“God Remembered!”
It was the early Thursday morning of October 10, 2024, when I was awakened by the howling sounds of a violent Hurricane Milton passing nearby. From 3 AM through 5:30 AM, the sounds and fury did not depart from my surroundings, but I was not alarmed and started praying to the Lord. The electricity had already gone out since midnight, and I felt I should stay in bed and not move but pray. That morning, my prayer was different. It was nothing more than a collection of powerful Psalms of David that I have committed to memory this year. More than a couple of hours passed by as I recited God’s Word back to Him. Something amazing happened!
In the middle of my prayer, I saw a vision of a huge dome coming upon my home and the surroundings, as I was praying from Psalm 18: “I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn (strength) of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so, shall I be saved from my enemies. The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears…He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me” (Psalm 18:1-6, 16-19).
A few minutes passed by, and I saw something more! Over on top of the dome, I saw a giant eagle sitting. I have never seen an eagle of that size or stature. Its wingspan could reach over a block on either side. This time, I recalled the Scriptures from Deuteronomy 32:11-12: “As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.”
The storm passed by without causing any damage to our surroundings. Please do not think that it was my prayer that saved me from the storm while it played havoc all along the way. All that I want to convey is that I pleaded to God and God answered me and preserved me in the time of calamity. I am still shaken by the devastation caused by the storm in all the places of its travel. I am also determined by the fact that God has spared me and others only to be a blessing back to Him and to the numerous lives that are affected by the calamities that pass by daily. Here is another passage of God’s reassuring promise that I recalled and recited that morning: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust. Surely, He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler (one who catches a bird in a trap or snare) and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings, you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler (a small shield). You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday…Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set (exalt) him on high because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life (length of days) I will satisfy him and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16).
God is amazing in that I have been awakened for prayer every morning around 3 AM since October 19, 2003, no matter where I am or which time zone I am in. It is my special time of communion with the Lord to thank Him for His mercies and grace and to plead with Him for His continued guidance upon me and my loved ones. This storm passed by me at the same time I was awakened for prayer. The fear of the storm went away while the presence of God filled me as I was remembering God’s powerful words from the Scriptures!
This whole message is to assure you and me that GOD REMEMBERS US and the PLACE WHERE WE STAND BEFORE GOD and OUR SUPPLICATIONS AND PRAYERS! God remembers our vows, our offerings, our commitments, and the surroundings we live in as we call upon His Name and yield to Him daily.
In the Scriptures, I recall so many examples where God remembered someone or His people to answer them in several places. In many places, God remembered His covenant with His people to answer them, and in other places, God responded to the diligent prayers of the righteous!
God Remembered Noah!
“Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Genesis 8:1).
God remembered Noah and his family that He shut into the ark during the flood. The people of God never have to fear whether God remembers them or not in times of His judgment. He remembers His people!
God Remembered Abraham!
“And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt” (Genesis 19:27-29).
Abraham stood in the same place the day after the fiery judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah where he interceded with the Lord the day before. God remembered Abraham, the place where he stood to plead with the Lord and his unspoken petition for God’s mercy upon Lot and his family, and God honored his request! God remembers you in the place where you meet with Him daily!
God Remembered Rachel!
“Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb” (Genesis 30:22).
Rachel cried out to God and got God’s attention, just as God remembered Isaac to answer his prayer for his wife Rebekah: “Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:20-21). Isaac was blessed with Jacob and Rachel was blessed with Joseph. Jacob was renamed ‘Israel,’ while Joseph became the savior of Egypt from the famine!
The answer to our prayers for our children produces mighty ones as God remembers our prayers: “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed but shall speak with their enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:3-5).
God Remembered Israel!
“So, God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob” (Exodus 2:24).
The time was up, the iniquities of the Amorites were full (Genesis 15:16) and God remembered His promise to Abraham to deliver Israel from Egypt. The time is fast approaching when God will act with His judgment upon the world while at the same time receiving His people to get “caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”
God Remembered Hannah!
“Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her” (I Samuel 1:19).
The vow Hannah made was the binding tie with the Lord: “And (Hannah) was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept (greatly) in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head’” (I Samuel 1:10-11).
God remembers us by the vows we make and keep, to answer us back in the day of trouble: “Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 50:14-15).
Here are other human examples of remembering and repenting before the Lord!
Jonah Pleased with God!
“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple” (Jonah 2:7).
A righteous prophet, Jonah, who anticipated the destruction of Nineveh for her sins and iniquities, remembered God’s mercy from the belly of the fish and repented. God heard his prayers and gave him a second chance to bring the message to Nineveh, and Nineveh repented! God postponed His judgment!
God wants us to remember Him and repent before Him no matter how we have let Him down. He will then forgive our sins and restore us.
Peter Remembered and Repented!
“…Immediately, while (Peter) was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows (today), you will deny Me three times.’ So, Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:60-62).
Peter denied Jesus three times but remembered the warning of Jesus, especially His comforting assurance to him: “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’ But he said to Him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.’ Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me’” (Luke 22:31-34).
In every warning of God, there is a comforting assurance of God which the devil may hide from you, but the Holy Spirit will bring it to your remembrance to restore you to the place sin prevented you from the Lord!
Israel Did Not Remember!
“So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus, the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel” (Judges 8:33-35).
“Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number” (Jeremiah 2:32).
Let us not follow this example of forgetting the God of the covenant after experiencing His abundance of miracles and blessings upon us. I pray to God daily to grant me a heart of thanksgiving to remember and be grateful for all that I have received from God and continue to walk with Him.
Prayer
“Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You and bow down before You. Thank You, Lord, for remembering me in my mother’s womb to preserve me and separate me for your glory. You have remembered my commitment, my vows, my prayers, and my surrender to You to lead me and guide me by Your grace and mercy. Help me Lord, to continue to walk with You and experience all that You have in Your plans for me. I am forever grateful for the knowledge of knowing You and for the privilege of adoption by You. I will live for You all the days of my life. In the Most Precious and Wonderful Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”
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John Jeyaseelan
Global Prayer Center | prayer | 701 Bill France Boulevard, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
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