The Principles of Prayer XXX

 My little brother and I have the same tonal pitch. In layman’s terms, it means we sound alike. It’s happened more than once that I’ll pick up the ministry phone, and someone heartily greets me with a hey, Daniel, then proceeds to talk until they have to take a breath, whereupon I inform them that although it pains me to be the source of their disappointment, it’s the other brother they’re talking to.

The only people it doesn’t work on are the wives, and my daughters, and it’s not for lack of trying. People have said we sound alike for so long that, on occasion, we’ve attempted to see if they could tell the difference, even using each other’s phones to make the ruse legitimate, but to no avail. Even my seven-year-old can tell the difference, not because she has some extraordinary ear for vocal pitch, but because she’s around me every day, and she knows what I sound like, the cadence I use, and the words I prefer whenever addressing her.

His sheep know His voice because they know Him. They know His nature, they know His character, they know His attributes, they know His word, and no matter how close another may get to mimicking His voice, they know it’s not Him. When men possess a superficial awareness of God, they are easily swayed and led astray because they do not know His voice. They’ve heard it, perhaps, once upon a time, but as far as knowing it to the extent that they can discern the difference, they didn’t spend enough time in His presence to differentiate between Him and another.

The more we know God, the deeper our relationship and fellowship with Him, the less likely it is that we will be swayed by the voices of others. Even if they were to say all the right things, and use the latest Christianese talking about breakthroughs, outpourings, and alignments, having known His voice intimately, you can tell it’s not God speaking, but another pretending to be Him.

Psalm 139:1-6, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”

David was fully aware of who God is. He understood that there is nothing God does not know, nothing God does not see, and nothing God cannot do. This is the God we serve and worship. This is the God with which we are given the grace to fellowship and build a relationship with, yet so few avail themselves of this gift, preferring to chase after men who can guess their phone number, or the name of the street they live on, as though that were more fulfilling and satisfying than being in His presence, and hearing His voice.

God is not just a good shepherd; He is the good shepherd. A shepherd’s primary duty is to protect the sheep, and oftentimes it’s to protect the sheep from themselves. When God corrects us, when He chastens us, it’s not out of animosity or disdain, but out of love. When we know the God we serve, we will not resist His correction or grow bitter at His chastening, but thank Him all the more for the love His chastening evidences.

Anyone who does not know His character or nature will interpret His chastening as a negative, bristling at being corrected, or kept from continuing down the path they are going down, not understanding that it’s for their benefit rather than their detriment. Because they do not know Him, they are suspicious of His intentions, always wondering why God is trying to keep them from pursuing the desires of their heart, unwilling to acknowledge that the desire God is keeping them from pursuing will lead to despondency and death.

Cliché as it may sound, God does know you better than you know yourself. He has searched you and knows you, He knows your sitting down and your rising up, and understands your thoughts afar off. His ways are better, His path is straighter, His plan and purpose for you are greater, no matter how much your flesh might insist otherwise.

The flesh has the ulterior motive to keep you in the flesh. It doesn’t want to die. It doesn’t want to be mortified, crucified, and done away with. Its survival instinct demands that it do everything it can to remain viable and in control, to assert influence, and keep itself from dying.

Psalm 139:16-18, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.”

Hebrews 4:13, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

When we seize upon the understanding of who our God is, when we see Him in His glory and majesty, and know what He can do all the worry and fear melt away. We are no longer troubled by thoughts of what tomorrow might bring because we know that the days fashioned for us were written in His book from before we breathed our first. It’s comforting and liberating to know that God has our days in His hands, and that all things are naked and open to His eyes.

We have the liberty to pursue Him, to grow in Him, to trust Him, and obey Him without the constant fear and trepidation the world battles daily. God is in control. His ways are good, and His thoughts toward us are precious.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Posted on 21 May 2025 | 11:30 am