Tue, Jun 28th - 9:54PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

Praying Fervently

As I have pointed out, desire always has an objective.  We must desire something.  The degree of enthusiasm which we have in forming our spiritual desires always determines the earnestness of our praying. 

Our prayer must be clothed with fervency, strength, and power.  Men and women who are fervent in spirit are focused upon getting righteousness, truth, grace, and all the other sublime and powerful graces which are parts of the character of the true child of God.

God declared the following message to Asa via the lips of the prophet Hanani.  At an earlier time in his life, Asa had been true to God and had been a person of prayer.  But, success and material prosperity distracted Asa and he "lost" his faith in God.  "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.  Herein you have done foolishly:  therefore from this day forward you shall have wars (II Chronicles 16:9)."  God had heard Asa's prayers when he had been a younger man; but because he had stopped praying fervently to God and had become complacent God allowed the consequences to play out.  Giving up faith and prayer leads to trouble and disaster in one's life.

The apostle Paul speaks to us from Romans 15:30 about striving for prayerful cooperation.  In Colossians 4:12 we find the same word, but translated differently:  "Epaphras...always laboring fervently for you in prayers."  Paul charged the Roman believers to strive together with him in prayer, to join with him in fervent prayer.  The word means to enter into a contest, to fight against adversaries.  It means to engage with fervent zeal to endeavor to obtain something specific.

These examples allow us to see that in each instance faith was blended with trust until faith was swallowed up in the trust.  At some point faith is relieved of its burden and trust comes alongside and carries on to the goal.

Need more examples?  In the incident of the barren fig tree, Jesus Christ transferred the power of faith to His disciles.  When they were amazed at how quickly the fig tree withered away Jesus pointed out to them: "If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say to this mountain, Be you removed, and be cast into the sea; it shall be done.  And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive (Matthew 21:21-22)."  As we achieve such huge proportions of faith we step into the realm of absolute trust in God.  We will have reached faith's top step which is unswerving, unalterable, unquestionable trust in the power of the living God.

PERSISTENCE

In Luke 18:1 Jesus said that "men ought always to pray and not to faint."  That parable intended to save men from faintheartedness and weakness in prayer.  Christ taught that we are to guard against negligence and encourage persistence in prayer. 

Persistent prayer represents a huge move by a soul towards God.  It is the ability to grasp promises of God, hold on, press onward, and patiently wait.  It is not a sometime thing, but it is a persistent passion of the soul.  It is not some half-needed want, but it is an absolute necessity.

We are to wrestle in persistent prayer with God.  This does not arise from out of any physical violence nor fleshly carnal energy.  It is an inward force planted and nourished by the Holy Spirit of God.  It is the intercession of the Holy Spirit within us.  This must occur in order for James 5:16 to come to pass.  God is persistent and thus His Spirit imparts this attribute to us so that we take our prayers straight to the mercy seat and do so persistently until "fire" falls and the blessing comes.

PERSISTENT POWER?

Can prayer be prevented by anyone?  Can anyone do anything to prevent someone else from praying?  It is the sole mark and test of being a Christian.  Christians are a prayerful people.  The worldly individuals are prayerless, until times of catastrophe or tragedy strike them.  Suddenly, they become spiritual people!  Sadly, the world ignores God and does not call upon His name.  Equally sad is that very many supposed Christians ignore God and do not pray to Him for anything. 

Every Christian has to work on cultivating continual prayer to God.  It must become habitual.  It is just like pulling weeds from out of the vegetable garden.  Do not habitually go out and pull them and they will over run your garden and there will be no "good" fruit to harvest.  Likewise if we do not pull sin out of our lives it will over run our lives and there will be no prayer, no fruits, no rewards.  Prayer is the expression of a relationship with God, of intimacy in a divine communion with the Creator of the universe.  It is our inner life reaching yearningly upward towards its original source.  It is an acknowledgement of our sonship, of our place within the family of God.

It is safe to say that prayer has everything to do with molding an individual into the image of God.  It has everything to do with enlarging our measure of divine grace.  It has everything to do with drawing our soul into total fellowship with God.  It is what enriches, broadens, and matures our soul's experience of God.  A person who refuses to pray can't possibly be a Christian.  Devoid of prayer means to still be a sinner. 

If we fail to press our desires on God with urgency and perseverance, what actual relationship do we then believe to have with Him?  We are to therefore pray on with courage and tension, not relaxing nor stopping until our heartfelt cry is heard and its cause is won for us.

The person therefore who has clear views of God, has scriptural conceptions of the divine character of God, truly appreciates their privilege of approaching near to God, and understands their inward need of all that God has for them.  This person will be eager, outspoken, and persistent in their prayer life.  Fervent effectual prayer is prayer on fire, it is a righteous person emptying their heartfelt desire heavenward in a column of argent flame.  It becomes a beacon in the darkness of this lost world, drawing others of like spirit to it.

That is all for today beloved.  Opportunities to post have dwindled down to just a couple more days before I head out to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Brethren Annual Conference.  It is a time similar to what is found in the Book of Acts where the apostles gathered together to discuss and settle controveries amongst themselves and the church.  As an official delegate of my congregation I will be keenly listening and observing all things during the business sessions in order to deliver an accurate report to my home congregation of believers.  I am also eagerly looking forward to the times of bible study, worship, and preaching that will take place each day.  Keep me in your prayers brothers and sisters.  I will be praying for you, where ever you are, what ever you are doing.  Remember that you can not take a single breath without Christ knowing about it ahead of time.  I pray that each of you become prayer warriors, asking God to help you to forgive your enemies, to forgive your parents, your siblings, your children, your bosses, your spouses.  This is the age of reconciliation, of peacemaking, and not of division and strife.  Grace and peace be yours.

~Eric

Mon, Jun 27th - 1:33PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

There can be much seeming to pray, without desire of any kind being present in the person.  It is the singleness of desire, the definite yearning, which drives prayer directly to the center of supply.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus Christ voiced the words which bear directly upon the innate desires of a renewed soul with the promise that they will be granted:  "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:  for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6)."  If I hunger and thirst after righteousness then desire is acting out and my prayers shall then be filled.  This is the basis of prayer which fully expects an answer.  It is the strong, inner desire which has entered the spiritual appetite of a person and demands to be satisfied.  Too often our prayers operate in the dry area of mere wishes or in the lifeless area of a memorized prayer.  Sometimes our prayers are simply parroted expressions set before us.  The freshness and life is gone out, the passion flame has been snuffed out, if even it ever was lit to begin with. 

Without any desire, there is no burden of our soul, no sense of need, no enthusiasm, no vision, no strength, and no aura of faith.  Without desire we shall never achieve these words in our own lives:  "I will not let You go, except You bless me (Genesis 32:26)."  Nor will we ever experience a total surrender such as that of Moses.  Lost in the agony of a desperate, stubborn, all-consuming request he cried out: "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book which You have written (Exodus 32:32)."  Are any of us here yet?

Let it be known that God draws very close to the passionate praying soul.  All true praying ostensibly seeks as its objective to see God, know God, and live for God.  Praying is therefore inspiration to seek after God.  Prayer is to see God and to have a clearer, fuller, sweeter, and richer revelation of God.  So to those who pray passionately, the Bible becomes new and Christ becomes a new Savior, each becoming brighter; and that light revealing new truth to our hearts and souls. 

The essential prerequisite for all genuine praying is a deep-seated desire which seeks after God Himself.  "My soul thirsts for God, the living God (Psalm 42:2)."  My question for myself and readers of this posting is:  Am I earnestly seeking God?  Am I "thirsting" for Him or am I just going through the motions?" 

PRAYER AND ENTHUSIASM

Prayer without enthusiasm comes before God with empty hands.  These are hands which have not learned the need to cling to the cross of Christ during the good times and the bad.  Prayer without enthusiasm has no heart in it.  Heaven must be made to feel the force of this crying out to heaven.  The apostle Paul was a fine example of a person who possessed a fervent spirit of prayer.  When he prayed it was all-consuming, nothing else mattered more.  It centered upon the object of his desire and was immovable. 

Our prayers must be red hot.  The fervent prayer is effective and profitable.  A cold spirit hinders prayer.  Prayer ascends through the gates of heaven by fire.  Fire is composed of heat, and heat is intensity,  something that glows and burns.

