Sunday, December 20, 2015
Bible Lesson: Intercessory Prayer: Habakkuk Prays For The Restoration And Deliverance Of God's People.
Bible Lesson: Intercessory Prayer:
Habakkuk Prays For The
Restoration And Deliverance Of God's People.
Bible Text:
Habakkuk 3:1-19 NLT
1 This prayer
was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:
2 I have heard
all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone
by.
And in your
anger, remember your mercy.
2 O Lord, I
have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work
in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in
wrath remember mercy.(KJV)
3 I see God
moving across the deserts from Edom, The Holy One coming from Mount
Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is
filled with His praise. (Deuteronomy
33:2)
4 His coming is
as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from His hands,
where His awesome power is hidden.
5 Pestilence
marches before Him; plague follows close behind.
6 When He
stops, the earth shakes. When He looks, the nations tremble.
He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills.
He is The Eternal One!
7 I see the
people of Cushan in distress, and the nation of Midian trembling in
terror.
8 Was it in
anger, Lord, that you struck the rivers and parted the sea? Were you
displeased with them No, you were sending your chariots of salvation!
9 You
brandished your bow and your quiver of arrows. You split open the
earth with flowing rivers.
10 The
mountains watched and trembled. Onward swept the raging waters. The
mighty deep cried out, lifting its hands in submission.
11 The sun and
moon stood still in the sky as your brilliant arrows flew and your
glittering spear flashed.
12 You marched
across the land in anger and trampled the nations in your fury.
13 You went out
to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed
the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe.
14 With his own
weapons you destroyed the chief of those who rushed out like a
whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey.
15 You trampled
the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high.
16 I trembled
inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave
way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the
coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
17 Even though
the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and
barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle
barns are empty,
18 yet I will
rejoice in The Lord! I will be joyful in The God Of My Salvation!
19 The
Sovereign Lord is my Strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
(For the choir
director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)
Habakkuk 1:2 NLT
“...In
this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone
by.
Habakkuk 1:2 KJV
“... O
Lord, revive thy work...”
Habakkuk, pleaded to The Lord, for His help, “...in wrath
remember mercy.”
The people of God, had lost the close relationship they once had with
The Lord.
The answer to their
dilemma, was not only safety from the oppressive Chaldeans, but
renewal, a revival of the relationship they once enjoyed with The
Lord who loved, and cared for them.
Habakkuk recalled
former deliverances, while remembering The Lord's divine mercy upon
His people.
There were things
which he could not understand, but one thing was certain, Habakkuk,
trusted in God.
Psalm 73:1-28
KJV (A psalm of Asaph.)
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as are of a clean heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost
gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious at the foolish,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no bands in their
death: but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other
men; neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride compasseth them
about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness:
they have more than heart could wish.
8 They are corrupt, and speak
wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the
heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return
hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they say, How doth God know?
and is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
who prosper in the world; they increase in riches (Habakkuk
could certainly thought all this of Babylon).
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart
in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been
plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 If I say, I will speak thus;
behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
16 When I thought to know this, it
was too painful for me;
17 Until I went into the
sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
18 Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
19 How are they brought into
desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awaketh; so,
O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I
was pricked in my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I
was as a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless I am continually
with thee: thou hast holden (held) me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee?
and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth:
but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For, lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring
from thee.
28 But it is good for me to draw
near to God: I have put my trust in The Lord God, that I may declare
all thy works.
Psalm 3:1-8 KJV
(David's psalm, when he fled from his son Absalom. II Samuel 15)
1 Lord, how are they increased that
trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
2 Many there be which say of my
soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for
me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
4 I cried unto The Lord with my
voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Selah.
5 I laid me down and slept; I
awaked; for The Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten
thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God:
for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast
broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongeth unto The Lord:
thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
Did God hear
Habakkuk's prayer, and was He faithful to His people, yes!
And God's people
today?
Joel 2:12-17 KJV
12 Therefore also now, saith The
Lord, turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and
with weeping, and with mourning:
13 And rend your heart, and not your
garments, and turn unto The Lord your God: for He is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of
the evil.
14 Who knoweth if He will return and
repent, and leave a blessing behind Him; even a meat offering and a
drink offering unto The Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the
congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those
that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber,
and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of
The Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say,
Spare thy people, O Lord..."
Does
God Hear And Answer Prayer?
I Chronicles
16:11 KJV
Seek The Lord
and His strength, seek His face continually.
Psalm 6:9 KJV
The Lord hath
heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer.
Psalm 55:17 KJV
Evening, and
morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear
my voice.
Psalm 65:2 KJV
O thou that
hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Psalm 66:19 KJV
But verily God
hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Psalm 91:15 KJV
He shall call
upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will
deliver him, and honor him.
Psalm 102:17 KJV
He will regard
the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psalm 122:6 KJV
Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
Proverbs 15:8,29
KJV
8 The sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination to The Lord: but the prayer of the
upright is His delight.
29 The Lord is
far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Isaiah 56:7 KJV
"... for
Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 58:9 KJV
Then shalt thou
call, and The Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say,
Here I am...:"
Isaiah 65;24 KJV
And it shall
come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear.
Zechariah 13:9
KJV
And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God.
Matthew 5:44 KJV
But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you;
Matthew 7:7,8
KJV
7 Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:
8 For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened.
Matthew 18:19,20
KJV
19 Again I say
unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father
which is in heaven.
20 For where
two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the
midst of them.
Matthew 21:22
KJV
And all things,
whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 26:41
KJV
Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.
Mark 11:24 KJV
Therefore I say
unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.
Luke 11:9,10 KJV
9 And I say
unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every
one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luke 18:1 KJV
And He spake a
parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not
to faint;
Luke 21:36 KJV
Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before The Son
Of Man.
John 15:7 KJV
If ye abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you.
John 16:24 KJV
Hitherto have
ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy
may be full.
Ephesians 6:18
KJV
Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in The Spirit, and watching
thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Philippians 4:6
NLT
Don’t worry
about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you
need, and thank Him for all He has done.
Colossians 4:2
NLT
Devote
yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
I Thessalonians
5:17 KJV
Pray without
ceasing.
I Timothy 2:8
KJV
I will
therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without
wrath and doubting.
James 5:13 KJV
Is any among
you afflicted? let him pray..."
I Peter 4:7 KJV
But the end of
all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
I John 3:22 KJV
And whatsoever
we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Revelation 8:3-5 NLT (Prayers heard and kept)
3 Then another
angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a
great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of
God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.
4 The smoke of
the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended
up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.
5 Then the
angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar..."
Psalm 141:2 KJV
Let my prayer be set forth
before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice.