April 24 - Choose Prayer

 Read today’s texts first: 1 Samuel 28,29; Psalms 109; Matthew 11

MAXIMize YOUR DAY
Does God choose us or do we choose Him?
The answer is yes! 

Does God choose us or do we choose Him? The answer is yes, to both questions! Some would say that God’s choice alone is determinative, that He has predetermined some to be saved and, by logical extension, some to be damned. But if that were true, it would violate God’s nature. God is love and love requires choice. For God to love us He must choose us, and if we are to love God we must choose Him.

Our readings today reflect that tension of mutual choice. Saul and David had equal opportunity to choose God, to choose a life of prayer, of intimate relationship with a loving God. But for Saul, prayer was the means to tell God what he wanted, not to hear what God wanted. God was not his friend, his lover; in Saul’s mind, God was his good luck charm, his secret amulet to help him win battles and the praise of his subjects.

Unfortunately, because he consistently chose to disobey God, God stopped talking to Saul (28:5,16-18). So desperate was he for God’s help, he consulted a spiritist, a medium, after rightly banning them from Israel. Mediums are forbidden because they use deception and demonic power as a counterfeit for God, but in this case, the witch of Endor freaked out when the true God intervened (28:12). God allowed Samuel (the spirits of believers are not ghosts who roam the earth, but they do live forever with God) one more opportunity to remind Saul of the consequences of his choices to ignore God’s will (28:19).

David, on the other hand, was a “man of prayer” (109:4). David and God were so close, God provided him a way out of a difficult dilemma (29:6,7). David was put in the position of having to fight against his own people to protect his family and to prove his loyalty to the Philistines who had kept him safe from Saul. But because David consistently chose to love God with all of his heart, soul, and strength (a.k.a. integrity), God protected him in that moment and throughout his reign over Israel (Psa. 25:21; 1 Kings 9:4,5).

We also see the tension of mutual choice in the words of Jesus. God chooses to reveal Himself to all those who choose to come to Him (11:27,28). “Lord, I choose to come to You today, and to be yoked together with You for the rest of my life. I want to learn from You, from Your gentle and humble heart, and to find rest for my soul” (11:29).