God obviously wants warm hearts in His servants.  The Holy Spirit comes as a fire to dwell within us.  We are to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire.   If our faith does not set us on fire, then we have frozen hearts.  If we have forgotten the fire and fervency we once felt upon first being saved, then we must recapture that desire and begin anew in serving our Lord and Savior faithfully.  To be absorbed in God's will and to be so earnest about doing it that our entire being is set ablaze is the qualifying condition of the man who would engage in effective prayer.  That is my goal as a servant of Christ Jesus!  Is it yours, brothers and sisters?

God warns us against praying weakly, not believing our prayers will be fulfilled (Luke 18:1).  The atmosphere around us is too mightily charged with resisting forces for limp, disinterested prayers to work.  It takes heat, desire, fervency, and fire to push through to the upper heavens where God dwells with His heavenly hosts in eternal Light.  Read the Psalms to discover the extent of David's fervent desires.  "My soul breaks for the longing that it has unto Your judgments at all times (Psalm 119:20)."  "As the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God:  when shall I come and appear before God (Psalm 42:1-2)."  These are the words of a man living in a state of grace and whose soul had been deeply fulfilled by God. 

Again the Psalmist reveals to us God's promise concerning earnest prayer: "You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips (Psalm 21:2)."  And again in Psalm 38:9: "Lord all my desire is before You; and my groaning is not hid from You."  Fervency of prayer is a forerunner of what God will do by way of answer.  When we honestly seek His face in prayer,  God stands pledged to give us the desire of our hearts in proportion to the fervency of our spirits.

Fervency is seated within the heart and not the brain or any intellectual faculties of the mind.  It is not an expression of intellect.  It is far above poetical fancy or sentimental imaginings.  It is seated deeply within our emotional natures.  We can't create fervency of spirit at the flick of a switch.  We must ask God to implant it within us.  Then it becomes ours to nourish and feed, to cherish, to guard against extinction.  Upon becoming saved it is our duty to acquire a fervent spirit and seek to increase it. 

Next time I shall post about praying fervently.  May the grace of Christ Jesus buoy you up during the low points of your day!

~Eric

Fri, Jun 24th - 1:14PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

God expects to be represented here on this earth by a fiery Church or else He is not represented at all.  God Himself is all fire; His Church must therefore be like Him and cannot tolerate lukewarmness of its members.  But the only things which His Church can afford to be on fire about are the great, eternal truths of heaven-born, God-given faith.  Believers can't be on fire about every new social fad which comes along, nor can they be on fire with national patriotism. 

But holy desire does not have to be picky in order to be consuming.  Jesus Christ was the oposite of nervous excitability, the absolute opposite of intolerant or noisy speech.  But the zeal of God's house consumed Him.  And doesn't our world still feel the glow of His fierce, consuming flame some two thousand years later?  The divine flame of redemptive mercy, love, and peace still calls out to people who are in dire need of salvation. 

If there is a lack of passion in prayer it is a definite sign of the lack of intense desire in the person.  Absence of intense desire is a solid sign of God's absence from the heart.  God can, and does, tolerate in His children many things in the realms of weakness and mistakes.  He can and will pardon sin when the repentant person prays and asks for it.

But two things are intolerabe to God:  insincerity and lukewarmness.  Lack of heart and heat are things which are hated by God.  To the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus Christ says that He will spit them from out of His mouth.  That is utter repudiation of them, flinging them from His presence.  It is an indictment of not having any passion whatsoever.  It is a rejection of the concept that one may live a sacred life without having any sacred zeal. 

Zeal is the motivating power in prayer.  Passion is the wing on which our faith soars heavenward.  King David had passion.  Simon Peter had passion.  Paul had passion.  How else are we to voice effectual fervent prayer if we fail to have any passion?  Without passion our prayers will avail nothing, they will remain empty and void.  Can we love another without passion?  Love is kindled in a flame of sorts, and zeal is its life.  Our Christian experience breathes in passionately, it feeds upon the divine flame of Christ.  Without passion the Christian's life will die, chilled and starved.

So, true prayer must be on fire, full of passion and zeal.  Does anyone really want to listen to a pastor present a sermon which is totally devoid of any passion, any zeal?  I would question the pastor's relationship with God if there were no passion in his preaching.  Lack of spiritual heat creates more unbelief than any lack of faith.  If I am not completely interested in the things of heaven, I am not interested in them at all.  I want to be a "fiery" soul.  The stronghold of God is taken only by those who storm it in worshipful earnestness and besiege it with passionate, unshaken zeal.  That is who I want to be. 

I must therefore become red-hot for God in order to defeat the chilliness of today's society.  Today believers' must receive the hot coals from the altar of God in order to keep our hearts aflame for Christ.  This flame is not mental power, or intellectual power, or oratorical power:  it is divine, intense, ash-consuming fire in the soul.  It is to be directly plugged into the the very being of the Spirit of God.

No fluency of speech, elegance, or point of view can replace a lack of passionate desire.  Passion gives prayer energy, elevation to the heavens, and ultimately gives it acceptance.  Without fire there can be no incense, without flame there can be no prayer.

How can I expect to pray continuously if there is to be no fervency?  Fervency must arise from out of desire, out of passion for Christ.  So in order to pray continuously I must therefore have passion in the things of Christ so that I may pray fervently and effectually.  Round and round it goes in an ever sustaining cycle.  Jesus prayed passionately at all times.  His final night of prayer in the Garden of Gethsamane resulted in Him sweating profusely through His efforts.  How are we doing these days?

Prayer is not to be a dry formal repetition of a laundry list of concerns.  It is not to be some indefinite generalized demand.  Desire always has an object in view.  Desire is specific in nature.  Thus desire ignites our soul, it calls forth intensity and zeal in our efforts to obtain the object we so desire.  Our soul can't remain unconcerned when a great desire heats up our heart.  Our desire creates a sense of urgency, it maintains courage that refuses to turn aside in the face of difficulties.  Our desire forces us to stay, plead, persist, and refuse to back down until the blessing has been given.  To only pray until a prescribed length of time has passed is to be a coward, to be distant from Christ, to be unwilling to go the distance to achieve the prize.  Have we not all been told that we are in a marathon race?  There is no time limit placed upon our faith, or upon our service to our God.  To not ardently seek out desire and the passion to do God's will in our lives is to be far away from God, no matter how many times we may claim to be a Christian. 

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple (Psalm 27:4)."   Desire can not remain passive, it must take action, it must seek what it needs. 

Is your petitioning babbling or prayer?  Desire is intense but narrow.  It can't spread itself over a wide spectrum.  It wants a very few things and it wants them intensely.  The only balm to it is to receive answer from God Himself.  King David did not desire everything.  He did not allow his desires to spread out over everything.  He kept his desires focused, as in the quote from Psalm 27 above.

Next time I will finish this subsection on desire and its relationship to prayer.  I hope that you are getting the picture clearly in mind that God has left for us in the Bible.  The prophet did not get the rain to stop falling for three and a half years without praying passionately to God.  Jesus Christ prayed passionately before His crucifixion.  The disciples of Jesus prayed passionately for one another, it aided in Peter escaping from prison while guarded by several men and chained up besides.  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man gains much, the weak formalized prayer of a doubting man goes unanswered and weakens the faith of such a man.

Grace and peace be with you all today.

~Eric

Thu, Jun 23rd - 1:22PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

PRAYER AND DESIRE

Desire is not just some simple wish.  It is a deep and an intense longing for accomplishment, or attainment.  Spiritually, it is a very important addition to prayer.  Desire precedes and accompanies prayer.  Desire comes before prayer and is created and intensified by it.  If prayer is asking God for something, then it must be expressed.  Prayer comes out into the open, desire is silent.  Prayer is heard and the deeper the desire the stronger the prayer.  Without any desire, prayer becomes meaningless, a scattering of words spoken emptily.  Uninterested formal prayer, without heart, feeling, or real desire coming with it, must be avoided like the plague.  It is a complete waste of time, no real blessing comes as a result of it.

But we ought to pray.  This is so that desire and expression may be produced.  God's Word commands this to be done.  We ourselves reach a point where we know that we ought to pray, whether we want to or not.  We simply can't allow our feelings to dictate our prayer habits.  At thes times in our life we ought to pray for the desire to pray.  This is something which is God-given and comes from heaven.  In praying for desire, then, when desire does come, we should pray according to its principles.  Lack of having spiritual desire ought to grieve us, it should cause us distress and force us into mourning its absence in our hearts.   Then, we ought to earnestly seek it out so that we may find our praying to be an expression of "the soul's sincere desire."

In our daily lives we may experience both physical and spiritual desire.  A sense of need creates earnest desire.  The stronger the need before almighty God, the greater ought the desire to be and the more earnest the prayer.  This is why the poor in spirit are extremely competent in praying.

