By Faith Enterprises

We Must Set Aside the Stuff We Count as Gain for Us to Seek and Find All the Riches of Truth

Tip! Jesus promised to pass on the power from heaven to accomplish greater works for Him in this world. That promise is His Holy Spirit. Jesus intended for His chosen apostles to go and bring in a lot of fruit, the same goes for us.

"...When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..." -- John 16:13

At the time that Jesus told His disciples that our Father's promise to give us the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer, He clearly planned to make an impact on us as His trusted children with the fact that the Holy Spirit would make it possible for us to seek and find all the riches of truth. Can you see this remarkable fact regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit? He will come, the Spirit of truth, to guide us in all truth.

We can not learn the things of God by simple chance; nor can we find them by a course of human logic. The things of God are only shown to us by His Holy Spirit. The Word of God proclaims,

"...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." -- 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10.

Look at it this way, a prayer is like the telescope that lets a person discover remote stars, burning suns and spinning worlds in deep space. Or think of prayer as a microscope that allows a person to look into the area of the very small things. Both the telescope and the microscope enable us to see the things that are invisible to the naked eye.

Tip! In (Phil. 4:6) we have these words about prayer: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

The same is with the Holy Spirit; He makes the invisible things of God visible. He enables us to understand the Word of God, and to pray so tirelessly that we can learn to focus on the light of Christ and on the resources of God. We soon start to discover worlds, wealth, and wisdom never seen or heard before by the natural person. This same idea inspired the Apostle Paul to write,

"...We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." -- 2 Corinthians 4:18.

The person, who seeks God methodically, trying the best as they can to know the things that God has set for them that love Him, will be rewarded by a much greater measure of knowledge than the person who is laid-back and uninterested in their seeking. We can only receive the eternal things of God in direct proportion to the measure of our seeking the things of God in prayer.

Tip! Talking to God – This is the one on one type prayer – where we converse with God to develop our relationship with him. We may ask him to help us in areas that we need spiritual, physical or emotional support.

Is it really necessary to deny ourselves of many things in order to seek and find the wealth of our Father that is shown in His Son, Jesus? Look again at what the Apostle Paul said about this truth,

"...What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord..." -- Phil. 3: 7, 8.

It is not possible to achieve a more faultless or true knowledge of Christ until we decide to count all of our things a loss for Him. We must set aside the stuff we count as gain. A daily awareness of Christ in our life is a far greater value than all worldly knowledge we could ever acquire in this world today. The prophet Jeremiah knew this when he wrote,

Tip! The person who prays, has a belief that they will receive an answer. The prayer is intended to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, rather than to influence the recipient.

"...Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." -- Jeremiah 29:13.

We cannot obey the conditions declared in this promise unless we rid ourselves of all the heavy worries we carry around with us. Give them to Jesus. He is waiting for you now!

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? explores the mysterious intersection where you and God meet and relate. Writing as a fellow pilgrim, Yancey explores the questions surrounding prayer that you may wonder about but not know how to express. Above all, Yancey shows you how to pray to a God who sees what lies ahead of you, knows what lies within you, and who invites you into an eternal partnership with Him---through prayer.

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey