Guest blog by Katie Overbeek
Like many of you, I have fumbled, sobbed and stomped my way through 2020 as best as I can.
In the midst of the pandemic storm, our family has encountered some significant challenges and trials this year. We’ve seen some victories, but there’s been a lot of heavy lifting and we’re tired.
Early last week I found myself jolting awake around 2 am. Unable to get back to sleep, I lay there for several hours feeling completely overwhelmed.
As tsunami waves of panic hit and I struggled to keep my mind afloat, one little thought passed through my head that felt somehow separate from the rest - a still, small whisper.
“IT’S TIME TO TIP THE BOWL.”
That was it. It’s time to tip the bowl. No corresponding thoughts, and no real interpretation. I didn’t really think anything of it and eventually went back to sleep.
It was probably a good two days later before the phrase popped into my mind again, this time tacked to a vague memory of a passage in Revelation. I looked it up and found it : Revelation 5 verse 6, which refers to a golden bowl filled with the prayers of the saints.
As Revelation is possibly the most complex book of the Bible, I knew I’d need to go into the text to take a closer look before coming to any conclusions. If I’ve learned anything through the years about hearing the voice of God, it’s that all personal “feelings” or “senses” need to be weighed carefully against Scripture.
Thnkfully, my dad is a Bible scholar who specializes in expository teaching on Revelation. I am indebted to his book “Mystery Explained” for helping me get some context as I’ve worked through these thoughts.
Revelation 5 verse 6 mentions “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints”. In verse 10, we are given some context for these prayers. As my dad writes,
“…the prayers…call for the judgment of God upon evildoers and his deliverance of the righteous. This is a powerful reminder to Christians, especially those going through times of tribulation, that their prayers have supernatural effect and are supported by a heavenly ministry.”
The angel offers the prayers on the altar, fills up a censer with fire from the altar and flings it on the earth, with all sorts of judgments on evil following. In short, this passage tells us God honours the cry of his people for justice to prevail.
When we think about the sheer amount of injustice that is done on earth, and even about the personal injustices and wrongs we’ve each suffered, this passage should give us hope. Eventually all evil and wrong will be eradicated, but God wants to work for us and through us here and now, right in the midst of our troubles.
When we are experiencing an injustice, or when we’re fighting against injustice on behalf of someone else, God is for us in that struggle. He will equip us and empower us with the wisdom, grace and clarity that we need. When it’s hard, we can persevere.
Scripture clearly portrays a God who listens and whose actions somehow, mysteriously, are influenced by our response.
Having said that, the Biblical concept of God being responsive to prayer isn’t to be confused with a faulty “name it and claim it” ideology that puts a heavier focus on our efforts than on God’s ability to help us.
We can’t control God, BUT he does pay attention to our prayers - and in this sense, prayer does impact the way he works on earth.
Even more mysteriously than this, the fact that he listens to us and is influenced by our prayer does not in any way diminish his absolute sovereignty and control.
God listens to us. Isn’t that amazing? In Psalm 56, David prays “you have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle”. David is poetically describing how God keeps track of all the injustices and hardships he has endured. God hasn’t overlooked a single thing. God will defend his cause against his adversary.
Jesus’ parable about the persistent widow follows a similar tack. In Jesus’ day, widows would have been among the most vulnerable, marginalized people in society. In the story, she has suffered an injustice from an adversary and decides to pester the local judge by pounding on his door until he grants her what she needs.
Jesus specifically describes the judge as being unjust - in other words, he’s corrupt. He’s the opposite of what he should be given his role. This poor lady doesn’t stand much of a chance - and yet, because she’s persistent, he relents.
Jesus’ point in this parable is that if even an unjust judge would relent to persistent efforts if only out of sheer annoyance, how much more so does God the Father - who cares for his children - listen and answer our cries for help when we’re in trouble?
I think of my sister, who hand wrote a letter to our prime minister and other government officials every day for 132 days and advocated endlessly to be reunited with her British fiancé so he can be here to see her through the rest of her cancer treatment. Amazingly, last week we finally saw her persistence pay off. In some ways, her story is a living parable of the same thing.
It’s beyond explanation how this works, but God listens. God honours persistent prayer.
And perhaps sometimes he lets us pray for a while before something gives - simply because of how the prayer changes us.
When I think of my prayers filling a bowl, in my mind that bowl looks pretty full right now.
This year has been hard for me, but much harder for many other people. The entire world has endured unthinkable tragedy. Among other things, I think of the millions of people in the developing world who are now on the brink of starvation because of lockdown restrictions. Even here in our nation I think of all the people who have lost their livelihood and are struggling to make ends meet. I think of those whose mental health struggles have spun out of control. I think of the suicide and overdose rates and the weight of despair. I think of the exponential increase in child exploitation and abuse during this time.
I think of all this - and I feel completely, utterly helpless. I have spent countless hours crying out to God for this crisis to end, sometimes silently in my bed at night and sometimes at the top of my lungs when I’m alone in the car. When will this bowl tip?
What does that even mean?
Well, first of all I think it would be a mistake for me to take that 2 a.m. moment last week and assign my own timeline. God only knows when things will turn a corner for any of us in any given situation, whether in this pandemic moment or beyond.
However, the idea of God responding to prayer with justice and breakthrough is entirely Scriptural. If nothing else, I’m reminded that God hasn’t stopped listening. His ear is inclined - and in some mysterious way I don’t understand, he does respond to persistence.
He is a just God, and he hasn’t overlooked a single injustice.
I am so familiar with that deep weariness many of us are feeling. Perhaps, like me, you’ve prayed and interceded for something over a period of time and have started to feel like the prayer doesn’t make a difference.
My friends, I feel God would remind us that it does. Lift up your head. Worship him. Acknowledge his power, his goodness and his supreme authority. Ask again.
It’s time for us to persist, to press in - and to see what he is going to do.
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