“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” ~ Isaiah 30:18
REFERENCE:
God is a God of perfect justice. The foundation of His justice is His righteousness. Praying for Sodom, Abraham said, “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked…! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25) God never condemns the innocent and never clears the guilty without repentance. The legal principles in His word bind Him, and this must govern the approach of those who come to His court in prayers.
In the King James Bible, justice is the Hebrew word Mishpat, which means Judgment. It means ruling over cases of dispute or wrongdoing, judging a matter, or deciding a case. It also refers to the seat of Judgment, sentence of Judgment, or a favorable or unfavorable verdict pronounced judicially. This truth throws up a dimension of God that many are unaware of, which is critical in our approach to prayer. If God is a judge, then we need to pray like lawyers.
Although prayer is essentially, ‘communicating with God,’ another dimension of prayer is based on jurisprudence (law). Our text shows us that God is a judge who decides matters based on law, justice, and equity principles. If you do not understand this, you will be dealing with judicial matters with emotions, which achieves nothing in a court—and you know, no lawyer wins a case in court by emotions; he must argue based on the law.
Satan knows this prayer dimension; he is called the ‘accuser of the brethren.’ ‘Accuser’ in Greek is ‘kategoros;’ it means a complainant at law or a plaintiff, petitioner, or litigant. This hints that satan goes before the court of heaven and seeks to have you sentenced to a life of failure, lack, struggles, etc. Day and night, he files a lawsuit to sabotage your destiny, oppose your progress, or any benefit that God’s plans for you. He fights to stop you from getting God’s audience or favor.
An accuser must find grounds for accusation, which he takes to court. Satan’s work is to seek grounds to accuse you before God. Consider Joshua, the High Priest; his ministry was subdued because Satan found grounds to accuse/oppose him and undermine his ministry. Since God is a God of justice, He is bound to act based on the provisions of His word (law) and decide cases impartially. Let this truth guide you in your prayers. We will learn more about this in future episodes.
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
Deuteronomy 32:3-4, Psalm 92:15, Revelation 12:9-10, and Zechariah 3:1-5
PRAYER :
+ O Lord, help me to see You as the God of justice who decides cases impartially and is bound to honor what He has said in His word. I ask that the Holy Spirit let this truth guide me in praying.
