What do you focus on when you pray? Read again the prophet’s prayer in Habakkuk1:2-4). Notice his focus is on himself and then his people. “I call,” “I cry out,” “You make me look at injustice…Destruction and violence are before me.”
We want God to respond to our legitimate needs and requests. And that’s ok. We are told in Philippians 4:6; “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
God would answer Habakkuk’s prayer, but His focus is larger. His response to Habakkuk’s complaint begins as follows: “Look at the nations and watch” (verse 5). Then later, as He expands His answer, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (Habakkuk 2:14), and He concludes His answer with the impact statement, “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (verse 20).
God was concerned about His prophet and His chosen people. He does want them to walk in the light of His Word. But He also is concerned about the other nations of the world. That was articulated way back in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:2-3: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
All believers are to be salt and light in the world. We’re to be ambassadors to even the most undesirable. Case in point: Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar!