Hunger, being a phsycial need, creates the request for food.  Likewise, an inward awareness of spiritual need creates desire which is expressed in requesting from God that which is needed to fulfill the desire.  Remaining fixated upon physical desires leads to error-filled living, leading us into temptation and then into lust whereby we fall into sin.  We must take our desires to God in prayer, earnestly seeking out His face and His will for our lives.

Spiritual desire is the evidence of the new birth which Jesus spoke about on various occasions during His minsitry.  In I Peter 2:2 God speaks to us about desiring the sincere milk of the Word, that we may grow accordingly.  Newborn infants are ravenous for they are rapidly growing, so too should the spiritual infant be ravenous for the Word of God in order that they may grow rapidly in faith.

To have an absence of this holy desire in one's heart is proof that there has been a cooling of the heart, or that salvation has never taken place to begin with.  Those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled according to the Word of God. 

Physical appetites are the characteristics of a living body and not a corpse.  Spiritual desires belong to the soul made alive to God, they are proof of a renewed heart, a repentent heart.  As the renewed soul hungers and thirsts after righteousness, these holy desires break out into earnest, diligent, petitioning prayer.  The prayers become full of passion, of feeling, of heart-felt need from the God of this universe.

So what is your heart's desire?  For the Christian, our desire ought to be to become enclosed in the name and power of Jesus Christ our Lord.  It should not become filled with desires of fancy cars, huge houses, star-studded posses, or bulging bank accounts overfilled with money.  That is to be hung up on the physical desires.  We must remain aware of the fact that desire is the will in action.  Desire exalts the object of its longing and sets the mind upon it.  It has choice, atitude, and passion in it.  Prayer, based on these, is genuine and specific.  Desire directed solely at meeting physical or psychological needs often leads to abuse to either one's self or to others.  Both forms of desire knows its need, feels and sees the thing that will meet it, and then takes concrete steps to acquire/attain it.  Holy desire leads to greater spiritual maturity and increased faith in God while physical/psychological desire leads to greater depravity and increased reliance upon self gratification by any means.

Holy desire is aided by devout study of God's Word.  Meditating upon our spiritual need/s and on God's capability and readiness to correct it helps desire to increase.  It makes prayer more insistent and tends to save us from the dangers of wandering thought or of becoming distracted.  The sad truth is that we all fail much more in desire than in its outward expression.  We have kept the form while the inner life has begun to perish from starvation.

What has caused the weakness of our desire for God, the Holy Spirit, and all the fullness of Christ?  Is it lack of prayer?  Or, is it lack of devoutly studying God's Word?  Not knowing what it is you are failing to receive through your prayers means that you will not be disappointed in not getting it.  Ignorance about the Word of God and what God has promised to give us leads to either weak, useless prayers, or else to absence of prayer altogether.  Here is why Jesus upbraided the unbelievers and His own disciples.  He told them all that they had not because they asked not.  They needed to have faith in God, they had to believe God at His Word.  They needed to trust God.  We must ask ourselves:  Are we willing to wrestle with God until He gives us a blessing as did Jacob?  Or shall we remain lazy?  Remember the plight of the Laodicean church in the Book of Revelation, they were neither hot nor cold, but simply lukewarm with indifference.  Where was the passion, the earnestness?  Jesus intoned the gravestone with these chilling words, "...being rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and do not know that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."  I ask you again, do you have that desire which presses us to close communion with God?  Do we have the desire that is filled with silent pain that keeps us there through the agony of an intense, soulful prayer?  It is simply not enough to get the evil out of our hearts, we must work on getting the good into them afterwards and not leave a vacuum behind in our hearts.  Passion in our hearts places at our disposal the inexhaustible riches of divine grace.

Next time I will continue with writing about desire and prayer.  I hope this gives you something to ponder deeply and to then incorporate into your spiritual journey with Christ.  Christ's grace and peace be with you.

~Eric

Tue, Jun 21st - 1:32PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

TRUSTING IN CHRIST

As people came to Him, Jesus Christ put their trust in Him and His mission right up front.  He gave out no definitions of trust and He did not provide a theological discussion of it either.  People would see what faith was by what faith does.  They would witness that trust arose from seeing its free exercise within His presence.  Faith was the product of Jesus' work, His power, and His Person.  Trust is too sincere and spontaneous for any theological terms.  Its very simplicity is often what staggers people.  People look for somthing great to happen, while all of the time the Word is nearby, close enough to reach out and touch.

When Jairus heard that his daughter had died, Jesus said, "Fear not:  believe only, and she shall be made whole (Luke 8:50)."  To the woman with the issue of blood, who stood tremblingly before Him, Jesus said, "Daughter, be of good comfort:  your faith has made you whole; go in  peace (Luke 8:48)."  As the two blind men followed Him, pressing their way into the house, Jesus said:  "Acccording to your faith be it to you. And their eyes were opened (Matthew 9:29-30)." 

When the paralytic was lowered down by four of his friends through the hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching it is recorded:  "And Jesus seeing their faith said to the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you (Matthew 9:2)."  When Jesus dismissed the centurion whose servant was seriously ill, He did it in a particular way.  "And Jesus said to the centurion, Go your way; and as you have believed, so be it done to you.  And his servant was healed in the very same hour (Matthew 8:13)."  Jesus did not even have to be physically near the man in order to heal him, He simply needed to know the centurion's faith. 

When the poor leper fell at Jesus Christ's feet and cried out for relief, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean (Matthew 8:2)."  Jesus immediately granted his request, and the man glorified God in a loud voice.  Or the Syrophenician woman came to Jesus about her troubled daughter.  She ended her supplication by praying, "Lord, help me."  Jesus honored her faith and her prayer by saying:  "O woman, great is your faith:  be it unto you even as you will.  And her daughter was made whole from that very hour (Matthew 15:28)." 

After the disciples utterly failed at casting the devil out of the epileptic boy, the father came to Jesus and cried despairingly:  "If You can do any thing, have compassion on us and help us (Mark 9:22)."  Jesus replied by telling the father that if he could believe, all things were possible.  Or how about blind Bartimaeus, sitting by the wayside, heard Jesus passing by and cried out, "Jesus, You son of David, have mercy on me (Mark 10:47)!"  Jesus immediately responded to this audible prayer and told the man:  "Go your way; your faith has made you whole.  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way (Mark 10:52)."  And on and on we can go through the gospels and find examples of how expressed faith in Jesus Christ resulted in immediate responses from Him to their faith. 

From all of these examples we can conclude that God will respond immediately to our heartfelt requests of Him to have mercy on us, to have compassion on us, to heal us, to help us, and to bring us back to life.  If we desire revival of our spiritual life then we only need ask God.  If we would simply recognize God for who He is, then our prayers would be answered quickly.  That is all for today my friends.  Next time (Thursday most likely) I will take a look at prayer and our desire.  An interesting topic to say the least, eh? 

Grace and peace be with you and your families. 

~Eric

Fri, Jun 17th - 1:27PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

"Where there is faith, there is love; where there is love, there is peace; where there is peace, there is God; and where there is God, there is no need."

                              ~Leo Tolstoy

Through trust in God our prayers grow in size and importance.  Nowhere else does trust grow more quickly than inside of a prayer closet.  When prayer becomes as regular as our breathing, then there is room for rapid growth of trust.  When our prayers are sincere, full, and freely offered, trust grows exceedingly well.  The presence of God gives active life to our trust in Him. 

Faith and trust in God are the very foundation of prayer.  It is not so much that we trust in the Word of God, but that we trust in the Person of God.  And to trust in God logically means that we must then trust in Christ Jesus, "You believe in God, believe also in Me (John 14:1)."  That is the demand which Jesus Christ makes of each and every believer, it is the demand that He makes on our personal trust.  The Person of Jesus Christ must be central to our eye of trust.  Jesus emphasized this truth on Martha when her brother lay dead in the tomb those many days in Bethany.  Martha understood, and accepted, belief in the resurrection:  "Martha said to Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day (John 11:24)."  Jesus wanted to elevate her trust above and beyond this fact of the resurrection at the last day, and have her trust His own Person.  "I am the resurrection, and the life:  he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?  She said to Him, Yes, Lord:  I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world (John 11:25-27)." 

Trust in God, and in no one else.  Trust which supplies prayer centers in a Person, Jesus Christ.  It goes even further than this, beloved.  That which inspires our prayer must not only be one in the Person of God, and of Christ, but in their ability and willingness to grant the thing/s prayed for.  It is not simply trust in the Lord (Psalm 37:3) but it is also because the Lord Jehovah is our everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:4).

