1 Maccabees 7:39-50: a reflection

39Then Nicanor went out from Jerusalem and encamped in Bethhoron, and there the Syrian army met him. 40Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men. Judas prayed and said, 41“When those who came from the king blasphemed, your angel went out, and struck among them one hundred eighty-five thousand. 42Even so, crush this army before us today, and let all the rest know that he has spoken wickedly against your sanctuary. Judge him according to his wickedness.” 43On the thirteenth day of the month Adar, the armies met in battle. Nicanor’s army was defeated, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. 44Now when his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw away their weapons and fled. 45They pursued them a day’s journey from Adasa until you come to Gazara, and they sounded an alarm after them with the signal trumpets. 46Men came out of all the surrounding villages of Judea, and outflanked them. These turned them back on those, and they all fell by the sword. There wasn’t one of them left. 47The Jews took the spoils and the booty, and they cut off Nicanor’s head and his right hand, which he had stretched out so arrogantly, and brought them, and hung them up beside Jerusalem. 48The people were exceedingly glad, and they kept that day as a day of great gladness. 49They ordained to keep this day year by year on the thirteenth day of Adar. 50So the land of Judah had rest a few days.

Before facing Nicanor's army, Judas prays, and notice how he prays: he recalls God's past deliverances. He remembers how, in Hezekiah's day, God's angel struck down the vast army that had blasphemed him; and on the strength of that memory, he asks God to act again: crush this army before us today. Judas grounds his prayer for present deliverance in the remembrance of what God has done before, appealing to the God who has acted powerfully in the past to act again now.

Notice how the memory of God's past acts fuels Judas's prayer. He does not pray in a vacuum; he prays out of the remembrance of what God has done, recalling a great past deliverance and asking God to do the like again. The memory of God's past faithfulness gave him confidence to ask, and shaped his prayer. He came to God as one who had done such things before, and could do them again; and that remembrance emboldened his asking.

That is a good pattern for our own praying: to ground our prayers in the memory of what God has done before. When we face a present need, we can pray out of the remembrance of God's past faithfulness, recalling how he has acted before, in Scripture and in our own lives, and asking him to act again. Such remembering fuels faith and emboldens prayer. When you pray about a present need, do not pray as though God had never acted; recall his past faithfulness, in Scripture and in your own life, and let that remembrance embolden your asking, as Judas recalled God's past deliverance before Nicanor. The God who has acted before can act again; ground your prayers in the memory of what he has done, and let that memory give you confidence to ask.

Lord, before facing Nicanor's army, Judas prayed by recalling your past deliverances, remembering how your angel struck down the blaspheming army in Hezekiah's day, and asking you to act again; the memory of your past faithfulness fueled his prayer. Teach me that pattern. When I face a present need, help me pray out of the remembrance of your past faithfulness, recalling how you have acted before, in Scripture and in my own life, and asking you to act again. Such remembering fuels faith and emboldens prayer. When I pray about a present need, keep me from praying as though you had never acted; help me recall your past faithfulness, in Scripture and in my own life, and let that remembrance embolden my asking, as Judas recalled your past deliverance before Nicanor. You, who have acted before, can act again; help me ground my prayers in the memory of what you have done, and let that memory give me confidence to ask. Remind me of your past faithfulness, Lord, when I pray.