Let his kingdom reach from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River across all the earth. Force the desert tribes to accept his rule, and make his enemies crawl in the dirt. Force the rulers of Tarshish and of the islands to pay taxes to him. Make the kings of Sheba and of Seba bring gifts. Make other rulers bow down and all nations serve him. Do this because the king rescues the homeless when they cry out, and he helps everyone who is poor and in need. The king has pity on the weak and the helpless and protects those in need. He cares when they hurt, and he saves them from cruel and violent deaths – Psalms 72:8-14 (CEV)
If you went around asking people on the street or at your workplace whether they pray, you would certainly find that at least 50% said a prayer before their retirement to bed last night or before leaving their homes this morning. And if you explored the content of these prayers you would find that 80% of them were related to personal life protection and blessedness. But if you went ahead to probe why these people should be favored so, probably the majority would have no answer. And this is not uncommon by the way.
A few years ago, my wife happened to work at one the most prestigious high schools of our land. This is a school where almost all parents in the country would love to have their children to pass because from time immemorial it had produced many influential people including the great scientists and prominent leaders of our country. But entry in this school was highly restricted, and you would be so blessed to have your child admitted in there. It did not matter what score your child obtained at junior level; how much money you were able to pay or how influential you were in the society. Admission would often be based on the “good judgment” of the head teacher after weighing many things. Therefore, at every beginning of the year parents and their children would ‘swarm’ the school to try their luck there. While the bulk of pupils and their parents would manage to answer all the other questions, the majority failed to answer this single recurrent question: “Any reason why you should be favored among all?”
This same scenario is not any much different from our God’s kingdom operations as we may observe. Our life protection and blessedness need justification dear: “Why should you be favored among all people?” This is a million dollar question. Isn’t it? But before you attempt to argue your case let us examine the one of King David; a man that was known to be after God’s heart (1Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22).
David knew very well that there were many kings world over; majority of whom even had better qualifications of leadership than him, commanding great respect among their subjects as many of our leaders do today. A bulk of these kings owned numerous resources and had very powerful armies to engage any enemy, let alone continually praying to the same God for victory. However, all these did not deter David from making such a bold prayer to God to extend his borders of influence to infinity. Imagine asking God to extend your kingdom to cover the whole earth!! Isn’t this some kind of Megalomania; a psychiatric disease known to catch some people? O yes; but David knew God’s heart inclination very well. He discerned that God’s affection is always towards the weak, the poor, the helpless, the defenseless, the homeless, the needy, the dejected, the destitute and the downcast. Therefore, he capitalized on these soft spots of God’s heart before he made his case. I believe you all know what happened to him after that prayer.
Have you of recent made a special prayer for yourself; be it on your business, your career, your work, your ministry or leadership? And any reason why you should be favored among all people? You better justify your prayer dear; for there are many people out there who have more qualifications than you do to get the same, but they can’t get it. Therefore, identify some of the soft spots of God’s heart and address them before you make your case. With this you will never go wrong, and that is what kingdom living is about.
Let’s Pray!
Heavenly Father, thank you for this message today! I am sorry for the times I have made selfish prayers that are not in tandem with thy interests. Now help me Lord to identify thy concerns so that my prayers may be aligned properly. With this I now know it will all be well with me in this life and the life to come …in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!
Have a blessed Day!
