Lately, I have been doing a lot of “everyone” praying. I just pray for everyone, sometimes with distinct characteristics like, family, friends, enemies, church contacts, daycare contacts, divine appointments I have had, anyone in our home church ministry ever, and everyone I have ever met in my life anytime, anywhere, anyhow, anywhy; everyone without exception, that kind of thing. It helps me to let myself want for everyone whatever God is teaching me to want for myself.
This morning this hit hard as I was overwhelmed with sorrow and grace to feel desperation for people to know God. I found myself in Revelation 7 where we see a great multitude that no one could number standing (without fear) before the throne of God “and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”[1]
Part of my response to this included a genuine feeling of awe and wonder that all God’s children will one day see the fulfillment of these visions from Revelation in the exact way the symbolism of Revelation introduces them. There is a feeling of childlike anticipation that the apocryphal description will be experienced in a way that we are very much surprised while being equally delighted to connect the dots from revelation to reality.
Here are some thoughts about how that picture in Revelation 7 led me to tune my praying for everyone to express what I myself want to experience of those wonders of the divine presence.
First, the picture of all believers “crying out with a loud voice,” made me feel a longing that my crying out to God in prayer would contribute to everyone crying out to God in prayer. What we will all cry out in praise and thanksgiving together then ought to have a growing expression of unity in the Spirit through the bond of peace[2] now so that all God’s children cry out and pray with the same desire for the glory of God and the good of his people.
At the same time, I wanted my “crying out with a loud voice” in my soul and spirit to count for the blessing of everyone whether they realized their need to pray or not. There is a gift of grace in interceding for everyone, enemies included, and feeling a semblance of what it feels like to be becoming more like Jesus, and to enjoy the feeling of intercession as something that he delights to feel himself.
Then, I wanted the certainty and praise of, “salvation belongs to our God”, Yahweh, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, to resonate in every soul so everyone knows that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”[3]
And, I wanted this praise and prayer about the uniqueness of salvation as belonging to our God to result in the saving of everyone included in my everyone-praying. I do want everyone to know this for themselves, that they would have this salvation that belongs to our God alone.
I also wanted everyone to feel that, even in this horribly scary world where hidden forces of evil are being exposed as servants of Satan, that the God of our salvation “sits on the throne,” and no one can stop him from carrying out his plans and purposes for everything.
The reason our salvation is secure is because it is the salvation given by the God who sits on THE throne! That throne is so gloriously described in Revelation 4, along with the corresponding effect this throneroom of God has on angels, children, and creatures alike, that by chapter 7’s vision we get it, that there is no higher throne than that of Yahweh our God.
As we picture ourselves standing among that great multitude of the redeemed, we delight to know that,
“God has highly exalted him (Jesus) and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[4]
And so I could not help wanting everyone to
know this now so that our confession of Jesus Christ as Lord before that holy throne
of God will be equally as joyful and delightful as what we see in the vision
that was given to our older brother John.
And, finally (for the moment at least), I wanted everyone to know, “the Lamb”, as John recorded it in his gospel, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[5] I was praying that Jesus would make himself known to everyone this way, as the Lamb who laid down his life for our sins. I was praying that people would feel the cleansing from sin equally, no favoritism, no one missing out, but Jesus glorified in the taking away of our sins so we all could stand before that throne giving praise to God the Father and Jesus the Son.
For a while now I have been going through a series of losses that have increased in intensity over the months. I have been finding a lot of comfort in Job 1 where Job was hit with all his losses. He is mentoring me through mine.
I am particularly comforted by Job’s response to the news of his losses where he declared, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away; blessed be the name of Yahweh.” God’s commentary on this was that, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”[6]
Today I felt such comfort in the fact that Job DID fully express his grief (“then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head”[7]), but in a way that was righteous. It comforted me to think that, with Job’s example of he, “fell on the ground and worshiped,” God has received all the songs I have written of worship in grief in the same way. It was very special and comforting to attach to that.
I suspect I will be in Revelation 7 for at
least another day as I consider God’s leading to pray for everyone about the
most important thing of all: to be saved from God’s judgment against our sin so
we can stand in his presence without condemnation. There is absolutely no
benefit to me to even secretly wish that my very worst enemy would be excluded.
It is to the glory of God’s grace that I know I want God and the Lamb glorified
in the salvation of… EVERYONE!
© 2022 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English
Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition:
2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News
Publishers.)
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