This trust which is a condition of effective prayer comes from the heart and not from the head.  It is trust which does not doubt.  It is here, in this fertile ground, that the believer is assured of being honored with large and satisfying answers to his/her prayers.  When we pray, do we believe without any doubts?  Do we believe that we will receive the things asked for here and now, or on some distant future day?  If we are thinking in terms of some distant future day, then we must begin asking Jesus "Lord, increase our faith!"  Then our doubts will disappear and trust will claim the promised blessings as our very own.

Is this something which is easy?  No, it is not.  It is a land reached after much praying, some failures, many waitings, and trial of our faith.  Nothing worth having comes without a price. 

All that Jesus Christ said and did demonstrated the importance of depending upon absolute trust in God.  Christ's ministry and work rested completely upon trusting His Father in heaven.  We can ill afford to do anything less. 

Trust looks to receive the thing asked for and gets it.  Trust is not believing that God can bless or that He will bless, but that He does bless in the here and now.  Trust is in the present tense, not future tense.  Hope looks to the future.  Trust looks to the present.  Hope expects.  Trust possesses.  Trust receives that which prayer acquires. 

Are there examples in the Bible of people who had a lack of trust?  In Matthew 17 we find the account of the disciples' failure to cast out a demon in the lunatic son.  They were perplexed as to how they couldn't do this.  They were humiliated, filled with shame, while Satan was victorious against them.  Why?  The answer is found in 17:17-19, 21.  That particular demon could only be cast out of the person after prayer and fasting were done first.  The disciples figured that they could simply run around the countryside ordering demons out of people just by shouting the name of Jesus Christ at them.  They did not take any care to build their faith through prayer, even though Jesus was always praying.  Because of this lack on their part their trust failed completely.  They began trusting in themselves rather than in Christ.  It has been the same ever since in many troubled moments in the Church of God.  Failure results from too little trust, a weakness of faith, and too little prayerfulness.  How many times do we attempt to do things for God without any prayer at all?  We simply decide to do them, and be done with it.  How is that trusting in God?  Neglect our hearts, ignore cultivating faith in Christ, and failure in life is assured.  We wish to engage Satan in spiritual warfare?  We had better be on our knees in private fellowship with Christ first, so that we can be assured that we will have Him with us in our personal struggles or in our efforts to convert sinners.

That is all for today my friends.  Next time I shall write about trusting in Jesus Christ.  May He bless you and keep you this beautiful day!

~Eric

Wed, Jun 15th - 12:55PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

Quite obviously the primary key to successful prayer is faith.  One can't be separated from the other.  There are other conditions, but faith remains the essential condition of true prayer.  James states this fact in his small book, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and does not upbraid; and it shall be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the LORD (James 1:5-7)." 

To waver is to doubt.  Doubt reflects lack of faith.  Thus doubt stands as an enemy to faith and blocks effective prayer.  This concept is given to us again by Paul, "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (I Timothy 2:8)."  All questioning must be left behind upon entering into prayer.  Fear and doubt have absolutely no place in true praying.  Faith must assert itself and overrule these enemies to prayer.  Jesus repeatedly rebuked people who expressed doubt and fear.  He pointed out to them what the problem was:  "Oh, you of so little faith!"  Jesus went on to point out one other reason for their lack of faith:  "You have not because you ask not!"  Asking comes via prayer.  If you have a little faith then increase it by asking God to increase your belief in Him.  Weren't there people who asked Jesus to help their unbelief?  We must also openly and honestly admit our doubt before our God and ask Him to help us have more faith in Him.  Beg him morning, noon, and night.  Ask Him to impress more deeply upon you the divine things, to give you more and more of the substance of things hoped for and of the evidence of things not seen.  If you refuse to ask, if you remain afraid to ask, then you shall not receive anything. 

What is the incentive to pray, and to pray effectively?  Jesus taught that we will gain the assurance and promise of heaven.  Jesus is in heaven preparing a mansion for us.  We are assured that He is coming again to receive the saints to Himself.  These are things which uplift us during the weariness of long prayer.  If we view ourselves as pilgrims, sojourners, in this world but not of it, then we will find that prayer comes much easier.  But if we remain an earth-bound, fleshly satisfied spirit, then prayer will remain elusive and vain. 

Of course, prayer does not stand alone in a Christian life.  It exists in fellowship with other graces and principles.  Trust is faith that has become absolute and accomplished.  There is a sort of risk in faith and in exercising it.  But trust is firm belief; it is faith which has matured.  Trust is a conscious act, something of which we are aware.  Trust is the eye of the newborn soul, the ear of the renewed soul, and it is the feeling of the soul:  spiritual eye, ear, taste, and feeling. 

Trust, like life, is feeling, and so much more.  To live an unfelt life is a denial of reality.  An unfelt trust is a false belief.  Trust is all feeling, and it only works by love.  An unfelt love is as impossible as an unfelt trust.  Trust as we are talking about is a conviction. 

Trust sees God as doing things now.  Trust allows us to look into the past and realize that God has truly done great and mighty things, that some of those things have been completed while others remain only partially completed.  Trust transforms hope into the reality of fulfillment and changes promise into present possession.  We know when we trust or not.  Is that not why we verbally ask that of others:  "Do you trust me?" 

In the midst of mighty physical struggles, trust beomes mightier, it grasps to itself all that God has done for it in His eternal wisdom and fullness of grace.  In the midst of battle our trust becomes all the more important to see us through successfully to the victorious end of the battle. 

Jesus Christ clearly taught that faith was the necessary condition for prayer to be answered.  When Jesus cursed the fig tree, the disciples were amazed that it did indeed wither.  Their reactions revealed their unbelief.  It is why Jesus then said to them, "Have faith in God.  For truly I say to you, That whosoever should say to this mountain, Be you removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says.  Therefore I say to you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them (Mark 11:22-24)."  We are clearly being told by God to cast away all of our doubts when it comes to believing that which God is able to do.  All things are possible with God.  No qualifiers are attached to that bald statement made by God.  There is no exclusion list which we must consult.  We simply must trust God to answer our prayer fully, that it is a done deal.

Well, that is all for this day my friends!  Next time I shall continue on in studying this trust aspect of prayer.  It becomes a matter of what you believe in, as well as Who you believe in.  Hope you all join me next time!  Grace and peace be yours today.

~Eric

Mon, Jun 13th - 1:35PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

Let me inject the dictionary definition of faith into our study:  Allegiance to duty or a person; belief and trust in and loyalty to God; sincerity of intentions; belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust; conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence.

Please note that some aspects of what we conceive faith to be are related to how we feel after checking out available evidence, and other aspects are related to belief in something that has no available proof of its existence.  Out of the above definition/s, I would point out that for the Christian use of "faith" we must focus upon "belief and trust in and loyalty to God; complete trust; and conviction of the truth in the reality of some being based upon examination of evidence.  If we objectively review the evidence provided to us, without allowing the prevailing views of society to influence our thinking, then we can logically conclude that the only explanation for what Jesus did is because He is whom He said He was.  Add to this the evidence that Scripture accurately reveals mankind's motivations and its actions.  Furthermore, since there was no corpse to tag as Jesus Christ's, and the fact that He was claimed to have been visually seen and spoken with by at least 500 people at different times and places, it must be concluded logically that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead and is now alive, just as He claimed He would be.  That is something in which to place your faith then!  No one can logically claim that the disciples stole His body from the tomb and hid it.  Those forces arrayed against Jesus could ill afford to have that happen, it is why a squad of Roman soldiers were commanded to guard the entrance to the tomb after the huge stone was rolled into place to block the entryway off.  If those soldiers failed in their duty then they would suffer the exact same fate as Jesus Christ, so they were motivated to pay attention while on guard duty.  It is faith which is strengthened when we can read the account of how on Pentecost all of those disciples who had not been out and about preaching anything suddenly go out and are preaching the gospel in multiple languages, languages other than Jewish.  It made an impression upon those out in the streets who suddenly heard about the Messiah in their own native tongues.  Twleve men shook Jerusalem, 3000 repented of their sin and turned back to God on the first day alone!  That is something in which I can willingly place my faith. 

