This blog's purpose is to facilitate prayer for churches and disciples in the process of "embracing" a UUPG--unengaged unreached people group. Those terms were defined in one of the first posts I wrote. But I want to make sure that we understand what it means to embrace.
To embrace a UUPG means to accept the responsibility of getting the gospel to a people who otherwise would never hear there is a Savior. It means becoming the missionary. It means doing whatever it takes for as long as it takes to see indigenous churches established firmly enough to taken on the task of evangelizing their own.
It might help to understand what embacing is NOT. It is not just praying for a UUPG as important as that effort is. It is not just taking mission trips although trips are definitely involved. It is not just developing a partnership with a missionary even though church support is often vital to the realization of a missionary's strategy for reaching a people group. All of these activities are good and legitimate expressions of the passion to see God's glory extended to the nations. But they are not what is meant by "embrace."
To embrace is to take on the task of getting the gospel to a UUPG. It means being willing to be the "boots on the ground." It means establishing a strategic presence for sharing the gospel. It means discipling new believers who in turn will evangelilze and disciple others. It means planting reproducing churches, churches that will plant churches that will plant churches in a movement of multiplication.
Someone has compared the commitment to embrace a UUPG to the commitment of marriage. Prayer could be compared to admiring someone from afar. Mission trips could be compared to dating. A partnership with a missionary could be compared to going steady or perhaps an engagement. But embracing means a commitment, like marriage, for as long as it takes, for better or worse, to see it through.
Pray today about the level of your commitment. Are you ready to EMBRACE?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Five Things We Are Commanded to Pray For
I am the type that needs the instruction manual to put things together or to operate a new appliance or piece of equipment. The Bible has instructions for us about prayer. Specifically, there are certain requests that Scripture commands us to make. These commands are important for several reasons.
- If God has commanded us to pray for something, we can be assured that it is His will. We can pray with assurance that He will accept and answer such a prayer as long as our life does not disqualify us in some way.
- To fail to pray for the issues that God has commanded us to pray for is not just a matter of neglect but of disobedience. As I said in my previous post, such an omission turns our prayer into sin.
- As we understand that "prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven but getting God's will done on earth," we value the guidance God gives us in what to pray for. He has not left it to us to figure out how to "help" Him. We can do it His way, not ours.
Here are the things we are to pray for with the Bible verses where they are found:
- Pray for workers: Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest (Matthew 9:38). We should not only pray for additional workers but also that the existing workers will have boldness (Ephesians 6:18-19) and that opportunities for speaking the gospel will be opened to them (Colossians 4:2-3).
- Pray for authorities: Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made ... for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence (1Timothy 2:1-2 with omission). This prayer has to do with creating a political and social climate that is conducive to the spread of the gospel and the safety of those who are bearing witness (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2). For this reason, we should pray that world leaders will move the world toward peace, especially the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).
- Pray for the lost: Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men ... For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4 emphasis added). Praying for the unsaved to come to Christ is necessary so that the word of the Lord may spread quickly and in a way that will bring glory to Him (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
- Pray for the sick: Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed (James 5:16). This verse follows several others on praying for the sick, something we should do not only out of compassion but also for the impact healing can have for the spread of the gospel. Jesus said divine healing demonstrated His authority to forgive sin (Mark 2:10). He went everywhere preaching, teaching, and healing (Matthew 4:23; 9:35). Since His ministry continues (Acts 1:1; Hebrews 13:8) through us, why limit what we do to two of the three? Such praying must be more than the "organ recital" many of our churches go through in prayer meeting. It must be praying in faith and in the Spirit.
- Pray for enemies: But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). This kind of praying is especially important for calibrating our heart to be "in sync" with the One who loved us and gave His life for us even while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8, 10). Seeking good for those who wish us ill clearly demonstrates the reality of our relationship with the Father through Christ (Matthew 5:46-48). Our adversaries will find the ground for their opposition cut out from under them (1 Peter 3:14-16; 4:12-16).
Let us pray about the things that matter to our Creator, our Savior, and our Advocate. As we do, we can boldly present our own needs and cares in the confidence that since we have obeyed His commands and are pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:22) we will have what we ask.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Prayer Becomes Sin
One day as I read my Bible, I was startled by these words about the wicked: When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin (Psalm 109:7 NKJV). How can prayer turn into sin? How can something as lovely as communication with our heavenly Father be twisted into something that condemns us? There are five ways that we can sin by praying.
