This series focuses on prayer, on a bible passage from the book of Ezekiel.
The objective of this session is to know who God really is, what God can do for us, and how it can be applicable to our prayer life.
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
Like Ezekiel, we are often placed in situations in our lives that are often the lowest point and in the middle of the valley. God allows us to look back and forth to survey the ‘land’ or the situation in detail. Then like Ezekiel, we will also realise that how dry are our lives are, as Ezekiel finds the many dry bones in middle of the valley.
There are certain things we look in our lives, that no matter how hard to try to look at it and attempt to resolve it, it seems very hopeless like the dry bones too. But it is through these hopeless [dry bones] in our lives, that God is able to work amazing miracles for us.
3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
God allows Ezekiel to first, surveyed the land and realize the reality.
Then God asks Ezekiel whether these dry bones can live. What would be our response be if we were Ezekiel?
Our response could be no, because they are so dead and impossible for them to be alive once again.
Or your response uncertain, saying whatever your will be done Lord.
Or your response be dreaded, telling God why you are in the middle of this valley filled full of dead dry bones, and pleading God to take your away to somewhere, where you could maybe can sit back and have a cup of coffee to relax instead.
Ezekiel response is, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
The word ‘O’ doesn’t mean define as the gentle tone Ezekiel is trying to tell God.
It is originated from the Hebrew word, Bahal. In English, it doesn’t mean “Ohhh”.
In English, Bahal means terrify, in a hurry, disturbed.
Therefore in Ezekiel response, he was in a hurry to reply God, why?
Ezekiel knew who God was, terrify cause he knew who God is, and what can God do.
Ezekiel made an immediate response to God. He could said it because he could understood in his heart and his spirit that he has seen the reality of who God is and what God can do that can far surpasses death and the amount of hopeless that he is been confronted by. He knew that God was Sovereign. Thus God is able and know what to do in situations like this.
What does Sovereign means? It means being above all, having the right, having supreme reign, final, ultimate.
So why Ezekiel response “O Sovereign LORD”, he is acknowledging that God is rank over and above whatever he is been confronted with, God is ranked over every creature, over and above every circumstances, over and above any power that try to set up against Christ. It means that God is not limited, God is not constrained by circumstances. We know that back in History, Jesus conquered Sin and Death, God is not constrained by that.
So when we pray and bring your needs and the needs of others to God, knowing that God is sovereign, knowing that God is supreme over that situation, knowing that God knows what to do even if we don’t, God knows best?
Do you pray, when you pray to God about your problems, your ‘dry bones’, or someone else ‘dry bones’, as if God is as dry as those dry bones? Do you pray as if God is as big as your problem? Or Do you pray, knowing that God is supreme over the problems?
As believers of Christ, if we know and spend time finding out pursing on what does God mean when He says that he is sovereign, omnipotent, all loving, all powerful, all presence, perfect, faithful, unchanging. If we would just spend time learning about all these attributes about God, and realizing it. Then we will cut down on our worrying frustration and anxiety by a 100 percent.
Instead, we place all our time and energy worshipping God for who He is. And spend our time praying prayers that are powerful that will change lives of people around you change, bear fruit, friends who doesn’t believe in God and you will see that person live change. You will pray prayers like that, if only you know how much God is worth. Cassilda encourages us to take time to understand all the profound descriptions about God, such as Omnipotent, and go deep with the Lord. To Know who He really is, and when you know who He is really, you will know who you are praying to, and you will start to see your prayers bear fruit.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath [a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ “
Amazing thing: God repeats again
God says that in the verse “You will come to live”. God wants to speak to all these dead things and bones that they will come to live.
At the end of the day, the bottom-line is that the reality is that our God is good, and our God is a God that He intend for us to have life.
Regardless of all our circumstances that we faced, God intend for all of us to have life.
It is hard for us to believe that God is good and on our side, because that we live is such a broken world, and we live in a world is out to get us.
But this is an invitation for us to go deep, and really meditate on what God has done for us, and in Ezekiel 37:6 that God intends to have life for us that God is on our side
Why God didn’t order the dry bones to come to live as human immediately? Even God is almighty and sovereign.
But God with his infinite wisdom and sovereignty choose to restore life, step by step.
In your life, if you see your stage of your life not matching to what you pray to God for, just stay faithful to him and let Him build you up, knowing in his infinite wisdom that he has plans to restore your life slowly, step by step.
“You will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” Let that be your testimony.
So when we pray, expect God to move your life in specific ways, step by step.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
If we want our prayers to carry power, and carry physical changes, people transform, or situations changed, then there are principles that we need to do.
The 2 principles Cassilda shared was:
1. We need to be obedient. We need to obey what God asks and tell us to do.
2. We need to prophesize. We need to speak of the word of God over the situation we are praying for.
How to speak the word of God over the situations? Turn to the scripture, and use that pray over the situation of someone else. Replace the word ‘you’ over the name of the person you’re praying for in the scripture, in the scripture.
It sound simple, but the word of God we prayed over for, carries the power of God in scriptures.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ “10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army.
Interesting fact: Everything is there for a human body, but there is no breath and life in it. It is like the brokenness is restored, but is the shell is missing.
At times in our life, people may see us in the things that we do, and think that our life is perfect and everything is going on very fine. However deep inside of us, we feel empty, and there is no breath in us. It is like we are doing things faithful like in our prayer life, and going for mass, but you feel very empty.
If we are feeling and recognized emptiness in us, then look on the next verse on what God told Ezekiel. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’
Breath can be representing also the spirit of God or the Holy Spirit.
When we pray and ask the Holy Spirit to come into the situation or our lives, there is power. Josie encourages us if we feel emptiness in our lives; we call upon the Holy Spirit [the breath of God], come O Spirit of God to come and feel me and empowered me. Then watch your lives change, and everything change.
“Come breath of God and overshadow me”, if you tasked to something pray for the Spirit of God to come over it, so that there will be living fruits from your labour. Because it can look very good on the outside, but there is something missing and that is the breath.
Josie encourages us that when we pray, pray for the Spirit of God to overshadow you, us, and the work that we do in our everyday lives.
