I thirst for instant results. I love searching for random facts now that we have the internet. Who holds the major league record for RBIs? To what internal temperature should I cook bone-in chicken thighs on the grill? Does an American need a visa to enter El Salvador? Super fulfilling to ask a question and have it answered in milliseconds.*

Not so much when it comes to prayer. I prayed for a friend to come to faith for years, but never saw any movement. Everyone I know who believes in prayer experiences the same frustration. Sometimes God moves slowly, or other times not at all. This feels like the norm rather than the exception.

Same was true for the people of ancient Israel as they prayed and waited, and waited and prayed. But occasionally God moved without hesitation. In dire straits, surrounded by enemies, King Hezekiah laid face down in the house of the Lord and desperately begged God to intervene.

God quickly sent word by Isaiah the prophet that his prayer was heard. Later that evening God acted: And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

An immediate bloodbath. An immediate solution to Hezekiah’s problem. An immediate act of salvation for the nation. In my experience God moves slowly, like molasses on a cold morning. But every now and then God acts immediately and I get a glimpse of just what He can do. The Lord reminds me there’s a God in heaven who does what he wishes at his pace and his desire.

Isaiah 37

* Hack Wilson, 191 runs batted in, during his 1930 season with the Chicago Cubs; 175° – 185° F; U.S. citizens traveling for tourism or business do not need a visa for El Salvador.

Photo by Jean Gerber

An enormous army swarmed around Jerusalem, preparing to sack the city and carry off its inhabitants as slaves. No way could they survive this force decimating nation after nation. Desperate, King Hezekiah led his people in prayer, begging the Lord to intercede:

O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God…O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.

Sennacherib, the invading king of Assyria, mocked God—always a bad move. Judah’s king prayed for the Lord to save, and in so doing reveal his power to the ends of the earth. That evening an angel of the Lord went out and massacred 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (I wonder what that looked like, and who did the body count?). The survivors melted away, and Sennacherib returned home only to be assassinated by his sons.

What to learn from this story? No matter how bleak my circumstances, or how huge the obstacle, the Lord can intervene and make things right. He may not, but he can do whatever he wishes with whomever he pleases. Ask for help from the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim. Cause it ain’t over til it’s over.

2 Kings 19

Photo by Ray Shrewsberry

This time of year the wheat harvest rolls across Kansas, Colorado, the Dakotas and other Western states. It’s a beautiful site, the amber waves of grain swaying in the breeze, while harvesters relentlessly cut the stalks and separate the heads. As you drive past field after field, you get an idea of the bountiful nature of these lands. Our shelves bulge with bread all year long.

David observed the Lord’s abundance: You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it…you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it…You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance…the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

It must have been a fabulous harvest season in Israel. David wrote of overflowing wagon tracks—so much grain that the harvest wagons burst at the seams. I read once that the wheat harvest in the old Soviet Union suffered because the farmers lost a great deal of grain between the fields and the storage facilities due to dilapidated equipment. But here the equipment is not the issue. God sent a lavish yield, so much so that the grain trailing behind underscored his largesse.

I benefit from a lavish yield in my life as well. Plenty of foods line the shelves of my local grocery store. I live in a warm house and drive reliable vehicles. More importantly, I enjoy family and friends and the relationships that make for an abundant life. God’s openhandedness surrounds me.

David refers to the Lord as the God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth. Let this year’s harvest, the abundance that surrounds us, remind you and me of our amazing God, truly our hope and the hope of every person around the world.

Psalm 65

Photo by James Baltz

In a world of wide-ranging opinions, I’m comforted knowing I dive into deep pools of truth whenever I open my Bible. But it’s not always easy to understand the Scriptures, and even more challenging to live them out. Fortunately, I’m not left alone.

Paul worked with the church in Corinth as they struggled with worldly wisdom versus Godly wisdom. He wanted them to understand that their faith didn’t rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Paul unpacked a remarkable teaching regarding the Holy Spirit. Those who embrace Jesus, who place our faith in him, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God takes up residence within us. As a result, we now possess an ability, if we stay in tune with the Spirit, to discern truths given to us by the Lord.

Paul put it this way: Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

I like the way Eugene Peterson put it — we no longer have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. Instead, when contemplating life’s major issues, we consult the Scriptures and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. A deeper, truer, ability to discern the ways of God is available.

I’m quick to say that even in light of God’s gift of his Spirit, I often get things wrong. I don’t claim to speak in God’s voice. But I do know that I have a better chance at getting to the heart of a matter if I seek the truth through God’s Word and God’s Spirit, the foundations of a beautiful mind.

1 Corinthians 2

Photo by Norbert Kundrak