Our prayer then depends upon faith.  The work of any Christian ministry is to change unbelieving sinners into praying, believing saints of Christ Jesus.  The clarion call is unmistakable, and goes out via divine authority:  "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31)."  The tremendous importance of faith and the value placed upon it by God can be seen in Ephesians 2:8:  "For by grace are you saved through faith."  So in thinking about the great importance of prayer we find faith standing immediately by its side, inseperable.  By faith are we saved, and by faith we stay saved.  Prayer introduces us to a life of faith.  It is an act of prayer when we finally fall upon our knees and ask God to forgive us of our sins, to please redeem us from the wages of sin, death.  In asking Jesus Christ to come into our hearts, to come and live there forever more, we are praying. 

Prayer can have no existence apart from faith (why would you bother to pray?) and can accomplish nothing unless faith initiates prayer.  Faith makes prayer effective and must actually precede prayer.  "For he that comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)."

Too many people do not choose to pray to God until they find themselves at wit's end, their lives in danger of ending abruptly.  Do they suddenly find belief that God actually exists?  Or are they becoming simply desperate, and grasping at any straw left available?  One can't approach God unless he/she has faith in that He exists.  They must have already given their consent to the eternal truth that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek out His face.  Faith does not bring the blessing, it places the person praying in a position to ask for it.  Faith enables the one praying to believe that God is able and willing to bless, that He hears the requests of the faithful and answers them. 

Faith starts the process of prayer.  It brings the petitioner to the mercy seat of God.  It assures them that, there is a mercy seat, that there is High Priest waiting there for us to come with our prayers.  Faith opens up the doorway into heaven so that we may approach God.  When requests are made of God faith turns this asking into obtaining.  Prayer then leads the believer deeper into a life of faith.  Faith, not a life dominated by works, is the one prominent characteristic of the experience which all believers are brought into through prayer.

Faith makes prayer strong, give it patience while waiting upon God.  It matters not a bit where we decide to pray, God sees us no matter where:  "He that sees in secret, shall reward you openly (Matthew 6:4)."  Praying in your bedroom where no one else can observe you does not hinder God in the least.  He will reward your prayers openly. 

But faith does not believe that God shall reward everybody who chooses to pray.  Faith believes that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.  So those who fail to acknowledge His existence for long stretches in their lives will not necessarily be rewarded at the end of their lives when through fear of death they suddenly remember about God and shoot off desperate prayers to save themselves.  That is not diligently seeking Christ Jesus, that is almost an afterthought.  God richly rewards those who diligently look for the face of God each day.

That is all for today my friends.  Next time I hope to look at a key to sucessful prayer.  Yes, there can be both successful and unsuccessful prayer.  So I look forward to posting about that!  May grace and peace of Christ Jesus flood your soul today!

~Eric

Fri, Jun 10th - 1:38PM

PRAYER - What Godd Is It?

What is faith?  An important term to understand clearly, it must be defined properly and concretely in order to eliminate confusion.  It is not an abstract belief in the Word of God or a mere belief in some sort of "sky Daddy."  It is not simply mental belief.  It is not simple agreement of the understanding and will or a passive belief in facts no matter how sacred or thorough they may be.  Faith is an operation of God, a divine illumination, holy energy planted within the human soul by the Word of God and His Holy Spirit.  It is a spiritual principle which takes from the supernatural and makes it understandable by the abilities of time and sense.

Faith, as discussed by Christians, deals with God and is conscious of God.  It deals with the Lord Jesus Christ and sees Him as a Savior.  It deals with God's Word and takes hold of the truth therein.  It deals with the Spirit of God and is energized and inspired by its holy fire.  God is the great objective of faith, for faith is not an aimless act of the human soul, but a look to God and a rest on His eternal promises.  Just as love and hope always have an objective so, too, has faith.  Faith is not believing just anything.  It is believing God, abiding in Him, and trusting His Word completely.

As has already been stated, faith gives birth to prayer.  As prayers become answered faith becomes stronger, deeper, and reaches ever higher.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the confidence and reality of the inheritance of the saints.  It is humble, patient, and persistent.  The lack of faith lies at the center of all poor, sickly, little, unanswered prayers.

If this appears to be a less than desireable definition, then let's postpone defining it a bit longer and look at faith from another perspective.  Let us look at what faith does.  Looking in Hebrews 11 we find a sampling of the wonderful results of faith.

We find here a list of men and women of faith.  The list would appear to have been shortened up to save space for this is what is said in Hebrews 11:32.  We read that the faith of men of old obtained a good report, which the world was not worthy to have in it.  See, the church does not need intellectually great people in it.  It does not require wealthy men belong to it.  Nor does it need people of great social influence, those who are able to shift the masses through social media today.  All that the church needs, all that it has ever needed, are men and women of faith and mighty prayer. 

Today many people obtain a good report due to their financial donations, mental skills, or physical skills.  How many obtain a good report because of their great faith in God?  See, the world places emphasis upon the physical, the outward appearance of people and things.  It is all about how one looks.  I just watched last night an advertisement for Rogaine.  The entire thrust of the commercial was that men who have a full head of hair have more self confidence and sexual enjoyment.  What rubbish!  A head of hair has absolutely nothing to do with these things.  Or how about exercise equipment?  The selling point out front is always "it will make you look sexy!"  What happened to exercising so that one becomes healthy?  Being healthy and physically fit will ultimately create feelings of self confidence and lead to greater sexual enjoyment.  But we all focus upon the appearance of ourselves and others when of greatest importance is what is going on inside of us. 

To be great in the eyes of God one must have great faith and have great prayers.  It is these two virtues which make us great in the eyes of our Lord and Savior.  These two things create spiritual success within the church's life and work.  These two things lead to personal fulfillment and internal satisfaction of individuals.

As I have already mentioned previously, prayers are not answered if we harbor doubt and/or fear that they will be heard and answered by God.  Doubt and fear can easily supplant faith, even while we are praying, creating restless, uneasy, complaining prayers.  They leave us feeling ill at ease, unhappy, unsatisfied with what we have just prayed about.  Peter failed to continue walking on the water of Galilee because he took his eyes off of Christ and allowed the waves to fall over him and swamp the power of his faith.  Taking his focus off of Christ and checking out the water all around him, Peter began to fear and doubt and thus started sinking down into the water forcing him to cry out for help. 

None of us ought to cherish the idea that he or she is a martyr to fear and doubt.  Cherishing doubt of God brings us no credit.  It provides us with no comfort.  We must take our eyes from off of ourselves, from off of our weaknesses, and rivet them totally on God's strength.  Hebrews 10:35 tells us this, "Do not cast away your confidence, which has great recompence of reward."  A simple faith lived out every day will drive fear away.  A faith which casts all burdens upon Christ Jesus will drive away misgiving and deliver the believer from all doubt.  "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God (Philippians 4:6)."  Incorporating this concept into our daily lives cures fear, anxiety, and excessive concern for our souls.  Why?  Because all of them are closely related to doubt and unbelief.  God's prescription for gaining the peace which passes all understanding and keeps the heart and mind in quietness and peace is deeply rooted in faith and prayer.

How much of a problem is unbelief in our lives?  Big enough that it required a stern warning to be issued in Hebrews 3:12:  "Pay attention, brethren, or else there will be any of you with an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."  Faith must be cultivated, fed, watered, cared for.  So we need to guard against unbelief, it is the enemy of prayer.  We need to continually ask God to increase our belief/faith.  Faith only grows as long as one exercises it, it is just like our muscles.  Faith under duress/trials leads to ever greater faith:  "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:7)." 

Faith grows through reading and studying God's Word and through prayer. 

We all must ask ourselves these questions:  Do I have real faith, faith which keeps me in perfect peace about the things going on in my life and around the world?  Do I really pray to God so that He hears me and answers my prayers?  Do I truly pray to God so that I get directly from Him the things I am asking of Him?

We have been told by God in His Word that we are a people of whom it can be said, "God is not in all their thoughts."  So every pastor is meeting such people all of the time.  Each of us probably is meeting such people every day, we simply do not stop and think about it.  Our main business therefore is to turn them from being forgetful about God, from lacking faith, from being prayerless, into people who routinely pray, believe in God, remember Him, and do His will in their lives.  Christianity is not simply to persuade people to join the church or to get them to do better.  It is all about getting them to pray, to trust God, and to keep God ever before their eyes so that they may not sin against Him. 

That is all for now in this study.  I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!  Grace and peace be yours.

~Eric

Thu, Jun 9th - 1:38PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

"Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God."

                                      ~Anonymous

"Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance:  it is laying hold of His highest willingness."

