Woven Into His Purposes
A single thread seems insignificant by itself.
One can hold it in their hand and wonder what purpose it serves. It appears small, unremarkable, and easily overlooked. Yet when that thread is woven together with countless others—over and through, again and again—something beautiful emerges. A tapestry displays a design that the individual thread could never reveal on its own.
Brothers and sisters, prayer can often feel like that thread.
One prayer offered in faith can seem small, insignificant, and unnoticed. Often, we are left wondering: Does this prayer really matter?
Especially in light of what we know about God. He knows all things. He declares the end from the beginning. If God already knows what He intends to do, does prayer really matter?
It is an age-old question. Thankfully, God graciously supplies us with an answer in Ezekiel 36.
Listen to what the Lord says in verse 37:
“Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. ”
God’s Purpose:I WILL
Now what has unfolded throughout chapter 36 is important. The Lord repeatedly declares what He will do for His people:
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. —Ezekiel 36:24–27
The emphasis is unmistakable. These are not commands. They are divine promises.
God is not an extra in the story. He is the actor. He is the initiator. He is the restorer. He is the One accomplishing what Israel could never accomplish for herself.
Israel’s restoration originates with God. Every promise begins with His sovereign “I will.”
God’s Means:Ask Me
Yet when we arrive at verse 37, the Lord says something remarkable:
This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them…
Think about that for a moment. The God who says “I will” throughout the chapter is the same God who says, “Ask Me.”
The restoration was God’s purpose. The restoration was God’s promise. The restoration was God’s work. Yet God determined that His people would pray for it.
Why?
Because God not only ordains what He will do. He also ordains how He will do it.
The restoration was the pattern. The prayers of Israel were some of the threads. God wove both into His holy purposes.
God’s Providence:The Tapestry
Church, we live on the underside of the tapestry of God’s purposes. We see a thread here and there.
What we often see are disappointments, delays, setbacks, unanswered questions, and circumstances we cannot explain. Like Israel, we struggle to understand what God is doing.
But Ezekiel 36 reminds us that God knows both the end of His purposes and the means He will use to accomplish them.
God has graciously given us prayer.
He did not give it because He is uncertain. He gave it as His appointed means for His people to participate in His purposes.
Every prayer for a prodigal child. Every prayer for a struggling marriage. Every prayer for a wandering saint. Every prayer for the salvation of the lost. Every prayer offered according to the will of God. None of them are wasted.
We see a thread. God sees the tapestry. He is weaving our prayers into His holy purposes.
Therefore, when we do not understand what God is doing, we do not pray less—we pray more.
For the God who says, “I will,” is the God who says, “Ask Me.” God’s providence is the tapestry; our prayers are the threads.
Join us for our next Prayer Meeting on July 27th at 6:30 p.m.