“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” (Philippians 4:6 NLT)
The lawyers who read Mark Writes are familiar with the Latin term that serves as our title. For us laypersons, It is Latin for expert testimony. Yesterday I was informed of the expert testimony given by a ten-year old. Amazing! Astonishing! Anchored in truth without having to make a promise in the midst of a crowded courtroom to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth!
His testimony did not have to be pulled out of him. No one had to ask a point blank question to get a pure, innocent, response. No cross examination was necessary. And the primary preparation was his training in a Christian home; training which included watching his parents pray and share their own expert testimonies about prayer. The 10-year-old’s prep certainly included his soaking up of wisdom from the word of God as he had been taught in Children’s church classes since he was a toddler. Yes, He is proof for Sunday School teachers to know that their work is not in vain. And his expert testimony is enough prompting for adults to bring their children to church.
What was this expert testimony? The young man was in a Sunday School class that held a Scripture memorization contest. The students in the class were given eight verses from the Bible to memorize. No pressure to compete was put on the students by the teacher, the parents, or the pastor. All of these authorities in the child’s life surely played a role in the shaping and development of the child, but neither of these people made the students do anything. But it was the 10-year-old who voluntarily did something we all should do, and the consequence was his expert testimony that he excitedly reported to his dad. Like our Father in heaven who was well-pleased with His Son, Jesus, this earthly father had to have that same excited and sincere feeling and the first thought in his mind was that he was well-pleased with his son. Let me paraphrase the testimony to the best of my ability. “Dad! I won the contest! I did the work! (And yes, he memorized all eight of the Scriptures, perfectly. Y’all know that takes some work!) The 10-year-old goes on to provide more expert testimony. “I was praying that I would win.” Notice that the young man did not say, “I prayed that I would win.” The use of the word praying by our expert teaches us that prayer is not a one-time thing, and it is okay to keep praying for the outcome you desire and an outcome that is aligned with the will of God. The expert witness teaches us to trust the process of prayer. The expert testimony also revealed something else. That being, while we put it all in His hands, we must do our part to reach the outcome. We are to be like oxen who bend down on their knees for rest, but rise up to do the work; stand up to do their word. Need examples? Here are two. Pray for your church to increase, but you do the work that brings about growth. Pray that your relationship gets better, but pray that you will be strong in doing the things that God says to do to fix relationships.
Thank God for the expert testimony of the 10-year-old! I am just as excited and pleased as if I was the father. You should be too! But don’t stop at the intersection of Excitement and Pleased! Instead, follow the expert witnesses’ example. Pray! Pursue what you that which you are praying! Present your testimony to encourage someone else to see that prayer works! Look! You have some prayer that was answered recently! Tell somebody about it this Thursday morning! The Lord loves a people, of every age, who pray and who keep pursuing their goal of being victorious over our opposition. In our case, you know the opposition: the secular world, the seducing flesh we live in, and the satanic enticements that are constant. The world needs your PERITIAE EXSECUTIONI INTERESSE! Be blessed!
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” (Romans 12:12 Modern English Version)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King