer that deals with the obstacles, a prayer that deals with the frustrations directly; it is not asking God to deal with them but praying to deal with them.
This means that we need to know the will of God, be one with God in His economy, and utter the prayers that He needs in order to carry out His economy.
And as we see in Luke 18, our prayer must be persistent and without losing heart.
The widow in Luke 18 kept bothering the judge, coming to him with her case so that he would avenge her, but he did not take her case; however, since she was bothering him so much, eventually he will do it.
God seems to be an unrighteous judge, for we as His people pray and He doesn’t seem to outwardly do much or answer our requests.
But He wants us to pray persistently, pray full of faith, pray and pray and pray, so that He may mingle Himself with us and cause the desire of His heart become the desire of our heart.
When we bother the Lord again and again in persistent prayer, believing that He is a God who hides Himself and does things in secret, we will be assured that He will do what He wants to do.
On our side we need to pray; on His side, He will work.
Realizing that God is not an Unrighteous Judge but the Sovereign Lord and Praying Persistently
The parable the Lord told His disciples in Luke 18 is very meaningful; it reveals some things that seem apparent and some realities that are intrinsic.
Apparently the judge is unrighteous, but actually he wants to take the case and deal with this situation.
Apparently the judge does nothing, but actually he does justice to the widow, being helped by her persistent asking.
In our Christian life many times we may wonder why are we suffering persecution, troubles, and trials, when so many others are doing so well with no problem at all.
Sometimes the children of the faithful followers of the Lord ask their parents why do they suffer persecution and trials, even though they love the Lord so much.
Many times we have wondered, Since we love the Lord Jesus so much, why must we suffer?
The answer to this is in Luke 18:1-8; here we see that Christ, our Husband, is apparently absent, and we as a widow are left here on earth and we pray and appeal to Him.
Apparently, even though we pray for God to avenge us and take care of our situations, He appears to be unrighteous; but we must still appeal to Him, bother Him again and again, and pray persistently.
We shouldn’t try to understand this parable in a natural way but rather, ask for the Lord to shine on us and show us its intrinsic meaning.
This story reveals that God is not an unrighteous Judge but rather He is the sovereign Lord and that He judges whenever He chooses.
He has authority to do what He wants to do and at the time He wants to do it. He is sovereign in the carrying out of His judgement and in His work.
We cannot tell God what to do, and He is not supposed to hear and do what we ask Him to do.
Our God is sovereign. Without any reason, He may either listen or not listen to our prayers; this is what it seems to be the case. But God is the sovereign Lord and He judges whenever He chooses.
On our side, however, we need to bother the Lord by praying persistently. He charges us to pray at all times, and He charges us to pray persistently.
He never told us not to pray; rather, He charged us to pray, for by prayer we are joined to Him, we are mingled with Him, and His desire becomes our desire, and His prayer becomes our prayer.
Eventually, what we pray will be what He desires to do, and what we pray persistently about to bother Him with is the carrying out of His will; therefore, He will judge and do what He needs to do.
When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an unrighteous judge; although this seems to be the case, we must still appeal to God, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again!
May we learn to trust God and His sovereignty; may we learn to pray persistently and bother the Lord until He will carry out what He needs to carry out as a righteous judge!
Lord, we trust in Your sovereignty; You may not answer our prayer right now and here, but we do trust that You are sovereign and You will do what You want to do in us and with us. We come to You again and again, Lord; we want to pray persistently and bother You with our case, our situation, our sufferings, our persecutions, until You carry out Your judgement. Dear Lord, You are our God; You are our righteous Judge, and we pray for Your vindication. Vindicate Your people and Your work among men!
Praying Persistently while Realizing that God is a God who Hides Himself and Does things in Secret
Many believers and unbelievers alike have asked God this question, WHY?
Why doesn’t the living God discipline those who act recklessly and lawlessly and do works of unrighteousness? Why do the evil thrive while those who are good seem to be suffering and be in poverty?
The answer given by the Bible is simple: God is a God who hides Himself; He doesn’t do things openly, He doesn’t “strike down” the lawless as soon as they do something bad, and He doesn’t obliterate those who rebel against Him.
For example, look at the Lord Jesus’ life and in particular at His death on the cross. When the Lord was crucified and was hanging on the cross, it seemed as if God didn’t exist; those who were around Him said, He trusts in God, let Him rescue Him now if He wants Him (Matt. 27:43).
