Habakkuk's Prayer

I was reading this morning and came across this prayer from the prophet Habakkuk.  It is found in Habakkuk 3:2

"Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy."

What a powerful and timely prayer.  This can be our prayer today!  So, if we want to be able to pray this effectively we should understand what is being prayed.

"Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord."

Habakkuk begins his prayer in awe and fear of God.  Habakkuk remembers what God has done in the past and is in awe of God for that.  He begins his prayer by getting his perspective straight.  If we want this prayer to be for us, we also must remember what God has done and put Him in right perspective.  As always, we start in fear of God.

"Renew them (the deeds) in our day,
in our time make them known;"

Habakkuk asks God to make Israel back into what it was designed to be.  For me, I would pray that God makes the Church back into what God designed her to be.  Habakkuk boldly continues to ask God not to do it eventually, but rather he asks God to do it while he can still see it.  Does this seem familiar?  Remember Jesus prayed, "Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Habakkuk is basically praying the same thing but additionally asking God to let him see it happen.  What a prayer!  I want this, too.  I want to see the Church as God designed her while I'm still alive and can be a part of it.

"in wrath remember mercy."

Wrath?  Habakkuk is wise enough to realize that if Israel is going to be anything like God designed it to be there will need to be discipling first.  Israel needed to be stretched back into place and cleansed from the crud it put itself through.  Same thing with the Church.  We will need to endure some pain to change.  In fact, change and pain almost always coincide.  That is why Habakkuk pleads for God to remember mercy.  Basically, he says "Be gentle".  We need this, too.  God renew your Church through painful change, but be gentle because we are fragile.

"Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy."

Pray this with me today.