Pleading with God

“He (Samuel) pleaded with the LORD to help Israel, and the LORD answered him.” ~1^st Samuel 7:9b NLT

In the middle of a battle with the dreaded Philistine army (an army that had recently soundly defeated the Israelites and taken the Ark of God away) Samuel the judge and prophet pleads with God to help the outnumbered Israelite army.

God responds to Samuel’s prayer with “a mighty voice of thunder” that threw the Philistine army into panic and confusion. In the confusion and panic the Israelite army was able to engage the Philistines and to ultimately win the battle against them.

In this simple section that describes another of God’s interaction on behalf of His people one of the things that is so amazing is we see that God answers the earnest prayers of His people!

The word that is translated “pleaded” is a word that can also be used to describe the “crying out” or “shouting out” of an individual. It is a great word to me because as Christians we often think that our prayers need to be structured and non-offensive in order to be heard! But in this passage Samuel, the prophet and judge pleads his case with earnest abandon before his God and the result is God THUNDERS down from heaven. He speaks with the same powerful voice that the He spoke to Moses with as the nation camped at the base of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:19)

So often I hear people say to me, “I am not sure God answers prayer, at least not mine!”

REALLY?

God answers prayer – that is a basic tenant of the biblical witness but it is always in line with His ultimate plans and purposes which frankly go far beyond our own human understanding. IF God did not answer the prayers of His people then all of our petitioning and pleading would be a mere waste of time. But here in this little unassuming section of 1^st Samuel we see that God responds to the pleading of His people!

BUT let me simply say this and that is God responds to the earnest prayers of His people, not the pious and perfectly formulated prayers! God responds to the simple cries of our hearts as we seek to do His will for our lives on this thing called the journey of life and faith!

Seeking to petition the gates of heaven…

Rev Trev