Thursday, May 8: 1Samuel 17- God is sovereign.

I found myself fascinated by Saul’s willingness to let David face Goliath. After the briefest of conversations Saul says, “Go, and the LORD be with you” (37)

For 40 days, Saul and the army have been paralyzed by Goliath. Now here comes this youngster who says, I’ll fight Goliath, and Saul agrees!?!

I just can’t wrap my head around this. Was Saul so desperate that he would accept anyone? Did he have a good feeling about this young kid? What was it???

Then I thought, when God wants to accomplish something, He works in the minds and hearts of people to accomplish what He desires.

God is sovereign and His will will be accomplished!

I remembered this amazing story in which I see another example of God’s sovereignty…

 

Do you believe in MIRACLES!!!

This story appeared in the magazine PRAY! (March/April 2006, p. 24)

NavPress. All rights reserved.

 

Some people call it the Mountain of Faith. Others refer to it as Garbage Hill. Officially, it is known as Muqattam Mountain, a rise on the outskirts of Cairo in the part of town where the poorest of the poor live.

These people—most of them Christians— are called "zebaleen," or rubbish collectors and recyclers. They supplement their incomes by making use of or selling whatever they can salvage from the dump that is located in their part of town. Many of them worship in the largest church facility in Egypt—and in all of the Middle East. Their meeting place is an open-air cave on Muqattam Mountain. It is known as the Cave Church, a Coptic facility where 18,000 believers gathered for the 2005 Global Day of Prayer (GDOP).

Even more unusual than the prayer site—and more amazing than the large number of believers gathering in a Muslim nation—is the fact that believers from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches came together to pray and lift up the name of Jesus. GDOP leaders had to make plans in faith, not sure that the Coptic church would be willing to host a multi-denominational prayer event at their most notable place of worship. Nothing like this has ever happened in the Egyptian church. The Coptics have stood alone by choice for 2,000 years (it is the oldest church in Christendom) and have survived every obstacle during their long history. For many years, theirs was the only church safeguarding the gospel against the press of both persecution and culture. Nevertheless, church authorities readily gave permission to GDOP organizers to meet in their facility.

The next hurdle was figure out how to manage 18,000 people coming in and out of a hamlet on a garbage hill with dirt streets—a logistical nightmare. With little faith, GDOP leaders asked God if it would be possible to have the streets paved and cleaned.

God did much more than what they asked or hoped for. In fact, He blew their minds. A week before the GDOP, a rumor circulated that the son of Egyptian President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak was coming for a cultural visit to the Cave Church that Friday. The news reached Muqattam Mountain authorities, who literally overnight cleaned and paved the streets, removed obstacles, and hung banners along the route which said "Mubarak," which means "blessed." All this was paid for by the government!

The president's son never came. But Muqattam Mountain was ready to welcome a more important visitor: the King of kings and Lord of lords. The road for His coming to Egypt was paved through prayers and unity.

On Pentecost Sunday, denominational walls broke down as intercessors from at least 17 denominations worshiped and prayed together. People reported that they were gripped by the presence of God as they put aside their differences and lifted up Jesus. The united prayer meeting was broadcast live on television from Cape Town to Cairo, and millions of viewers from Africa, Europe, and elsewhere were blessed by what happened at Muqattam Mountain.

While Cairo prayed in the Cave Church, seven prayer teams went out to the other 27 provinces in Egypt, many of which had no church, to make sure that all of Egypt was represented before the Lord that day.

God planted a seed of prayer and worship for the Lamb of God on that historic day. It was, as Isaiah foretold, a day in which an altar to the Lord was established in the heart of Egypt.

—By Nancy Mina, marketplace and logistical leader of Cairo's GDOP event

 

For the remainder of my time with the Lord I meditated upon God’s sovereignty. His wonder and power…

Lord, You are the Great God. You moved a king to allow a shepherd to battle one-on-one with a military legend and the young shepherd won. You paved a way for 18,000 to get to a prayer meeting in Egypt. Praise be to You, my Lord and my God. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.