1. Prayer becomes sin when it is an act of disobedience. In a previous post, "When Not to Pray," I wrote that there are times when God says to quit praying and start doing. But a prayer might also become sin when we fail to pray for those things that God has commanded us to pray for (look for a post on this subject soon). We might also err by talking when we should be listening or just remaining still and quiet in His presence (Psalm 46:10; Habakkuk 2:20).
2. Prayer becomes sin when it is contaminated by a sinful life. Proverbs 28:9 says, One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. We need clean hands and a pure heart to approach the Holy One (Psalm 24:4). Ron Dunn used to say, "It is the life that prays." If our life offends God, so will our prayer, unless it is a prayer of repentance.
3. Prayer becomes sin when it is offered to a false god or idol. Israel provoked the Lord by their prayers offered on the high places. Westerners in the 21st century may lightly dismiss this offense thinking that idolatry is a thing of another time and place. But when the Bible warns against "images," we need to make the connection to imagination. If we are praying to a false idea of God, our prayer is an act of sin.
4. Prayer becomes sin when it is centered on self. The New King James Version has a picturesque translation of Psalm 106:15: He gave them their request but sent leanness into their soul. The Psalmist is referring to the time when the children of Israel craved meat in the wilderness (Numbers 11). God's granting of their petition was a judgment on the sinfulness of their prayer. We should always keep in mind that prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven but getting God's will done on earth.
5. Prayer becomes sin when it lacks faith. The Bible says, Whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). The apostle Paul was referring specifically to a believer who ate meat that had been offered to an idol even though he was unsure whether or not it was right to do so. With regard to prayer, we can commit the same offense when we pray in ways or ask for things when we are not sure it is right to do so. It is imperative that we pray in the will of God by the aid of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27).
We should not let the danger of praying wrongly keep us from praying. The only way to learn to pray is by praying. Our heavenly Father is as delighted by our sincere mistakes as is any earthly parent who hears his child learning to talk. As we pray, His Spirit will lead us and correct us.
Let us pray today, not in fear that we might do it wrong, but in full assurance that when we pray for His glory to be extended to all peoples, we are doing it right.
1. Prayer becomes sin when it is an act of disobedience. In a previous post, "When Not to Pray," I wrote that there are times when God says to quit praying and start doing. But a prayer might also become sin when we fail to pray for those things that God has commanded us to pray for (look for a post on this subject soon). We might also err by talking when we should be listening or just remaining still and quiet in His presence (Psalm 46:10; Habakkuk 2:20).
2. Prayer becomes sin when it is contaminated by a sinful life. Proverbs 28:9 says, One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. We need clean hands and a pure heart to approach the Holy One (Psalm 24:4). Ron Dunn used to say, "It is the life that prays." If our life offends God, so will our prayer, unless it is a prayer of repentance.
3. Prayer becomes sin when it is offered to a false god or idol. Israel provoked the Lord by their prayers offered on the high places. Westerners in the 21st century may lightly dismiss this offense thinking that idolatry is a thing of another time and place. But when the Bible warns against "images," we need to make the connection to imagination. If we are praying to a false idea of God, our prayer is an act of sin.
4. Prayer becomes sin when it is centered on self. The New King James Version has a picturesque translation of Psalm 106:15: He gave them their request but sent leanness into their soul. The Psalmist is referring to the time when the children of Israel craved meat in the wilderness (Numbers 11). God's granting of their petition was a judgment on the sinfulness of their prayer. We should always keep in mind that prayer is not getting man's will done in heaven but getting God's will done on earth.
5. Prayer becomes sin when it lacks faith. The Bible says, Whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). The apostle Paul was referring specifically to a believer who ate meat that had been offered to an idol even though he was unsure whether or not it was right to do so. With regard to prayer, we can commit the same offense when we pray in ways or ask for things when we are not sure it is right to do so. It is imperative that we pray in the will of God by the aid of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27).
We should not let the danger of praying wrongly keep us from praying. The only way to learn to pray is by praying. Our heavenly Father is as delighted by our sincere mistakes as is any earthly parent who hears his child learning to talk. As we pray, His Spirit will lead us and correct us.
