“Come now let us reason together,” says the Lord.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I bet that’s a familiar phrase from the Word. You probably recognize it from Isaiah chapter 1 where it says, “Come now… though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” In light of that, we are to come before God and reason together with Him. I love that idea – reasoning with the Lord. And every time I think of it, I can’t help but picture a big courtroom in the sky…
You know how it is, before a lawyer presents his case in court, before he goes in front of the judge, he prepares, doesn’t he – he takes great pains and a great deal of time to think through his request. He has thoroughly considered, he has thought through his appeal – and he comes before the judge knowing his argument, understanding his reasons, ready to make his case for why the judge should rule in a certain way. A good lawyer would never approach the bench unprepared, just talking off the top of his head. If he did, it would not only show disrespect for the courtroom, but for the judge. No, a good lawyer is ready to give a good defense for his case. And the stronger the appeal, the more carefully the judge will listen.
This image of a courtroom is often something I carry in my mind when I am approaching God about a particular issue that I feel is important. I want God to know, I want Him to see that I am attaching importance to the thing I'm praying about. I want Him to hear it in my prayer. I want the Lord to know that I take seriously whatever it is I'm laying before Him. I don't do this with the idea that God has to be convinced – if he put it on my heart to pray that seriously, he's already convinced. No, rather, I think he wants me to be convinced… He wants to see that I am taking his will seriously. He wants to know how much importance I attach to my petition.
I think God had this in mind when He said to Isaiah, “Come now, let us reason together.” God's delighted when we arrive at His Throne not in a haphazard way… Not saying things all willy-nilly with whatever comes to mind, but arriving before him truly prepared for prayer. Sure, there's a place for what many call arrow prayers – where you shoot a quick petition up to the Lord without thinking… There's even a place for prayer that you offer with abandon, out of spontaneous joy or excitement. But when it comes to serious requests, so many times I just blurt things out without thinking – when really, I should be waiting on the Lord and seeking in advance God's heart in the matter. Like: What do you think, God? What is your will as it concerns this problem? What do you want to tell me before I go to prayer? God loves it when we are ready to defend our intercessions, ready to explain before him why we do believe it is his will to do a certain thing in a situation or act in a certain way.
And speaking of prayer, it was my joy to serve earlier this year as the honorary chair for the National Day of Prayer… Part of my responsibilities involved giving an inspirational message to those gathered to pray on Capitol Hill that day. Well, the Family Talk with James Dobson folks have made copies of that message and I'd love to send you a CD of it. I know I always like to hear fresh insights on prayer, and I think this message will help you come and reason together with the Lord in a new way. Just take a minute to click on my radio page at joniandfriends.org and ask for your free CD. And thanks for always seeking God's heart out on every matter, great or small, and don’t forget to write us a Joni and Friends at P.O. Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376.
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