Certain things happen and we immediately realize that these things are beyond our power. That is when many of us begin to look for God. Although God is always there and He wants us to find Him, there is something about the way we are wired that causes us to seek Him only when we are at the end of our ropes. For some of us, we realize our need for God’s help very early in life, but still we come across some afflictions or trials that are so hard we cannot continue with life without God’s immediate help. In a way we can conclude that God has a way of showing us that our existence depends wholly on His grace. We are at the end of our ropes now Lord, come down please and manifest your power.
God knows how to get our attention when we head on a path that leads to destruction. I read a piece written by Bob Russel, where he concluded that what is going on in the world now may be God’s way of getting our attention. He added that if we consider what is going on from a spiritual perspective, we find that because we worship money, Covid-19 has come to bring our booming economy to a grinding halt. Because we worship sports, the biggest games are canceled because of Covid-19. Because we worship entertainment, parades, along with concerts are postponed, bars and restaurants closed, and the party life shut down due to Covid-19. Because we worship science, the leading medical experts now disagree as to the proper course of action to counter the pandemic and because we worship our impressive churches, our church buildings now sit empty on Sunday morning. I think we should all take a pause and examine ourselves to see what exactly we are doing that has caused us to go on a tangent of God’s main purpose for us and go down on our knees in prayer like prophet Isaiah did.
Lord, we need you now because we cannot continue like this. We are dealing with Covid-19 and we do not seem to know how to deal with it. The country’s leadership seem confused at best. As if this was not enough, there is great division in the land, some rogue police are deriving joy from killing black people, and no one seems to be able to stop them. On top of all these, the natural disasters do not seem to abate. Lord, come now, we need you. In fact, at a time like this, we need the prayer that Isaiah prayed in Isaiah 64:1-12 more than ever. We need our great God to come now and deliver us now. Isaiah’s prayer was passionate and was straight to the point. When we ask for our God to come down now, it is not because we are ignorant of the fact that He is omnipresent. We are only asking that our God should show His power. We are saying we want to feel His manifest presence and power. We are saying that we are at the end of our rope and we need our God to help us. In Isaiah 64:6, he says “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” We need you now God because we cannot do anything by ourselves. “Come down Oh Lord and manifest your power” (Popular worship).
There are a lot going on that we cannot handle, Lord. We are in your hands and we are seeking your face now, Lord, to come down and manifest your power. As Isaiah said, you are the Lord that can “come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!” – Isaiah 64:2b. Your word tells us that you are the Lord, the God of all flesh and there is nothing too hard for you. So, considering, Lord, who you are and what you do, we conclude our prayer just as Isaiah concluded his prayer. “After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?” – Isaiah 64:12. Answer us O lord! “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!” – Isaiah 64:1.
It is time we all go on our knees like Isaiah, and the Lord who answered Isaiah will also answer us. We must be people who are praying for God to intervene in our lives, our church, and a people who will intercede for our world. Let us confess our sins to the Lord and seek His face for redemption. And as in Isaiah 64:8, let us be people who place ourselves into His hands as His clay and allow the Lord to mold us, move us, push us, pull us and do whatever is necessary to be His Vessels in which He can pour out His Spirit upon our World. A world that is redeemed by His power and grace. We are waiting Lord, come now, and manifest your power.
– Pastor Simbo Odunaiya
