Are You Crucified with Christ?

Tip! Praise and thanksgiving - This is the earnest, heartfelt prayer where we come before the Lord thanking and praising him for his mighty power and love. We may praise him in both our earthly and spiritual language.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." (Galatians 2:20-21 NKJV)

Here, in his own person, the apostle Paul describes the spiritual or hidden life of a believer. The old man or person is crucified, ("...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. " Romans 6:6 NKJV), but the new person is living; sin is conquered, and grace is available. We have the comforts and the triumphs of grace; yet that grace is not from ourselves, but from another.

We believers see ourselves living in a state of dependence on Christ. Hence it is that though we live in the flesh, yet we do not live after the flesh. Those who have true faith live by that faith; and this faith is secure in Christ's giving Himself for us. He loved me, and gave Himself for me.

It is as if the apostle said, The Lord saw me fleeing from Him more and more. Such wickedness, error, and ignorance were in my will and understanding, that it was not possible for me to be ransomed by any other means than by such a price. Consider well this price. This price was Jesus Christ's life.

Tip! 'Asking of God' and 'receiving' from the Lord - direct request to God, immediate connection with God - that is true prayer.

Now notice the false faith of many. And their profession is accordingly; they have a form of godliness without the power of it. They think they believe the articles of faith correctly, but they are deceived. For to believe in Christ crucified, is not only to believe that He was crucified, but also to believe that I am crucified with Him. And this is to know Christ crucified.

Consequently we can learn what the nature of grace is. God's grace cannot stand with people's merit. Grace is no grace unless it is freely given in every way. The more simply the believer relies on Christ for everything, the more devotedly we will walk before Him in all His ordinances and commandments. Christ lives and reigns in us, and we live here on earth by faith in the Son of God, which works by love, causes obedience, and changes us into His holy image. Thus we can neither abuse the grace of God, nor can we take it in vain.

Do I Truly Pray to God?

Tip! If we, God's people expect to carry out the works of Christ that will glorify our Father, then we must believe in Him for the very work's sake, and pray fervently in His Name.

"Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by supplication and prayer, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

This is the Divine cure for all fear, anxiety, and undue concern of our soul, all of which are closely similar to doubt and unbelief. This is the Divine prescription for securing that peace which passes all understanding, and keeps the heart and mind in quietness and peace.

All of us need to learn well and heed the caution given to us in Hebrews: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."

We need, also, to guard against unbelief as we would against an enemy. Our faith needs to be cultivated. We need to keep on praying, "Lord, increase our faith," for faith is susceptible of increase. Paul's tribute to the Thessalonians was that their faith would grow exceedingly. Faith is increased only if we exercise it, or by putting it to use. It is nourished by painful trials.

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glow at the appearing of Jesus Christ."

Faith grows by reading and meditating on the Word of God the Holy Bible. And the best growth of all is our faith thrives in an atmosphere of prayer.

It would be well, if all of us were to stop, and ask ourselves personally: "Have I faith in God? Have I real faith, -- faith that keeps me in perfect peace, about the things of earth and the things of heaven?" This is the most important question a person can submit and expect to be answered. And there is another question, closely similar to it in significance and importance -- "Do I really pray to God so that He hears me and answers my prayers? And do I truly pray to God so that I get direct from God the things I ask of Him?"

Doubt and Fear are the Twin Enemies of Faith in Prayer

Tip! The Holy Bible says in (John 5:13) this statement about prayer: "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."

Many people, of this day, obtain a good report because of their money-giving, their great mental gifts and talents, but are very few who obtain a "good report" because of their great faith in God or because of the wonderful things that are being formed through their great praying.

Today, as much as at any time in history, we need people of great faith and people who are great in prayer. These are the two basic qualities that make people great in the eyes of God, the two things that create conditions of real spiritual success in the life and work of the Church. It must be our main concern to see that we maintain a faith of such quality and texture, that our prayers are acceptable before God; prayers that are grasped and held onto in faith; without doubt and without fear.

Doubt and fear are the twin enemies of faith. Sometimes, they actually take the place of faith, and although we pray, it is a restless, disquieted prayer that we offer, uneasy and often we are complaining. Peter failed in his walk on the water because he permitted the waves to break over him and swamp the power of his faith. By taking his eyes off the Lord and looking at the water all about him, he began to sink and had to cry out for help "Lord, save me, or I die!"

Tip! THE possibilities of prayer are gauged by faith in God's ability to do. Faith is the one prime condition by which God works.

Doubts should never be valued, nor fears protected. Let no one treasure the delusion that we are martyrs to fear and doubt. It is no credit to any person's mental capacity to take pleasure in doubt about God, and no comfort can possibly derive from such a thought. Our eyes should be taken off ourselves, removed from our own weakness and allowed to rest totally on God's strength. "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward." A simple, trusting faith, living day by day, even hour by hour and casting your burden on the Lord, will drive away fear, misgivings and deliver us from doubt:

"Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by supplication and prayer, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

Faith Gives Birth to Prayer

Tip! A person's character is always demonstrated in their behavior. The Savior again said,"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good ..." -- Luke 6:45

Faith deals with God, and is conscious of God. It deals with the Lord Jesus Christ and sees in Him a Savior; it deals with God's Word, and lays hold of the truth. Faith deals with the Spirit of God, and is energized and inspired by its holy fire. God is the great objective of faith; for faith rests its whole weight on His Word the Holy Bible.

