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"Oh God, You Promised!"
by Mary Parks
I'm reading
Prayers of a God-Chaser by Tommy Tenney. Right now, I'm in the
second chapter, which talks about Prayers of Desperation.
Tenney shares with the reader a quote from C.S. Lewis, "God
whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our
conciences, but shouts to us in our pains; it is his megaphone
to rouse a deaf world."
"God whispers to us in our pleasures..." I wonder if it's not
God whispering, but our capacity to hear him when we are
caught up in that from which we derive enjoyment. Like a child
who doesn't hear the shouts of his mother announcing mealtime
because he is caught up in a rousing game of "Hide and Seek"
or another such childhood game, I wonder if we don't hear God
shouting over the din of our pleasures. Just as an avid
concert-goer can experience difficulties with hearing due to
exposure to overly loud sounds, we too can become
de-sensitized to the siren song of worldly pleasures and can
experience a spiritual "ringing in the ears" which muffles the
call of God to our hearts.
"God...speaks to us in our consciences..." I believe that God
does speak to us through our concience, or our "gut instinct"
as some may call it. Who better to work on a sub-concious
level than the One who created our very being. In that moment
when we choose between right and wrong, perhaps God is showing
us the better way through our "conscience."
"God...shouts to us in our pains..." It is in that moment of
intense agony that, as we cry out, whether to God or man, that
I believe God cries out to us. Trying to show us that this
fallen world was not His plan, He uses the only thing that
will break through our cry of pain - His own shouts. Shouts of
warning to turn from a life lived not according to His will.
Shouts of anger at the injustices His children face daily.
Shouts of agony as He watches His lambs led to the slaughter
by the Enemy.
"It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Are we caught up
in our pleasures, unable to hear God's voice above the noise
of everyday life? Are we blocking His guiding hand moving in
the unseen moments each day? Are we crying out for help from
the pain of heartbreak or sorrow? Perhaps God is trying to
gain your attention through the only means possible. Above the
noise and din of life, is God shouting to you?
Perhaps your pain is from the sorrow of an unfulfilled promise
that you are waiting on from God. Tenney also tells the story
of Duncan Campbell, the leader of the Hebrides Revival in
Great Britain. He relates the story of a prayer meeting where
noone wanted to leave, but after a time, they did. When most
of the people had gone, a young man stood and prayed a prayer
of desperation, hope, and desire - all in four little words:
"Oh God, You promised!" At that moment, a sound was heard, not
unlike chariot wheels, on the roof of the church and people
began pouring into the church. At that moment, that young man
heard the heart-cry of God and offered the only thing he could
in that moment - his willingness to be used by the Holy Spirit
to pray a prayer of desperation that effected change in the
spiritual realms.
Mary Parks, 26, is a soldier at The Salvation Army
Philadelphia Pioneer corps, in Philadelphia, PA (USA East),
and is active in the ministry of The Salvation Army
Philadelphia GeneratioNext corps. Mary has been a part of the
Pioneer corps family since 1986 and the GeneratioNext corps
since its inception in 1999.
She blogs at
http://maryannparks.wordpress.com
and is on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/maryannparks
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