August 09 2024

Friday August 09

“…Your Prayer is Heard”

Luke 1:8-17

8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Yesterday we mentioned how that God speaks to His people and calls them while they are busy doing their daily task. Zacharias was busy at his appointed duty as a priest. In the previous verses we also read that he and his wife Elizabeth both were “righteous before God”. They were blessed with this testimony by being faithful to fulfill “commandments and ordinances of the Lord” in every aspect of their daily lives and in their worship of Jehovah. They were also “blameless” (v. 6). Not only did they have a testimony before the Lord, but they also had a testimony before the world around them.

What is amazing about this is as you study the Gospel accounts of the times in which Zacharias and Elizabeth lived, there was rampant corruption everywhere and especially in the religious world. Most of the leaders of the priesthood and religious teachers of Jesus day were very corrupt and misusing their position for both political and financial gain. Jesus accused them of turning the House of God into a den of thieves. I believe that Zacharias and his wife prayed daily for the Messiah to come in fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. Their faith in His coming led them to live holy and “blameless” lives despite the corruption around them.

And God richly rewarded their faith and godly lives! May the Lord help us to do the same in these days of darkness! I love how verse 8 begins the next section of Scriptures, “So it was, that while….”! This when God does a supernatural miracle! “An angel of the Lord appeared to him…” (v. 11). Luke mentions angels twenty-three times in his Gospel. In Revelation 5:11 we read that there are innumerable angels, but only three of which are actually named in Scripture: Michael (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7), Gabriel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26), and Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12). In Scripture, Michael appears to be a “warrior angel”. Gabriel appears to be a messenger angel. And Lucifer is a fallen angel who becomes know as the devil or Satan.

When Gabriel appeared by the altar, Zacharias was frightened, for the angel's appearance could have meant divine judgment. Gabriel assures Zacharias that he doesn’t need to be afraid because he is a bearer of good news. "Fear not" or “Do not be afraid”, is a repeated statement in the Gospel of Luke (1:13, 30; 2:10; 5:10; 8:50; 12:7, 32). Imagine how excited Zacharias must have been when he heard that he and Elizabeth were to have a son! “Many will rejoice at his birth” (v. 14). "Rejoicing" is another key theme in Luke, mentioned at least nineteen times. Good news brings joy!

Gabriel instructed him to name his son John ("Jehovah is gracious") and to dedicate the boy to God to be a Nazarite all of his life (Num. 6:1-21). He would be filled with the Spirit before birth (Luke 1:41) and would be God's prophet to present His Son to the people of Israel (see John 1:15-34). God would use John's ministry to turn many people back to the Lord, just as Isaiah had promised (Isa. 40:1-5).

Today, these verses should encourage and remind us that our prayers may be answered very unexpectedly (v. 13). When the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, for thy prayer is heard," it was to him staggering news, although he had been praying many long years that a son might be given them. They were both now "well advanced in years" (v. 7), suggesting that he had continued this prayer long after the expectation had died away. If the Lord lays it on the heart to continue in prayer for any definite thing, is this not in itself an evidence that He desires so to bless us?

This also reminds us that the Lord is able to do far above what we ask. Zacharias not only would have a son born to him, but that son "would be great in the sight of the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit" (v. 15). A son worthy of the God who gave him. The good old man and his humble, blameless wife were now abundantly rewarded for their many years of praying and waiting. God is not unfaithful. Wait on the Lord. Though the vision tarry, wait. (Habakkuk 2:3).

Today we should pray, “Even so come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

God bless!