This comes from chapter twelve of my 2020 book, “One Man’s Walk with God: Preparing for Trials and Fears“.

Will You find faith in me?

“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
Luke 18:8

Almighty God, as I ponder and think over Your word above, I must ask, have You not stamped this on my heart since the day I first read such truth? – And yet, how easy it is for me to forget! Oh Lord, do not ever let me forget nor fail to apply this text and respond. I need to ask myself today:

• Do You find faith in me today?
• Will You find faith in me on that day?
• Will I be found walking on the narrow path being led by Your Holy Spirit?
• Will I be increased with love, compassion and humility?
• Or will I be found wandering and wayward?
• Or will what has been written here bear witness against me?

Lord please, I ask of You a thousand times over, and thus praise Your holy name, may I be marked by grace, bruised by love and matured in devotion, prayer and obedience. Lord grant this poor man that I might press in and on, and when Jesus comes, He will find in me a resolve in prayer[1] and a faith persevering for Your glory. For I never want it to be said of me, nor of anyone to whom I can think:

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”[2]

I am reminded today, and I cannot help but to agree, with what one preacher recently past often used to say:

“The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world and make him holy, then put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it.“[3]

Oh Lord, what an amazing miracle it is that Jesus Christ would shed His own blood for me.[4] Lord, I never want to cease in my awareness of knowing:

• You are my greatest need
• I need always to be about growing in and by Your word.
• I must be prepared prior to the trials and fears in walking with You.
• When the trials come, that I would run to Christ and the example set before me.
• I need to always be dressed in Your armor.
• That I would lay down my arms that You might empty me of my selfishness and pride.
• That I would always be trusting and rejoicing in You.
• When fear lurks its ugly head, I would recognize and admit my need and set my sights rightly on You again.
• That I would not be ignorant of Satan’s cunning as Your word has declared all I need to know for both wisdom’s sake and victory against the evil one.
• When darkness tempts and persuades me that I have no hope, that You will remind and revive me to delight in You, my rock, my fortress and my strong tower.

You have saved me and carried me these last twenty years, I know, that should You grant me twenty more, You shall carry me all the further. Oh Lord God, You are so beautiful and faithful! Oh, that I may trust You all the more!

Lord, like the “widow woman”[5] let me too pray with such tenacity and unfailing resolve; even more so, grant me to learn to pray like Your dear Son Jesus. As it says in Your word:

“In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a son, he learned obedience through what He suffered; And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him…”[6]

And…

“…He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’”[7]

And again…

“Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”[8]

Continuing…

“I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of this world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”[9]

What deep and profound, extremely encouraging and promising, the words that Jesus prayed. Lord, help me to be so minded, remembering that if Jesus prayed such and He consecrated Himself, I know that I too shall be brought to completion.[10]

And yet in Gethsemane, at the darkest of hours, oh how He prayed.[11] However, let me not miss the warning, for during the same dark hour, three times the disciples fell asleep at the watch.[12] “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[13] Let me take heed of this command as well, for is not the hour I am living today not growing ever darker? Indeed.

Father, as You know a dear brother recently said,

“If we are passionate worshipers of Jesus, then everything else is secondary. If Jesus is the primary object of our passions, then everything else becomes the by-product. If we ever get that wrong, we cease to be effective. If soul winning is our primary object, we cease to be effective soul winners. If faith is our primary object, then we cannot be faithful. If holiness is our primary object than we cannot be holy. If revival is our primary object, then we will never see revival. Outside of Jesus being the primary object of our lives, then we immediately begin to lose ground in every aspect of our walk, whether we are pastors or teachers or whatever role we have in the Body.”[14]

Oh Lord, how true it is that I need You far above all else. You call me to obedience and to work out my salvation with fear and trembling,[15] and although the duty, this being the responsibility to read, heed and obey Your word is mine, I know that all the power to do so is Yours. I know Lord, that should I become boastful in myself and sin, there is absolutely no way I could ever repent and truly obey apart from Jesus. So, I ask that you increase my singleness of eye, my knowledge and my desire to be attentive to my duties, and at the same time, increase Your conviction, Your strength and Your faith in me.

“Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you. Your being dead with Christ virtually, your being quickened with him, will not excuse you from this work.”[16]

And should not one of the most important duties, at least to the degree You have called of me in Your providence and sovereign will, be that of edifying my brothers and sisters in Christ that they too may be lifted high, walking sure and set towards You? For I never want to be like Cain, when he so carelessly answered you, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”[17] However to the contrary, shall I not bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ?[18] Shall I not consider others greater than myself?[19] Shall I not pray like Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened that he might see Your realities for the facing battle?[20]

“So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”[21]

And should I not intercede for my brothers and sisters like the Apostle Paul did for the Colossians?

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”[22]

And should I not pray unashamed with tears and loud cries and in much hidden devotion like the Lord Jesus Christ? – Oh, to be with Christ in the school of prayer![23] And shall I not also pray for the lost, for there is more joy in heaven over one who is lost and turns unto You and is saved than the ninety-nine who do not need to be rescued.[24]

Shall I not be like Nehemiah?

• What did he hear?
  • “…the remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
• What was his response?
  • “As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
• What did he say (part)?
  • “…confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against You. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, the statues, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”

Should I not pray with depth and be willing to admit and confess the same?

Does not all of this really come down to love?

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”[25]

Yet here this may very well be one of the greatest areas I have been disobedient, even downrightly set against in the recesses of my heart, over the last several years of my Christian life. And why? I remember the very year, the place, the time of day where You made it so very plain to me – for You instructed me, with Your gentle conviction and encouragement, that I was to pursue, read, study and search out Your great love and to begin down that path of walking, praying and thinking.

However, I did not do this. Lord, here I must seek Your forgiveness; here in this detail I must turn back to You yet again; here I must make this my precious and joyous labor; for today I am reminded of this and my need to speak it forth here and now.

And yet, what do You give me in return? Such unbelievable forgiveness, lasting hope, deep excite and blessings upon blessings! What? Blessings? Oh yes, You have given me tremendous blessings – chiefly and namely – Yourself, Your precious Son and Your most blessed Holy Spirit. Oh, for unto me this day, this night, this early morning, this very hour, You have delighted to vindicate me yet again, by Your mercies, and give me grace upon grace,[26] of which is far beyond anything I could deserve, comprehend or verbalize. May all who read this overflow with joyous thanksgiving as well!

So Lord, with these tiny, meager, and completely insufficient words, may I praise You and extol Your name; let me be found in such a way when Jesus comes back or at the last of my days in this temporal temple. May anyone and everyone, those who know You and those who don’t yet know You, all who read this simple entreaty and walk with You, be ever so encouraged and empowered to lift their heads up and gaze forevermore unto You.

Oh, that the secondaries and insignificant areas of my life would be put in their correct places, with all self-control and wisdom, so that You would be seen correctly as most magnificent above all else. Lord, to You be the glory, the power and the praise. Lord, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth? In me and all who read, may the answer be an astounding – YES!

“’Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”[27]

“The realization of the Divine presence is the inflexible condition of a right engagement of spirit in the exercise of private prayer.”[28]

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[1] Luke 18:1-7

[2] Jeremiah 8:20

[3] Leonard Ravenhill, heard quoted in several messages, recommend the book, In Light of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill

[4] Hymns: On Calvary’s Brow My Savior Died and Chief of Sinners Through I Be

[5] Luke 18:1-8

[6] Hebrews 5:7-9a

[7] John 17:1b-3

[8] John 17:11b

[9] John 17:15-19

[10] Philippians 1:6

[11] Matthew 26:36-46

[12] Matthew 26:40, 43, 45

[13] Matthew 26:41

[14] Frank Mceleny, Christian Author and Blogger

[15] Philippians 2:12

[16] John Owen, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, p. 9

[17] Genesis 4:9

[18] Galatians 6:2

[19] Philippians 2:3

[20] 2 Kings 6:8-23

[21] 2 Kings 6:17

[22] Colossians 1:9-12

[23] Consider Andrew Murray’s book, With Christ in the School of Prayer

[24] Luke 15:7

[25] 1 Corinthians 13:13

[26] John 1:16

[27] Revelation 22:20, 21

[28] David M. M’Intyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer, p. 24