40 DAYS OF PRAYER AND FASTING: DAY 19 (Mercy)

His mercy can restore you even when you have fallen out of his will. He is the God of all comfort.

Welcome to another day in this 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting!

We’ve spent the last 4 days talking about one of the characters of God: His Providence. We’ve talked about the fact that God is sovereign and all-powerful, and how he works within our means for our own benefit; we’ve also looked into how, in His divine providence, we can pursue our purpose through excellence in our craft, and the divine plan on earth for all men to come to the knowledge of His glory. Today, we want to delve deeper into that conversation around the providence of God; specifically about His Mercy.

The more we understand the character of God, the more we understand how we can relate with Him. If you know that a person is faithful and trustworthy, you are more likely to entrust them with responsibilities, and even vital information about your life, simply because you trust the character of the person, and it also works the other way: when a person shows himself time and time again to be unfaithful and unreliable, you would never want to entrust anything serious into his hands. So learning about the characteristics of the nature of God is very vital to our growth in Him, and our relationship with him.

Exodus 34:5-7

New King James Version

5 Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,

7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

When Moses asked the LORD to reveal himself to him, the bible says that God descended in a cloud and proclaimed his name. Moses wanted to behold the glory of God, and God responded to his request by declaring who He is; it says: The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…

Knowing about God, his reputation, his character, was as good as beholding His glory. This is God literally telling the world who He is known as and who He will always be known as. In fact, when you look at these attributes, it might be a bit difficult to distinguish between them, but they can all be summarized in the fact that he is ultimately good. His goodness is shown to us in how patient and longsuffering He is with us; His goodness is shown to us in how gracious He is, and His goodness is also shown to us in how merciful He is.

Psalm 103:6-12

New King James Version

6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

The psalmist David reiterates what the LORD said to Moses, and he says So great is the mercy of God. Not only are we learning that God is merciful, but he is also great in mercy, so much that he has not dealt with us in accordance with our sins or punished us in accordance with our transgressions. The mercy of God is revealed to us through the story of salvation:

Ephesians 2:4-7

New Living Translation

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,

5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)

6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

God has shown us mercy in that we who were dead in sins have now been made alive together with Christ. The mercy of God was the answer to humanity’s desperate need for salvation. The intervention of God into man’s state of being dead in sins and deserving of His wrath was his mercy. Verse 7 says that the point of all this was that in ages to come we would be the examples of his incredible exceeding greatness in grace and kindness. We would be the evidence of it. So the mercy of God is shown to those who by all standards are found undeserving.

The mercy of God is not about salvation alone, but it is also about the goodness of God that is extended towards those in distress and despair.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

New King James Version

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

God is also known as the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles. This is who he chooses to be. Remember that God is also sovereign and just; if He chooses to deal with every man in accordance with what they deserve, no one would survive, but the bible draws us to see that God is the God of all comfort! Turning away from Him in sight of your shortcomings or persistent troubles is not the solution, because He is the one who wants to bring comfort to you in your pain. His mercy can restore you even when you have fallen out of his will. He is God of all comfort.

Psalm 68:4-6

New King James Version

4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And rejoice before Him.

5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.

6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

This is the character of God! Father to fatherless. Defender of widows! In fact, those who don't have families find family through him. You can see that in the character of God, He wants to be the help to those who seem to have no help or anyone to turn to. That's your God!

Psalm 136:10-16

New King James Version

10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, For His mercy endures forever;

11 And brought out Israel from among them, For His mercy endures forever;

12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, For His mercy endures forever;

13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, For His mercy endures forever;

14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His mercy endures forever;

15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His mercy endures forever;

16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His mercy endures forever

The psalmist here again is recounting the mercy of God shown to the people of Israel. They were in a land where they were persecuted and sought to be oppressed, but God became their deliverer; He became the hero in their story; He showed up for them.

This is the same way in this season: God is showing up in your life, and He is delivering you out of the places you've been stuck in. This is the same way that God is taking you by the hand to cross over hurdles that have faced you. This is the same way that, by a mighty hand, He is causing the Red Sea to part in your life.

The mercy of the Lord is speaking for you! The mercy of the Lord is providing help to those who have been helpless; He is delivering His people out of despair and distress. This has also always been in his character, and it's time for you to know it and believe it for yourself. That the LORD is merciful, and He can comfort your soul in tribulations; He can deliver you out of the hand of those that seek to oppress. This season, believe God for everything His mercy and providence can bring your way.

With Love,

The Catalyst,

Pastor Michael Ipaye.