Authentic prayers growing out of an authentic personal relationship with God get answers. They might not be what was asked for, but to the person with an authentic personal relationship with God, they will satisfy. This appears to be true in the case we have been studying in the book of Habakkuk.
When God told him, “The righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4), no matter what happened around them, he was prepared to press on. When God said that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (Habakkuk 2:14) he was further encouraged. And when God concluded His answer, declaring “the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20) he knew that even the Babylonians will need to submit to God. God was in control of whatever might happen to him, his people or anyone else in the world.
Once he accepted God’s answer he was ready to again appeal to God to act. Now he was not trying to inform or correct God. Now he was ready to worship God in awe for the great things He was known for. Now he was ready to plead with God to again renew those mighty works of old and make them known during this dire time.
Then he reminded himself, even as he pled for revival, that God was going to judge His people by bringing the Babylonian army to devastate their land. Accepting the judgment did not deter him from humbly pleading, “In wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).
What a powerful, authentic prayer.