                                       ~Richard Chenevix, Archbishop Trench 

When we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," we are in essence shutting tomorrow out of our thoughts.  We do not live for tomorrow, we live for today, for the here and now.  We aren't looking for tomorrow's grace or bread.  Living in tomorrow leads to a very inconsequential life filled with tasks never completed, or even attempted.  Thus those who pray best pray for today's needs.  Praying for tomorrow simply gets us ahead of schedule, God's schedule! 

True prayers are born out of our present trials and tribulations, our present needs.  God provided manna to the Hebrews each day while they traveled the desert emptiness.  If they attempted to hoard or store up enough for the next day (tomorrow) they sadly discovered each morning that it had spoiled overnight and was unfit for eating.  God provides for our needs each day, as the day comes upon us.  And bread given today is a strong assurance that there will indeed be bread again tomorrow.  We must trust God today, leave tomorrow for Him to carry for us.  The future belongs to God, we live in the present and cannot go back to the past.  And so prayer becomes a daily necessity to meet our daily needs.

Praying twice as much today will not allow you to skip praying tomorrow.  Conversely, praying hard about tomorrow brings no lasting value/benefit to us today.  So we must leave tomorrow with its associated worries, fears, cares, and needs in God's hands. We can't borrow tomorrow's grace to meet today's needs and vice versa.  We must therefore remember Matthew 6:34 and be sure to possess sufficient faith that it too will be sufficient for the day.

Our faith must be genuine, authentic and if it be so then it will be definite and free of all doubt.  Just as faith must be specific, so too the answer will also be specific.  Faith and prayer pick the things and God pledges Himself to do the very things which have been named and asked of Him through prayer.  We must not forget Mark 11:24.  What ever we pray and ask for, if we really believe that we are receiving them, they are already ours.  They will become ours.  All things which we ask of God in His will He shall give them to us. 

Jesus told us that doubt is sin.  Doubt that certain types of meat are "clean" or kosher for you to consume and they become that for you.  All because you fail to believe in what God has said.  We must have faith that does not waver, doubt, or fear.  We must place upon our faith the price which would be placed upon a jewel or pearl of great worth.  If we do this, will we so easily cast our faith to the curb at the first signs of rough times?

Prayer can not be a vague, hazy, unfocused thing.  It must be more than just an ideal belief in God's willingness and ability to do something for me.  Mark 11:23 nails it down for us here.  Are there limitations on who can pray to God and expect results?  Is to only be priest, bishops, cardinals, or a pope?  Or only pastors, ministers, or elders?  No, the word is "whosoever."  Prayer is open for all of mankind to utilize, they simply must have no doubt in their heart that God hears their request and believe without doubt that those things shall come to pass.  Jesus left no room for any other interpretation here beloved.  "He shall have whatsoever he says."  The granting is unlimited in quality and quantity.  If the request of God is clear, specific, and definite, God will fill it exactly in agreement with the terms put before Him in prayer.  Pray in fuzzy terms and do not be surprised when God fulfills the prayer in fuzzy terms. 

That is all for today my friends.  Next time I will address the often asked question, "What is faith?"  It was asked on Yahoo Answers.com just yesterday.  People believe that they are living their lives without any reliance upon faith of any kind.  That is false. 

Grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

~Eric

Wed, Jun 8th - 1:44PM

PRAYER - What Good Is It?

I mentioned yesterday that faith is obedient.  It goes when commanded, it does not argue nor complain.  This faith also acts.  The man who was born blind went to wash in the pool of Siloam when instructed to go and do so.  He did not go the next day or week, he went immediately.  Peter cast his net immediately where Jesus instructed him to, without question or doubts.  Praying faith keeps the commandments of God and does those things which are pleasing in His sight.  Such faith asks, "Lord, what will You have me to do?"  and answers quickly, "Speak to me, Lord, your faithful servant hears."  Doing God's will is essential to genuine faith, and faith is necessary to absolute obedience to God.

And still faith is requested to wait patiently before God Almighty and be prepared for God's seemingly long delays in answering prayers.  Faith does not become disheartened or dismayed because prayer has not been immediately honored by God.  That is symptomatic of today's culture, immediate fulfillment of urges and wants.  We have been trained by television's endless parade of problem-solving families achieving success in less than thirty minutes.  That is not an accurate depiction of real life, and yet that is what too many of us expect.  Faith takes God at His Word and allows Him to fulfill His purpose in His appointed time, not ours.  Faith accepts these conditions and does not kick at them incessantly. 

Case in point is that of the death of Lazarus.  God deliberately delayed coming, to the consternation and dismay and grief of the man's surviving two sisters.  Lazarus had been critically ill, mortally ill, and his sisters had sent for Jesus to come and heal their brother.  They knew that He could, and would, do this.  They had enough faith to believe in that.  But, for some reason, Jesus delayed traveling out to these loved ones of His.  The request had been couched in terms to touch His very heart and soul, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick (John 11:3)."  And yet Jesus did not go.   Did He not love these people?  Did He wish to be cruel and inhumane with them?  Was He deliberately torturing them with this grief and sorrow?  Yes, He loved them all dearly.  No, He wished anything but to be curel and inhumane to them, and He did not think of torturing their hearts.  Jesus delayed going simply because this was the appointed time for Him to provide all of them with a greater truth, it was time for their faith to be multiplied.  I am certain God felt deeply the pain, suffering, and heart-wrenching sorrow experienced by Lazarus and then by his two sisters.  Lazarus died.  Jesus deliberately delayed so that Lazarus would die.  It was necessary. 

God used Lazarus' death for a greater good.  "Then said Jesus to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes, that I was not there, to the intent you may believe; nevertheless let us go to him (John 11:14-15)."  What is it He is saying here?  Jesus Christ will come if just your patience and faith are exercised and hold on strong.  Any delay will only make His arrival that much sweeter and richly blessed.  Pray on, wait on, believe on, and you can't fail!  At His appointed time, God will arrive on time and will not be late. 

Delay is used to test the strength of our faith.  Faith gathers more strength by  waiting and praying.  Sometimes God must do many things before He issues the final answer.  They are essential things to the answering of the prayer so that lasting good of the requestor may happen. 

Jacob prayed to God to be delivered from Esau.  But that prayer was not answered quickly, not immediately, not in thirty minutes.  Years went by for there was much to be done with and for Jacob.  He had to be changed as well as Esau.  Jacob had to be made into a new man, he had to be converted to God before Esau could be converted to Jacob.  Do you hear that, beloved?  You may very well need to be converted to God before the other person can be converted to you.  Change begets change. 

Faith does not remain mired in the depths of the past.  "Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to My Father.  And whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorifed in the Son.  If you shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:12-14)."  Faith in Christ is the foundation of all working and all praying.  Any and all wonderful works depend on wonderful prayer, and all prayer is done in the name of Christ Jesus.  So amazing simple, and yet it evades believers at almost every turn in their lives.  All other conditions are of little or no value.  Everyting else is to be given up except Jesus.  The name of Christ is to be supremely sovereign in the time of prayer.

If Jesus Christ dwells at the center of my life, if the flow of His life has replaced all of my life, then He can safely commit the praying to my will.  It can be done for my will has become God's will.  If absolute obedience to Christ is the inspiration and force of every movement of my life, then He pledges Himself that whatever is asked will be granted.  No questions, no doubts.  It will be a done deal.  Take it to the bank. 

Faith covers all needs.  Faith disperses anxiety, and needless care about what will we eat, or wear, or live.  Faith lives in the present and regards the day as being sufficient to the evil contained therein.  It lives day by day and refuses to worry about next week or next year.  Faith brings great peace of mind and peace of heart.  "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You:  because he trusted in You (Isaiah 26:3)."  What more can I say than that?

I will stop here for today.  Come on back to find out more about faith and prayer.  See you here next time!  Grace and peace be with you all.

~Eric

Tue, Jun 7th - 1:05PM

PRAYER - WHAT GOOD IS IT?

When anyone begins to study about prayer it inevitably leads one also into studying about faith.  So perhaps a subtitle of this study would be:  "Without faith no one will ever pray fervently to God."

Logically it can be understood that faith is the essential quality which must exist within the heart of any man who desires to speak with God.  He must believe, and reach out with hands of faith for that which he can't see or prove.  It can be argued that without faith there can't be prayer and that without prayer faith will soon fade away. 

How limitless faith is!  It does the impossible because it allows God to work in us, and nothing is impossible with God.  How unstoppable is faith!  A believer has been granted "whatsoever he asks for." 

