This week I was asked by someone online (I’m assuming a Muslim) to respond to Ahmed Deedat’s accusations lodged against the Bible.  So that’s what I did in this video here.

But it was during the making of this video that I realized once again that God expects us to pray very specific things as it changes even the days of history.  Consider his admonition to pray for when the temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed.

He says to pray that it

• That it wouldn’t happen on the Sabbath
• Pray that it wouldn’t happen in winter

While these things are not a long list, they are very profound.

The Lord is saying that these things must happen, that the temple is going to be destroyed.  The Romans are planning on it and it’s definitely going to unfold.  But Jesus asks them to pray that when it would happen it would not happen in a certain season and on a certain day.  Meaning that God desires to at times change the days and events of history through our prayers so as it minimize the degree of distress.

God’s heart is not for distress even at things that must have to happen.  He even tells them to flee to the hills of Judea so they could avoid the worst of the trauma.

I just am touched by the specificity with which God invites us to pray, and his specificity to us to protect us from the worst of the worst.