It seemed as if God was not doing anything to rescue Christ from this horrible death; it seemed as if there was no God in the universe at that time.
God was hidden when the Lord passed through this great trial. Three days later, however, God raised Jesus from the dead; forty days later He ascended Christ to the heavens, and ten further days later He poured out the Holy Spirit upon His disciples.
God is a God who hides Himself; He hides Himself in space and time, and though it seems that He is not doing anything outwardly to vindicate or care for His people, He is still working behind the scenes. It takes time and endurance for us to experience the living God.
We may not get any result or reaction from Him when we pray; it may seem that we pray to Him fervently and persistently, but He ignores us.
Look at the history of the church; in the second century the Roman Empire persecuted the church, using every conceivable means to afflict and slaughter the Christians, and God didn’t seem to do anything about it.
Rather, God hid Himself. However, a century or so later, the Roman Empire was divided and eventually disappeared, while in contrast the believers of Christ remained, flourished, and spread to various places because of the true and living God.
Our God is a God who hides Himself; He often does things behind the scenes, in secret.
Our God is a God who hides Himself – see Isa. 45:15; if we read the book of Esther we see that the name of God is not even mentioned, but He was there working, operating, and being active behind the scenes to care for His people.
God’s people at Esther’s time were suffering terribly and were even about to be exterminated, and apparently God was not there to help them, to aid them.
But actually God was operating through Esther; God used her to intercede for His people before the king.
God is there with His people; He operates, He works, and He is very active behind the scenes, and He helps His people – yet He is a God who hides Himself, and He does all these things in a hidden way.
We need to realize that the omnipresent and omnipotent God whom we serve is a God who hides Himself, especially when He is helping us (John 14:26; Rom. 8:26).
We may like a clear-cut way to get out, an obvious sign that God cares, and something outward (or at least an inward voice) that shows us that God is with us.
But God doesn’t like to make Himself known outwardly when He is helping us, His people; we might like that, but He doesn’t operate in that way.
God keeps Himself hidden; even though He is doing many things in us and in the environment and in those around us, He doesn’t show Himself, and He doesn’t make Himself known outwardly.
We cannot see God and apparently He is not doing anything, but actually in a hidden way He is doing many things for us (Rom. 8:28, 34; Esther 4:14).
God causes all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
God is involved in all things that are happening in the environment and in us; He is even involved in this current pandemic in a hidden way, and He will cause it to – along with everything else – work together for good.
We should never doubt that He is operating just because we don’t see Him. Rather, we must still appeal to God, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again, for God will carry out quickly the avenging of His chosen ones who cry to Him day and night.
May we trust in our sovereign God who hides Himself and pray persistently until, in His time and in His way, He will do what He wants to do.
Lord, we want to know You as the living God, the God who hides Himself. May we realize that God is involved in all the things happening in us and around us for the purpose of working out the best for us! May we not lose heart when we see that God doesn’t seem to answer our prayers in our time and in our way, but may we trust this sovereign God who hides Himself. Lord, we want to continue to appeal to You, pray persistently, and bother You again and again until, in Your time and in Your way, You will do what needs to be done for Your people, Your church, Your economy, and Your purpose. We believe that You are actively working and operating behind the scenes, Lord, so that You may work out Your will in us and with us. We trust in You, Lord, and we trust in Your sovereignty.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1957, vol. 3, “The Living God and the God of Resurrection,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, A Timely Word Concerning the World Situation and the Lord’s Recovery (2020 Memorial Day Conference), week 4, Praying Persistently with God as Our Faith.
- Hymns on this topic:
– God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform: / He plants His footsteps in the sea, / And rides upon the storm. / Deep in unfathomable mines / Of never-failing skill, / He treasures up His bright designs, / And works His sovereign will. (Hymns #675)
– Blest assurance! God has fully ordered / Every matter by His sovereign hand; / Every person (though we see so dimly), / Every thing’s according to His plan. / Every trial is but the Father’s answer / To the groaning of the Spirit’s prayer; / May He gain in every tribulation, / Until we Christ’s glory fully share. (Hymns #1210)
– Pray to touch the throne of God, / Pray to shake the evil pow’r; / Pray with kingship on the throne, / Pray with Christ this very hour. (Hymns #783)
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