Page 9 - Prayer Ascends - English
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give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give what is good to those who ask
Him.”Again in James 4:4 we read, “you have not, because
you ask not.”
In this message, I hope to share with you something fresh
about prayer from a portion of scripture in Luke chapter
1 that has always blessed me. Let’s read Luke 1:5-14 and I
will make some important comments.
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named
Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from
the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They
were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly
in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But
they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they
were both advanced in years” (Luke 1:5-7).
If I might paraphrase the above passage, it will help. In
verse 5, Zacharias (whose name means ‘God remembers’)
and Elizabeth (whose name means ‘His Oath’) were from
a godly lineage – the Levitical priesthood. In verse 6, it
is recorded that they were both righteous in the sight of
God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and
requirements of the Lord.
There was only one problem. They had no child. Elizabeth
was barren. But now, here’s the real problem - they were
also both advanced in years.
For years and years, since they were married and sweet lovers
- perhaps in their early twenties - they had prayed and asked
the Lord for a child. Year after year passed but they had no
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