Let us pray today, not in fear that we might do it wrong, but in full assurance that when we pray for His glory to be extended to all peoples, we are doing it right.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Prayer Rendered Powerless
In his book Real Evangelism, Bailey Smith, a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, offers the shocking proposition that we can nullify the power of prayer. He suggests that we do so by our inaction. If we fail to act on what we pray about, we give prayer no outlet to complete its purpose. He draws an analogy with electrical power which must complete a circuit to release its energy. Any "short circuit" disrupts the flow leaving the intended use powerless. Smith applies this concept to our praying for God to make us a soul-winner, but then failing to make any contacts, in effect choking off any avenue for God to answer our prayer.
In previous posts I have tried to demonstrate the connection that Jesus and others in the Bible made between prayer and faith. It is important to realize that faith is a two-sided coin. One side is that of receiving a word from the Lord. If God does not speak to us, then we do not exercise faith but presumption. When Jesus told Satan that it was wrong to tempt or test the Lord His God, He meant that He would not jump off the pinnacle of the temple unless the Spirit told Him to, regardless of what promises could be found in the written word of God (Matthew 4:5-7).
But the other side of the coin is obedience. William Carey preached, "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." Both parts of that statement are about faith. Just as there is no faith without a word from God, there also is no faith without a work from man. What I mean is that if we believe, we will act. This teaching is clear in what James says about faith and works. Much so-called faith is dead, useless (2:14-26, especially verses 20 and 26) because nothing comes from it. While works do not produce faith, true faith always produces works. When God's Spirit leads us, and He always does if we are truly children of God (Romans 8:14), our faith in Him and His word is revealed by our obedience. Failure to obey is unbelief. It is sin. When we don't do the good we know we are to do, it is sin (James 4:17). When we act apart from a faith-creating word from God, it is sin (Romans 14:23). True belief always leads to action.
Of course, the act of praying is itself a work produced by faith. We pray because we believe God will hear and do things in answer to prayer that He would not otherwise do (James 4:2). However, let's not nullify the power of our prayers by failing to do the things consistent with what we are praying for. The disciples, who were told to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into the harvest, were themselves sent into the harvest by Jesus. As we pray for God to extend the gospel to the unengaged unreached people groups of the world, let us do all we can to go ourselves if at all possible. Let's not short-circuit prayer's power by inaction.
In previous posts I have tried to demonstrate the connection that Jesus and others in the Bible made between prayer and faith. It is important to realize that faith is a two-sided coin. One side is that of receiving a word from the Lord. If God does not speak to us, then we do not exercise faith but presumption. When Jesus told Satan that it was wrong to tempt or test the Lord His God, He meant that He would not jump off the pinnacle of the temple unless the Spirit told Him to, regardless of what promises could be found in the written word of God (Matthew 4:5-7).
But the other side of the coin is obedience. William Carey preached, "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." Both parts of that statement are about faith. Just as there is no faith without a word from God, there also is no faith without a work from man. What I mean is that if we believe, we will act. This teaching is clear in what James says about faith and works. Much so-called faith is dead, useless (2:14-26, especially verses 20 and 26) because nothing comes from it. While works do not produce faith, true faith always produces works. When God's Spirit leads us, and He always does if we are truly children of God (Romans 8:14), our faith in Him and His word is revealed by our obedience. Failure to obey is unbelief. It is sin. When we don't do the good we know we are to do, it is sin (James 4:17). When we act apart from a faith-creating word from God, it is sin (Romans 14:23). True belief always leads to action.
Of course, the act of praying is itself a work produced by faith. We pray because we believe God will hear and do things in answer to prayer that He would not otherwise do (James 4:2). However, let's not nullify the power of our prayers by failing to do the things consistent with what we are praying for. The disciples, who were told to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into the harvest, were themselves sent into the harvest by Jesus. As we pray for God to extend the gospel to the unengaged unreached people groups of the world, let us do all we can to go ourselves if at all possible. Let's not short-circuit prayer's power by inaction.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Prayer Promises and the Prayer of Faith
You may ask anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:14
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
Is claiming a promise the same as praying in faith? Possibly, but usually not. I fear that some people try to use the wonderful promises in the Bible to obligate God to do what they want. They are like litigants that go to court to enforce the terms of a contract. While it is true that great men of the Bible found grounds for their praying in God's covenant or prophecies (e.g., Acts 4:25-26; Daniel 9:2; 2 Samuel 23:5), that approach is not the same as hearing (in our spirit) God respond to our plea with a word of assurance. Besides, no mortal could ever force the Almighty to do anything. Such an approach goes beyond confidence to arrogance.
