What can we learn from this passage?

1. Prayer matters. Does prayer change God’s mind? Does prayer move God’s hand? We don’t know for sure – what we do know for sure is that God has given us prayer as a vital tool in our lives to communicate with him. What I have found is that the closer I get to Jesus, the more I think like him, and the more I think like him, and the more I think like him, the more I pray like him – and God LOVES IT when you pray – it shows a shift from independence to dependence, and it shows a belief that God can do the extraordinary – and he wants to do the EXTRAORDINARY in your life

2. Prayer moves God to judge and vindicate his people. While you may feel that God has forgotten you or doesn’t answer your prayers, there is something he is doing even when you can’t see it – again, God is always right on time, and he is working all things for his good and his glory – and he will judge all sin in its fullness in HIS TIME – don’t stop praying just because you don’t see or understand what God is doing

3. God’s mercy is always on full display. We see throughout Revelation that we have to see God’s wrath through the lens of his mercy – while Revelation outlines mass suffering and destruction, we see over and over God withholding final judgment in order for more to come into the Kingdom – think about this: we have been given his word, this book specifically telling us of an end that is sure to happen – If this represents the Super Bowl, God has given the playbook in advance – if this is a war, he’s giving the battle strategy in advance – who does that? A God who is in complete control and who is always providing a way back to him -

the God of the universe is so crazy about you that he laid out the future for you, showed you how he will execute judgment on the world, and because of his great mercy, gave his son and the cross as payment for your reckless independence –