Our prayer flings faith on God and God on the world.  Only God moves mountains, but our faith and prayer move God to do for us what we ask in His will.  How much emphasis must we place upon the relationship of faith and prayer?  "Therefore I say to you, What things soever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them (Mark 11:24)."  Being unsure of the level of your comprehension, I will say that this draws faith front and center.  To believe that I have already received answer to my prayer strongly implies strong faith in God.  We are taught by Christ to have so much faith that what we then pray for we will conclude automatically will be given to us.  There will be no doubt in our mind nor heart as to whether or not God has heard us, or that He is answering us.  This is an active faith, one which realizes, appropriates, and takes possession of prayer.  This sort of faith is an awareness of God, an experienced communion with Him, a statement of fact.

We must therefore understand the importance of faith.  Is our faith growing or declining?  Does our faith remain strong in the midst of abounding sin and the love of many others grows cold?  In the face of religion becoming mere formality and ritual is our faith unwavering in worshipping God?  The key question probably is the one voiced by Jesus Himself:  "When the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)?"  It becomes necessary for believers to then set about ensuring that our lamp of faith is trimmed and burning brightly until the day He comes.  Considering that illustration, just as an oil lamp will not burn properly or at all if not looked after, so too our faith will not remain strong if we ignore it and/or fail to exercise it.

Faith is the foundation of Christian character, and the security of the soul.  "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  But I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail (Luke 22:81-82)."  This was stated by Jesus in full knowledge of the fact that Peter would soon voice denial of Jesus.  He did not deck Peter out in armor and weapons that could defeat Satan.  No, Jesus informs Peter that He has prayed for him, that he would remain faithful to Him and not believe the lies of Satan.  But again, I point out that Jesus unites, pairs, faith with prayer.  This time God points out to us that we may pray for faith; both for ourselves and for others.  But in doing this we must recognize that we must know that the prayer is answered, that there can be no doubt in our mind about the outcome. 

Jesus knew that when faith breaks down, when it falls apart, the very foundations of spiritual life give way and the entire construction of religious experience crumbles.  Peter's faith needed guarding, not his physical life.  God remains supremely concerned about our souls.  I think Peter got this idea since he wrote this in II Peter 1:5-6:  "And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness."  This illustrates an additive process at work in our lives.  Faith is the starting point for all else.  Those other things can't be in our lives unless we first obtain faith.  Are we taught to add to works?  No, we are taught to add to our faith.  There is to be a clear order in this process.  We are to give constant care to making our calling and election secure, this being done by constant, earnest prayer.

How can I experience powerful prayer?  By focusing and centering my faith upon a powerful God.  Faith in Christ's ability to do and to do greatly leads to great prayers.  We need to become just like the leper, "Lord, if You will, he cried, You can make me clean (Matthew 8:2)."  Again, we have the example of the blind men who came to Jesus for healing.  Jesus merely asked if they believed He was able to do such a healing.  Upon their affirmation of this belief Jesus reached out and touched their eyes and told them that according to their faith so would it be to each of them.  Healing comes to us from Christ through the strength of our faith in His ability to heal us.  Why did Jesus make this statement at the last?  "All power, He declared, is given to Me in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18)."  Would it not seem that Jesus desired all who heard His words to understand exactly how capable He was to do in our lives whatever He desired?  Was He not informing all of us that there would be nothing too great to grant us? 

These are enough things to mull over, to ponder, for one day.  Tomorrow I hope to continue some more in this study.  We will need to consider whether or not faith is obedient.  Is that something which is important?  Is faith able to be impatient?  I hope that you follow along at your own pace.  Prayer enriches lives, it is an unstoppable force which changes lives.  May grace and peace be with you all.

~Eric

Mon, Jun 6th - 1:18PM

Who To Hold on To Today?

"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day (Genesis 32:24)."

In this current time, many people are being "left alone" due to natural disasters, wars, and civil strife.  Law enforcement people are breaking the laws of which they have sworn to uphold.  People are not certain to whom they may look for protection, to whom they can hold onto in these uncertain times which swirl all about us.

Jacob was all alone.  He was not seeking out any additional opponents with whom to fight.  He had his father-in-law Laban behind him as he headed towards his famililal holdings.  He had his brother Esau before him.  Laban was coming to confront and take back his family's idols, Esau presumably was still angry with Jacob for stealing his inheritance away from him years earlier.  Jacob was not looking for anymore battles to engage in.  He was probably feeling like most of us, "I just want some peace and quiet, someplace where I can live without any trouble."  Jacob also rully realizes that he is not an equal match against either man who is set against him.  He is alone.  He is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

So why did he end up having to wrestle an "angel?"  Who was this angel?  As we continue looking at following verses, we find "And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was put out of joint, as he wrestled with him (Genesis 32:25)."  Jacob is not a quitter.  He has always been a very determined man.  He may not have gone looking for someone with whom to wrestle all night, but once it was brought upon him he was not going to give up.  "And he said, Let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me (Genesis 32:26)."  Now, I could go back and capitalize each of the pronouns that identify God in this passage, couldn't I?  This was no ordinary angel that wrestled with Jacob all night long, it was the preincarnate Christ.  Jacob clearly comprehended who was contending with him for he asked to be blessed.  No angel can give a blessing, only God Himself.  Jacob had not been seeking out another person to fight with, God had come to make it known to Jacob that he was fighting against God all of this time and not against flesh and blood.  God wished to drive this fact home, and do so in a very physical and hard way so that Jacob would not ever forget it.  God crippled the man by what would appear to be a dislocation of joint.  Still, Jacob refused to concede.  Finally, he received his blessing from God.

What changed inside of Jacob that night?  As dawn approached he had reached the point where he no longer was fighting God, he was simply holding on to God for all he was worth.  And is that not what we should be doing today, beloved?  Shouldn't we stop kicking against God and just hang onto Him for dear life?  Would we not then receive a blessing from God, just did Jacob?  Could we not request that He bless us for we refuse to let Him go?  Isn't this what God is waiting for, expecting from, each of us? 

How long must we struggle against God's will in our lives before we will realize that we get nowhere by struggling and resisting Christ in our lives?  To get somewhere with God we must yield and abide in Him.  Abraham learned this fact and said "Amen" to God.  God counted it to him for righteousness for he had faith in God.  Abraham had reached the end of his "rope" and wrapped his arms around God; Jacob reached the same point in his life and held onto God for dear life.  Friend, how long before you yield yourself to God and hang on to Him for dear life?  How much more of your self-created security must be stripped away before you come to trust God more than yourself?  When you are willing to hold on, God is ready to be there to help you, to bless you. 

Another reason to believe that Jacob wrestled with none other than the preincarnate Christ is found from the words of the prophet Hosea.  In chapter twelve we can read, "Ephraim feeds on wind, and follows after the east wind:  he daily increases lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.  The Lord has also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.  He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:   Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed:  he wept, and made supplication to Him: he found Him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us; Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial (12:1-5)."  Hosea was speaking of more than one thing in these five verses, but his reference back to when Jacob, the individual, had wrestled with God and had had power brings us back to consider that it surely could have been Christ Jesus before He was manifest in the flesh.  We always need to remain keenly aware of how people reacted when in the presence of "angels."  Not all encounters as recorded in the Old Testament were between people and simply an angelic being.  Sometimes they were in the presence of Jehovah, the Living God.  But that is another study for another day!  Perhaps a study for tomorrow?  We shall see...

Grace and peace my brothers and sisters of faith!  Peace and reconciliation be your motivation each day.  Remember that we do not struggle against people so much as we struggle against Satan and his demons who influence other people in this world of ours.  As such, it makes no sense to also struggle against God who desires to fight on our behalf against Satan.  Christ is our city of refuge, He is our fortress which stands against the mighty and strong man.  May He give us sufficient discernment that we may know who is for and against us in this world.

~Eric

Fri, Jun 3rd - 1:27PM

PROPER SPIRITUAL ROOTS

A leader must remain aware that he shall have to answer to God for his watchcare over all disciples placed under his authority (Hebrews 13:17).  Thus he needs to encourage his disciples repeatedly to wait upon God in order to discover His mind in all matters.  The leader must be sensitive and compassionate.   He will need to assist them in how to pray, how to find private Bible study interesting and meaningful, how to overcome temptation, and to attain righteousness.

POTENTIAL

The leader must exercise care to be sure to develop disciple's in the areas in which they are specially gifted by God.  Not everyone will be a true shepherd, prophet, or pastor.  But they may very well be gifted in organization, or in teaching, or in praise and worship.  The leader must not force "round pegs into square holes" simply to fill "needs" within the congregation or various ministries. 