So why did God give us promises if we are not to use them to remind Him to act? The promises are reminders to us that our heavenly Father delights to hear from us and to help us. They are clues to His character, evidence of His generosity. He encourages us to come to Him with our needs that He may display His glory by His provision. We should not be like the fisherman caught in a storm who though he had neglected his relationship with God nevertheless prayed, "God, you know I've never bothered you before, and if You'll help me just this once, I'll never bother You again." No, God promises to answer prayer so that we will come to Him repeatedly.
There are times when a prayer promise may become a word from the Lord that enables to pray the prayer of faith. I have heard Tom Elliff teach about prayer and getting a word from the Lord. He has many wonderful testimonies of times that he has prayed about matters and the Spirit led him to a verse of Scripture as confirmation that his prayer had been heard and would be answered. The Spirit would "quicken" a phrase or verse from the Bible, make it come alive in a way that made him aware that God was speaking specifically to him at that moment. On a few occasions, I have had the same experience. But there is a great difference in the Lord's using His word to assure us of an answer and our using His word to obligate Him to answer.
Prayer and Scripture go together to build our faith. We should allow the promises of answered prayer to do what they were intended to do--get us to pray more often and more confidently because they assure us of God's willingness to hear and to answer. We may even find that the words of Scripture help us articulate what our heart longs for. The more steeped in Scripture we are, the more we will find ourselves praying God's word back to Him. After all, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
Let us pray. We should never allow thoughts of inadequacy to hinder us. Teaching on prayer may lead to the concern that we don't really know how to pray or that we are not doing it right. The promises should encourage us. Let's just do it.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
Is claiming a promise the same as praying in faith? Possibly, but usually not. I fear that some people try to use the wonderful promises in the Bible to obligate God to do what they want. They are like litigants that go to court to enforce the terms of a contract. While it is true that great men of the Bible found grounds for their praying in God's covenant or prophecies (e.g., Acts 4:25-26; Daniel 9:2; 2 Samuel 23:5), that approach is not the same as hearing (in our spirit) God respond to our plea with a word of assurance. Besides, no mortal could ever force the Almighty to do anything. Such an approach goes beyond confidence to arrogance.
So why did God give us promises if we are not to use them to remind Him to act? The promises are reminders to us that our heavenly Father delights to hear from us and to help us. They are clues to His character, evidence of His generosity. He encourages us to come to Him with our needs that He may display His glory by His provision. We should not be like the fisherman caught in a storm who though he had neglected his relationship with God nevertheless prayed, "God, you know I've never bothered you before, and if You'll help me just this once, I'll never bother You again." No, God promises to answer prayer so that we will come to Him repeatedly.
There are times when a prayer promise may become a word from the Lord that enables to pray the prayer of faith. I have heard Tom Elliff teach about prayer and getting a word from the Lord. He has many wonderful testimonies of times that he has prayed about matters and the Spirit led him to a verse of Scripture as confirmation that his prayer had been heard and would be answered. The Spirit would "quicken" a phrase or verse from the Bible, make it come alive in a way that made him aware that God was speaking specifically to him at that moment. On a few occasions, I have had the same experience. But there is a great difference in the Lord's using His word to assure us of an answer and our using His word to obligate Him to answer.
Prayer and Scripture go together to build our faith. We should allow the promises of answered prayer to do what they were intended to do--get us to pray more often and more confidently because they assure us of God's willingness to hear and to answer. We may even find that the words of Scripture help us articulate what our heart longs for. The more steeped in Scripture we are, the more we will find ourselves praying God's word back to Him. After all, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
Let us pray. We should never allow thoughts of inadequacy to hinder us. Teaching on prayer may lead to the concern that we don't really know how to pray or that we are not doing it right. The promises should encourage us. Let's just do it.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Prayer of Faith Part 2
Our trust in God's character--His goodness and kindness as well as His power to actually help us--is a type of faith, but it is not the kind of faith required by the "prayer of faith" mentioned in James 5:15. I have often prayed for someone who was sick, but although I approached God confident of both His ability to help and His faithfulness to do what was right and good, the person was not healed (as the verse indicated would happen). Now, I can either look for ways to explain away the verse--as many do by saying that death is God's perfect healing or by saying that God must have had some other plan--or I can look for ways to better understand what the prayer of faith is. I choose the latter.
