“Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.”  –Psalm 63:4

No matter how dedicated you are in prayer there are times when this nagging guestion reasserts itself. Who has not asked this question of GOD?

The Prophets Asked.

Even the best of us has inquired of GOD, as King David did. His son, King Solomon asked the questions also. Habukkuk, Jeremiah, Job, Malachi… throughout time, the single most question of GOD visits every soul, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?“

Will there ever be an answer that satisfies the soul?

Let’s take a look in one of my favorite books; Day 16 in Praying with Fire with Rabbi Heshy Kleinman.

The Rabbi begins, “If prayer is the “key” that opens Hashem’s storehouse of blessing, one might wonder why there are people who acquire wealth and success without ever having to use the key? How does one account for those who have no relationship with Hashem, yet have everything money can buy?”

An echo of the question asked by Prophets, Priest and Kings for generations. It is right that Kings (You), continue to ask this question of GOD?

Can you recall a time in creation when GOD declared over anyone, at anytime, that they shall never want for anything? Someone or something that shall be filled all the days of their life?

Who would GOD desire to satisfy more than His Own Children?

MORE IMPORTANTLY….

Why does GOD grant health and wealth to a person that does not even pray? Prayer is given to man by GOD as a means to partner with GOD and engage in the plans He has for all of mankind.

Prayer connects our lives to GOD. Prayer allows us to exist within GOD and to align ourselves with His purpose.

Yet, we still ask, “Why do I need to live such a glorious life of prayer, when the wicked reject GOD entirely, let alone live a life of prayer?

Good Question.

“And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” — Genesis 3:14

The serpent shall be filled with dust, all the days of his life. As the Rabbi says, “dust does not appear to be a ‘tasty diet’, but it is plentiful and always accessible.

GOD ensures the serpent will never have a need to call on Him or be in His presence.

And GOD said… the snake, will never go hungry or have any lack. Some may argue, that the snake appears to be more ‘blessed’ than man. But as the Rabbi explains, this was in fact, the serpents ultimate curse.

In regards to man, GOD takes steps to ensure the complete opposite. God let’s man know that he will have to battle for his bread, daily.

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” —Genesis 3:19

Mankind, will require both bread and manna. The need for bread alone will cause us to cry out to GOD, to search for GOD, even blame GOD. At this point, we are not aware of our need for manna from heaven.

Survival, is foremost on our agenda at this moment in the garden. The battle for bread will consume our thoughts.

Our daily need for bread, has the capacity alone to cause us to “forge a bond with Hashem, by coming before Him in prayer.”

On the contrary, the serpent will never have a need for GOD. All his needs have been provided for.

No need for GOD. No need for prayer. All your material needs satisfied. The serpent’s disrespect for GOD, from the beginning has barred him from the Kingdom ever since.

When man finds himself in this condition, he has no spiritual appetite, no longing for GOD, no need to seek GOD’s face. They can easily and wrongfully assume that they hold a superior position, and their tongues begin to walk through the earth in pride.

Every benefit of prayer and relationship with GOD are lost on the satiated man. GOD is Life, and this man has no need of a life in GOD, or closeness with Hashem.

Yet, by satisfying all his needs, GOD has placed this man at a distance. Not out of His reach, but out of His sight. GOD has set them far from Him –Psalm 73:27

“His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.” – Psalm 10:5

Not only, is he out of GOD’s sight, GOD has placed him outside of His courts and His judgments. GOD’s throne is reserved for those who have need of him.

At first glance, the man who prides himself on being self sufficient, independent, morally superior and self satisfied, might self assess their situation as a blessing.

Happy with him or herself, unaware that all their reason to seek GOD has been withheld.

Famine or hunger won’t be the cause of his/her search for GOD. Without adversity of any kind, they may be relegated to live a life void of the presence of GOD.

• 

Prayer could have been their source for their greatest blessing.

When tempted to feel as if the grass is greener on the other side, remember that GOD has chosen to fill you with His Word, and not dust.

You shake the dust from your feet. You will not be consumed. The Word of GOD in you has set you above and not beneath. Your enemies shall consume dust that perishes. You consume the bread of Heaven.

Allowing our needs to draw us closer to GOD, works together for our good. The wealthy and healthy have virtually no reminders of GOD in the earth. They must look deeper, press in harder and longer to find what is already in front of them.

The bible openly reveals that there are times, when prophets, priest and kings have lamented the seeming prosperity of the wicked, but each in his or her turn recognized they possessed the superior position.

Prayerlessness has no prosperity in GOD.

God Bless You,

Amen.

Take a quick look at the interlinear for Gen 3:14 and 3:19. The word for dust (aphar) is the same. Man is formed from the dust of the ground, the aphar. The same dust that the snake is destined to consume, all the days of his life.

NOTE: We will cover this in more detail in the future, just know for now, the dust (the aphar) of Genesis 3, is the substance of the cosmos, created from the finest particles of the universe. –Man is made from stardust. (See addl info below)

Stardust retains a record of it’s origins.

King James Version Sources Cited:

For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. – Psalm 73:3

• ⁴ For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
• ⁵ They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
• ⁶ Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
• ⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
• ⁸ They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
• ⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

Sources Cited Above:

The Testimony of Prophets:

“And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” -Malachi 3:15

“Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” -Jeremiah 12:1

“The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly”. –Job 12:6

Habakkuk also asked God, “Why do You remain silent when the wicked devours one more righteous than he?” —Habakkuk 1:13

King David also lamented, “Behold, such are the wicked; they are always at ease and they increase their riches. Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence because all day long I have been plagued and I am chastised every morning” –Psalms 73:12-14

The Testimony of The Kings:

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” –Psalm 37:7

“When you see the oppression of the poor, and the perversion of justice and righteousness in the state, do not wonder about (God’s) will…” –Proverbs 5:7

“And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.”

Special Notation:

• Again, per our custom, man does not agree on how much cosmic dust falls to the earth daily. Estimates vary widely. The point to focus on now is that, this is a completely different product than today’s ‘household’ dust, which is a product of dirt, skin, animal dander, waste, mites and other pollutants.
• Man (You), were not made of this type of dust. Adam, was formed from the finest particles of the universe. Sin had not entered the earth, nor the product of sin, which is death. Therefore, dead skin, waste, dead mites, pollutants, etc were not present in the earth and man was not created from this lower substance.
• Cosmic dust continues to fall to the earth everyday. This has been constant since the world began.
• Consider the way in which we gaze into the stars in wonder. Our amazement with the cosmos, is deeply connected to the cosmic ‘stuff’ from which we are made. We instinctively know, we were created from the same substance that exists in the heavens.
• When Adam was formed from the adamah (ground), GOD was forming Him from the finest particles of the heavens. Our connection to the creation of Adam is in our bones. We can almost feel that we were created from the substance of heaven.
• We are the stuff of miracles.

Cover Photo by: Eric Nopanen, Unsplash.com

• Prayer in the Pew: photo by Samuel Martins, Unsplash.com

• Teachings related to this series on Prayer:
  • 26 Benefits and Blessings of Prayer;
• Benefits of Prayer:
  • Increases your sensitivity in the spirit realm and to the spirit of GOD.

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