TRANSPARENCY

Above all else, truth and honesty is to be the rule and not the exception!  Leaders are to be the same sorts of people no matter where you may happen to stumble across them.  At work, at home, at the supermarket, at Little League, at worship service; behavior and speech should not be changing.  There must not be the wearing of any "masks."  Openness with each other is of paramount importance.  Depending upon the backgrounds of men, it could be quite some time before this level of honesty and openness can be achieved, but it is time well worth investing.

COUPLES

Men with wives need to include them in their training sessions, just not all of the time.  This is a logical concept since the Bible teaches us that a man and his wife become "one flesh."  Wives need to develop friendships and trust with other wives of leaders, just like their husbands. 

RESTRAINT

A leader must be prepared to sometimes exert firm correction whenever he discerns a disciple is exhibiting tendencies of building his/her own little kingdom which is disrupting group unity.  It must be made plain and clear that God's acceptable leader is unselfish, humble, and willing to be under the leadership and authority of another.  He needs to recognise the "beam in his own eye" before trying to remove splinters in someone else's eye.  Correction needs to be welcomed and accepted. 

Through all of these suggested areas of training we must realise that it is the "calling" that is important.  It is a "holy calling," a "high calling," a "heavenly calling."  How important is this "calling?"  Peter warned us all to "be diligent to make certain about your calling..."  It is of paramount importance for each believer to make sure they understand what their spiritual calling from God is.  Pastors can't designate what your calling is to be.  That is simply "plugging" holes in ministries.  Putting someone in a position to lead teenagers when they really were called to lead four to five year olds simply leads to frustration and failure to everyone.  Placing someone in the praise team when they were called to be an office organizer is wasting valuable personnel and discouraging people through mismanagement. 

GETTING STARTED

Is it easy to convince groups of believers of these Kingdom principles?  Unfortunately the answer is not always yes.  The very first step is to clearly teach the concepts of discipleship, maturing, relationships, spiritual authority, and the need for pastoral care to every single member of the congregation.  Intellectual arguments will not work.  Involving the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work in the hearts of people will help in opening those hearts to receive instruction in these matters. 

It can take weeks or even months of careful teaching before you begin to see some who are responding and who will be willing to gather together in home groups and begin to live out the New Testament Christian life.

Obviously, a few good leaders are a must, without them the small groups will have no direction or unity.  At the outset there probably will be much strangeness and nervousness, but for those who persevere through faith and trust in Christ the rewards are limitless. 

The location for the small group's meeting place probably ought to be the leader's own hom, at least initially.  The more vital question usually becomes one of geography.  Can the people get to the group's meeting place fairly quickly and easily?  Over time some groups probably will shift their meetings slightly to coincide with who is in the group.  This makes logical sense for the purpose of these groups is to facilitate more frequent gathering together to spend time with each other.  Perhaps each week you meet at a different home on a Saturday to help each family accomplish some project each week.  Bonding occurs, appreciation of others' skills is developed, cameraderie is formed, relationships are born. 

One thing to be avoided:  do not be rigid or fake.  Do not attempt to force people into a mold.  General agreement is to be sought, not jammed down members' throats.  There needs to be flexibility throughout your time together.  Schedules are not to be the rule.  We are to gather together in order that God may use His Spirit to prompt change in individual lives which requires the ability to change direction during any given gathering time.

When first meeting as a small group in a home, it might be wise to have identified ahead of time someone who can pray aloud.  This encourages others to join in, it emboldens others who may not have ever prayed aloud in their lives, and teaches still others on how to pray and what to pray for.  How much prayer time?  Whatever is needed from meeting to meeting is appropriate.  Now you may wish to sing some worship songs to free up everyones' hearts.   You may wish to then read out loud and then discuss such passages as I Corinthians 12:4-27 or I Corinthians 4:26. Other Scriptures can be discussed in the future as the needs arise. 

There could then be a short time for prayer requests and praises to be shared by the group.  Do not force anyone to speak.  Then follow with a time of specific prayer covering these shared needs and concerns, and praises. 

Towards the end there could be a brief time of planning to flesh out what the group will do over the next month or two.  Variety is important to keep up interest and maturing of individuals.  It is okay to delegate tasks to others, the leader does not have to do everything. 

In closing it would be good to have everyone join hands while the leader (initially) commits this new undertaking and each individual in a very definite way to God for His direction, blessing, and presence.

Lastly there is the issue of commitment.  From the very beginning it is necessary to clearly establish the need for commitment from the group's members.  This can't be sacrificed for the sake of gaining more people attending the group.  Each attendee must know clearly what commitment to the other group members and the leader means.  Each member ought to verbally declare this commitment before joining any group.  Doing this helps prevent rebellion and dissention entering into the process and breaking up groups.

Should we be concerned more about quantity at the expense of quality?  God isn't and neither should we.  Jesus Christ's plans to evangelize the world and establish His church depended at the outset on eleven men.  That's it.  On the Day of Pentecost 3,000 souls were saved and added to the church.  So, when small groups of believers "get it right," and are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the increase in numbers will come.

So all that I can say at this point is if you choose to go this route then you must allow the entire process to be initiated by the Holy Spirit and carried out by His direction and power.  Most assuredly, deciding to do things this way will mean that you are doing things according to God's will and thus success will be yours beyond your wildest imagination.  God bless you in all that you do for Him!

~Eric

Thu, Jun 2nd - 1:00PM

PROPER SPIRITUAL ROOTS

"It is a masterpiece of the devil to make us believe that children cannot understand religion. Would Christ have made a child the standard of faith if He had known that it was not capable of understanding His words?"

                                    ~D. L. Moody

"You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the Word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you."

                                   ~Martin Luther

A. W. Tozer pointed out years ago a general truth that is both simple and profound.  He said in effect that anything we do which is initiated by us and comes from out of our own thinking has no permanence in the Kingdom of God.  It will be burned away.  On the other hand, whatever we do, if it is Holy Spirit-initiated and directed, will last for eternity in God's plans.

Thus the secret to successful planning of an evening, or series of evenings, in home fellowship resides in waiting on God.  It requires asking Him what He wants and to learn to hear and rely upon what His Holy Spirit directs us to do.  It means that the group leader/s must establish and keep open the lines of communication between themselves and God.  If they refuse to remain on God's path and wish to strike out on their own, then the results will not be anything which will have lasting value in the kingdom of heaven.

The leader/s can delegate to others within their fellowship group.  But the leader must sacrifice of their time and effort in coming to understand God's will for their particular group.  Proper mapping out of activities and ministries requires time and effort in order to avoid wasted evenings filled with inconsequential chit chat.  Good leaders are creative.  Good leaders constantly search for ways to connect more closely with Christ and with others.  They seek out and employ a variety of means to focus the group's attention upon Christ and what He desires each of us to be doing. 

Finding Proper Leaders

There must be a constant discovery and development under the direction of God of good leaders.  Without this facet there will be extreme difficulty to achieve and sustain growth in both the small groups and the larger congregation.  I give you some suggestions which I have managed to glean from others.

RELATIONSHIPS

More  important than all of the meetings, lectures, training seminars, etc., is developing relationships between leaders, and between leaders and those being lead.  If the leaders do not "have it together" the church as a whole will not either.  It has already been pointed out that Jesus focused His energy and time with a small group of disciples whom He groomed to become leaders themselves.  They would one day become the ones discipling others.  As He taught them, Jesus emphasized their relationship with God, with Him (Jesus), and with one another. 

So it remains important, even critical, that any leader should give time and attention to the development of other men in the larger group as potential leaders, and not feel threatened by their potential.  Of first priority is the building up of warm, friendly relationships with emphasis upon loyalty and unity of Spirit.

ONE MIND

Unity between leaders does not mean they all become "Yes" men.  But they must all be of one mind, the mind of Christ Jesus.  This is how solidarity grows within the congregation, through everyone thinking like Christ Jesus.  This unity grows from out of maximum interaction between leaders and and between any leader and his smaller group of believers.

Concerning all major issues, there ought to be unaminous agreement.  What is sought is Spirit-given unity.  This hinges upon leaders remaining immersed in studying God's Word and praying for understanding and wisdom. 

PEOPLE MATTER

Structure, if you have noticed, is not of utmost importance.  Neither are programs or plans.  People are what is ultimately important.  So leadership training must focus upon people and their associated troubles and problems which need to be resolved.  Attemting to get to the root of someone's problem is admirable work, as long as it is done through prayer, love, and compassion.  No harsh judgment or complaining can be allowed to enter into the equation.

That is all for today my friends.  I will continue with this list of suggestions on finding and training leaders.  May Christ richly bless you today!

~Eric