Faith requires a word from the Lord: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Only when God has spoken can we be sure of what His will is. Once He has revealed His intention, we can pray with complete assurance. A man once shared with me a testimony of God's healing his son. The son was in the hospital, deteriorating by the hour. The father, a faithful follower of Jesus, was praying fervently and unceasingly. He believed in the Lord's power to heal and in His goodness to hear prayer, but still the son grew worse. The father said that he had to go to his house for something, and as he was driving, he was suddenly struck with the realization that his son was healed. His heart leaped for joy and gratitude to God. The moment was so strong that he turned the car around and headed back to the hospital. He met the son's doctor in the corridor. The doctor had just left the son's bedside. He looked the father in the eye and said, "He's made a turn for the better. He's going to be all right." The son went through long days of recuperation, but the father never had any doubt that his son would be completely restored, And he was.
That moment when the father experienced the realization that his son was healed was God's revelation, His word to him about the situation. When God speaks, things become real (we see this in the opening words of Genesis). When His Spirit testifies to our spirit, His will becomes real to us. A spiritual reality is created within us. Thus the Bible's definition of faith is, in the words of Hebrews 11:1, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When God speaks, faith is created in us and what is true in the spiritual realm becomes real to us, often before it becomes real in the material realm.
Note that this word from the Lord is not the logos but the rhema. It is not the written word of God to everyone, it is a revealed word of God to a specific individual regarding a specific situation. I have shared a salvation experience comparable to that of many others. I was raised in the church and understood the plan of salvation--my sinfulness, my inability to save myself, Christ's death on my behalf as my only hope, my need to repent and believe--long before I was truly saved. One day, all those things that I understood intellectually hit me with a reality and forcefulness that made it seem like I had never truly understood those teachings before. They became real in me, a part of me. When God's Spirit witnessed to my spirit and made salvation real to me, I was able to have saving faith. I had believed in my head what God's word, the Bible, taught, but only when His Spirit-spoken word made real in me what Jesus had done for me was I able to exercise genuine faith.
To pray the prayer of faith, we must first "get a word from the Lord." The story goes that a man made a sudden trip to Alaska and when the weather turned really cold, he realized he had forgotten to bring an adequate coat. He calls home and his wife agrees to send the coat by next-day delivery. Later he meets up with his boss who offers to buy him a coat. His reply? "I've already got one." Now technically, he does not yet have it in his possession. But he knows that it is on the way so that he does not have to procure one by some other means. When we have His word, we know that we have it. That's why 1 John 5:15 says, If we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. The way we know that He has heard us is because He has responded by speaking to us.
Let us pray with the confidence that comes from knowing the character of God and the written word of God. But let's keep praying until He responds and tells us what He intends to do. Then we can pray the prayer of faith.
Faith requires a word from the Lord: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Only when God has spoken can we be sure of what His will is. Once He has revealed His intention, we can pray with complete assurance. A man once shared with me a testimony of God's healing his son. The son was in the hospital, deteriorating by the hour. The father, a faithful follower of Jesus, was praying fervently and unceasingly. He believed in the Lord's power to heal and in His goodness to hear prayer, but still the son grew worse. The father said that he had to go to his house for something, and as he was driving, he was suddenly struck with the realization that his son was healed. His heart leaped for joy and gratitude to God. The moment was so strong that he turned the car around and headed back to the hospital. He met the son's doctor in the corridor. The doctor had just left the son's bedside. He looked the father in the eye and said, "He's made a turn for the better. He's going to be all right." The son went through long days of recuperation, but the father never had any doubt that his son would be completely restored, And he was.
That moment when the father experienced the realization that his son was healed was God's revelation, His word to him about the situation. When God speaks, things become real (we see this in the opening words of Genesis). When His Spirit testifies to our spirit, His will becomes real to us. A spiritual reality is created within us. Thus the Bible's definition of faith is, in the words of Hebrews 11:1, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When God speaks, faith is created in us and what is true in the spiritual realm becomes real to us, often before it becomes real in the material realm.
Note that this word from the Lord is not the logos but the rhema. It is not the written word of God to everyone, it is a revealed word of God to a specific individual regarding a specific situation. I have shared a salvation experience comparable to that of many others. I was raised in the church and understood the plan of salvation--my sinfulness, my inability to save myself, Christ's death on my behalf as my only hope, my need to repent and believe--long before I was truly saved. One day, all those things that I understood intellectually hit me with a reality and forcefulness that made it seem like I had never truly understood those teachings before. They became real in me, a part of me. When God's Spirit witnessed to my spirit and made salvation real to me, I was able to have saving faith. I had believed in my head what God's word, the Bible, taught, but only when His Spirit-spoken word made real in me what Jesus had done for me was I able to exercise genuine faith.
