The Potential of Prayer (2)

“Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’” Jeremiah 33.2, 3

Want to know a secret?
“I know a secret.” From childhood to the present, we can’t resist the allure of secrets. Someone wants to tell us something, but insists we have to keep it to ourselves, and we just can’t wait to hear it. We want to be in the know. To have a secret is to be in on something concerning which others simply have no clue.

Something in us longs to know secret, forbidden, inaccessible things – the bigger and more spectacular, the better. To know these things in such a way as to own them, to possess them and enjoy the satisfaction of participating in something special. And this is part of the potential of prayer. The God Who hears and answers prayers promises to show us great things, mighty things, and mysteries we’ve never known before. And that promise never grows old. It’s always fresh, and it’s always true. God always has more great things and mysteries to show us than we’ve ever known.

The force of our text is actually a little stronger than most English translations convey. A more literal translation would be something like this: “Call on Me, and keep calling, and I will answer you; and I will cause you to know great things and mighty, inaccessible, secret things, which you have not known.” God baits us to seek Him in prayer with the promise of big, glorious, hidden things – secrets, but not the kind He ever expects us to keep to ourselves, rather, the kind He intends us to rejoice in and shout from the house tops.

Prayer can bring us into great things and mysteries, and there we can be utterly transformed.

The greatness of God
Through prayer God promises to show us great things and mysteries, things that are not otherwise available to us, and that we cannot obtain or possess apart from prayer. What might some of these be?

For a glimpse of these, we need look no further than the rest of Jeremiah 33. First, God holds out to His praying people a vision of Himself – of His great power, saving purpose, and coming redemption. Prayer has the potential to deepen our knowledge of God, our experience of and relationship with Him. As we call upon Him in prayer, God begins to reveal Himself in powerful and mysterious ways, with the result that we come to know Him better, and are drawn more deeply into His glory.

In Jeremiah 33 God caused His people to know that He was greater than the power of fierce nations (vv. 4, 5); able to restore blessings and spiritual vitality to a rebellious people (vv. 6, 8); and powerful to make His despised people a source of joy and wonder to all the nations of the earth (vv. 9-13). You can bet that the people of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day had never seen anything like that before.

In prayer, as we draw near to God, approaching Him according to His Word, we discover Him to be greater, more powerful, and more loving, forgiving, and amazing than we’ve ever known. The Father, Son, and Spirit meet us in prayer, and make themselves known to us in ever-deeper and more expansive ways. And we discover this always-fresh-and-greater vision of God, over and over, greater and greater, with increasing hope and delight, the more we seek the Lord in prayer.

His Kingdom and salvation
Also among the great things God causes us to know in prayer are the scope, beauty, and might of His Kingdom and salvation. In prayer we meet with Jesus our King, Who sits on the throne of David, ruling the nations in justice and righteousness (Jer. 33.14-16). We commune with Him Whose power none can resist or overthrow (Ps. 2), and Who wields that power on our behalf, so that we might be safe and secure in Him (Jer. 33.16).

As we pray we hear Jesus, our great High Priest (vv. 17, 18), interceding for us, and we hear again the Lord reciting His covenant promises of blessedness and blessing, redounding to us through our King and Savior, Jesus, the offspring of David (vv. 19-22; cf. 2 Pet. 1.4).

In prayer, in the presence of our Savior and King, we lift up the cup of salvation, celebrating Him Who has purchased and poured this great boon for us, and we drink our salvation down with greater fullness, joy, and hope than we have ever known before, every time we come to the Lord in prayer (Ps. 116.1-14).

The glory which is to come
Finally, in prayer we glimpse the glory of God and, entering into His glory, gain a foretaste of the greater, unbroken and unending glory, which is to come (vv. 23-25). In the presence of God we know fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16.11), for we enter into the joy and pleasure of the Lord Himself, are renewed in His mercy, and have our minds and hearts directed toward the greater and more continuous, ever-flourishing restoration which Jesus Christ is preparing for us even now (v. 25; cf. Jn. 14.1-3).

God wants us to know Him in all His greatness, greater and greater, more and more (Jn. 17.3; 2 Pet. 3.18). We are privileged to know the secrets of His Kingdom, beginning with God Himself. He wants us to drink more deeply of His Kingdom and salvation. And He is ready to bathe us in His glory as preparation and foretaste of the eternal glory to come.

But He will only do this in prayer, as we call on Him, and keep calling on Him, submitting to His terms and preconditions, and longing to know what He has to show us – secrets to be known and proclaimed, greater and more wondrous and glorious than we’ve ever known before.

For reflection
1.  Can you say that, when you pray, you truly experience the presence of God? Explain.

2.  What are some of the mysteries or secrets of life in the Kingdom about which you would like to know more? Can you know these apart from prayer?

3.  How does prayer help you to stand in the hope of God’s glory (Rom. 5.1, 2)?

Next steps – Preparation: When was the last time you glimpsed great things and mysteries like this in prayer? How might you arrange your prayers so that what God promises in Jeremiah 33 is more consistently what you acquire? Talk with a pastor, church leader, or soul friend about these questions.

T. M. Moore
Each of our “next steps” exercises is tied into goals and disciplines involved in working your Personal Mission Field. If you have not yet identified your Personal Mission Field, watch the brief video showing you how to get started right away (click here). Learn how to work your Personal Mission Field by finding a friend and signing-up for our Mission Partners Outreach.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.