Pastor's Blog

Fourth, supplication:

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly... let them say, Spare Your people” (Joel 2:15-17). Now the prophet sounds the trumpet call for collective prayer by old and young, male and female, priest and people. Even the wails of the suckling’s are a part of this prayer meeting which is characterized by earnestness in supplication, self-denial in fasting, genuineness in repentance, weeping in sorrow, persistence in intercession and diligence in seeking God.

There is no thought of prayer beautifully phrased and impressively uttered, no delight in mere rhyme and rhythm, no interest in dignified robes and religious paraphernalia, and no clamor for ornate ritual and imposing architecture. The need is too great, the distress too deep, and the cries too loud for the observance of ecclesiastical proprieties and traditional sanctions.

Things lose their meaning and men become shadows when God is all that matters. He will restore what was once enjoyed when those things that displaced Him will be displaced by Him, when we pursue again that which interests Him and discard that in which He has no interest. He will be found anew when He is allowed to be both center and circumference in our lives so that we can say with the psalmist of old,

“All my springs are in You.” Psalms 87:7