To pray the prayer of faith, we must first "get a word from the Lord." The story goes that a man made a sudden trip to Alaska and when the weather turned really cold, he realized he had forgotten to bring an adequate coat. He calls home and his wife agrees to send the coat by next-day delivery. Later he meets up with his boss who offers to buy him a coat. His reply? "I've already got one." Now technically, he does not yet have it in his possession. But he knows that it is on the way so that he does not have to procure one by some other means. When we have His word, we know that we have it. That's why 1 John 5:15 says, If we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. The way we know that He has heard us is because He has responded by speaking to us.
Let us pray with the confidence that comes from knowing the character of God and the written word of God. But let's keep praying until He responds and tells us what He intends to do. Then we can pray the prayer of faith.
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Prayer of Faith
There is a peculiarly effective way of praying: the prayer of faith. It is found in James 5:15: And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. What is this kind of prayer?
We know that Jesus linked faith and prayer. As He explained the withering of the fig tree to Peter, He said: Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:22-24). Although some might focus on the power of the spoken word ("he will have whatever he says"), Jesus clearly emphasizes the importance of faith, particularly confidence in the person of the Father ("have faith in God").
I remember hearing an Ecuadorean preacher illustrate the prayer of faith by telling about how a child relates to his father. Accompanying his father on a trip to the city, the child asks for an ice cream cone. At first the father says no, but the child keeps on asking. Eventually, the father relents and buys the treat. The preacher said the child kept asking because he knew his father and knew that the father would buy the ice cream. Of course, the point is that the child had faith in the generosity, i.e., the character, of his father. The preacher went on to say that we can be sure that our prayers will be granted when we pray in complete faith in the character of our heavenly Father.
This line of thinking is in agreement with what we are told by the writer of Hebrews: But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (11:6). Our show of confidence in God by bringing our petitions to Him pleases Him so that He delights in giving us what we ask. After all, He has told us, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me (Psalm 50:15). His strength is made perfect in our weakness, manifesting His grace, power, and majesty. The Father delights to hear us and to help us, so we can pray with confidence.
But does faith in the character of God enable us to pray with NO DOUBT in our hearts? Don't we still have to wonder about the will of God? Our belief in the goodness and power of God gives us hope that our prayer will be answered, but it does not give us certainty. There is an important difference between the prayer of hope and the prayer of faith. I will write about that next time.
In the meantime, let us pray in the joyful knowledge that our heavenly Father hears us and delights to work on our behalf.
We know that Jesus linked faith and prayer. As He explained the withering of the fig tree to Peter, He said: Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:22-24). Although some might focus on the power of the spoken word ("he will have whatever he says"), Jesus clearly emphasizes the importance of faith, particularly confidence in the person of the Father ("have faith in God").
I remember hearing an Ecuadorean preacher illustrate the prayer of faith by telling about how a child relates to his father. Accompanying his father on a trip to the city, the child asks for an ice cream cone. At first the father says no, but the child keeps on asking. Eventually, the father relents and buys the treat. The preacher said the child kept asking because he knew his father and knew that the father would buy the ice cream. Of course, the point is that the child had faith in the generosity, i.e., the character, of his father. The preacher went on to say that we can be sure that our prayers will be granted when we pray in complete faith in the character of our heavenly Father.
This line of thinking is in agreement with what we are told by the writer of Hebrews: But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (11:6). Our show of confidence in God by bringing our petitions to Him pleases Him so that He delights in giving us what we ask. After all, He has told us, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me (Psalm 50:15). His strength is made perfect in our weakness, manifesting His grace, power, and majesty. The Father delights to hear us and to help us, so we can pray with confidence.
But does faith in the character of God enable us to pray with NO DOUBT in our hearts? Don't we still have to wonder about the will of God? Our belief in the goodness and power of God gives us hope that our prayer will be answered, but it does not give us certainty. There is an important difference between the prayer of hope and the prayer of faith. I will write about that next time.
In the meantime, let us pray in the joyful knowledge that our heavenly Father hears us and delights to work on our behalf.
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