Faith is not an aimless act of our soul, but a looking to God and a resting on His promises. Just as love and hope have always an objective so, also, has faith. Faith does not believe just anything; it believes in God, resting in Him, trusting His Word.

Faith gives birth to prayer, and our faith grows stronger, strikes deeper, rises higher, in the struggles and wrestling of mighty petitioning. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the assurance and realization of the inheritance of the saints. Faith, too, is humble and persevering. It can wait and pray; it can stay on its knees, or lie in the dust. Faith is the one great condition of prayer; this is why our lack of faith is where lies the root of all poor praying, feeble and little praying and unanswered praying.

The nature and meaning of faith is easily demonstrated in what it does, than it is by reason of any definition given it. Thus, if we turn to the record of faith given us in that great honor roll, which constitutes the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, we will see something of the wonderful results of faith.

What a glorious list it is - this list of these men and women of faith! What marvelous achievements are recorded here, and set to the credit of faith! The inspired writer, exhausting his resources in organizing the Old Testament saints, who were such notable examples of wonderful faith, finally exclaims:

"And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:"

And then the writer of Hebrews goes on again, in a wonderful strain, telling of the unrecorded exploits produced through the faith of the men and women of old, "of whom the world was not worthy." "All these," he says, "obtained a good report through faith."

Tip! The Master will not expect more from anyone than a person is capable of doing for Him. Jesus wants us to understand that each person will be rewarded according to their faithfulness in doing their given task.

What an era of glorious achievements would dawn for the Church and the world, if only there could be reproduced a race of saints of like mighty faith, of like wonderful praying!

It is not the intellectually great that the Church needs; nor is it people of wealth that the times demand. It is not people of great social influence that this day requires. Above everybody and everything else, it is people of faith, people of mighty prayer, men and women after the fashion of the saints and heroes that are indicated in Hebrews, who "obtained a good report through faith," this is what we and the Church needs today.

Our Principal Concern in Prayer is with Our Faith

Tip! Praise and thanksgiving - This is the earnest, heartfelt prayer where we come before the Lord thanking and praising him for his mighty power and love. We may praise him in both our earthly and spiritual language.

GENUINE, authentic faith must be specific and free of doubt. Not simply general in character; not a mere belief in the being, goodness and power of God, but a faith that believes that the things which "whatsoever he asks, shall come to pass." As the faith is precise, so the answer likewise will be specific: "He shall have whatsoever he asks." Faith and prayer select the things, and God commits Himself to do the very things that faith and persevering prayer proposes, and petitions Him to accomplish.

The New King James Version renders the twenty-fourth verse of the eleventh chapter of Mark, this way: "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them". Perfect faith has always in its keeping what perfect prayer asks for. How large and unqualified is the area of operation -- the "whatever things!" How definite and specific the promise -- "You will have them!"

Our principal concern is with our faith, -- the problems of its growth, and the activities of its vigorous maturity. A faith which grasps and holds in its keeping the very things it asks for, without wavering, doubt or fear -- that is the faith we need -- faith, such as is a pearl of great price, in the process and practice of prayer.

The statement of our Lord about faith and prayer quoted above is of supreme importance. Faith must be definite, specific; an unqualified, unmistakable request for the things asked for. It is not to be a vague, indefinite, shadowy thing; it must be something more than an abstract belief in God's willingness and ability to do for us. It is to be a definite, specific, asking for, and expecting the things for which we ask. Note the reading of Mark 11:23:

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.

"...and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."

Just so far as the faith and the asking are specific, so also will the answer be. The giving is not to be something other than the things prayed for, but the actual things sought and named. "He will have whatever he says." It is all imperative, "He will have." The granting is to be unlimited, both in quality and in quantity.

Faith and prayer select the subjects for petition, thereby determining what God is to do. "He will have whatever he says." Christ holds Himself ready to supply exactly, and fully, all the demands of faith and prayer. If the order on God be made clear, specific and definite, God will fill it, exactly in accordance with the presented terms.

Tip! In order to accomplish His high purpose, Jesus showed us His purpose in answering our prayers when He said, "...That the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Faith is not an abstract belief in the Word of God (Holy Bible), neither a mere mental acceptance nor a simple consent of our understanding and will; nor is it a passive acceptance of facts, however sacred or thorough. Faith is an operation of God, a Divine enlightenment, a holy energy implanted by the Word of God and the Spirit in our human soul -- a spiritual, Divine principle that takes of the Supernatural and makes it a thing of significance by the reasons of time and sense.

Amazing Lesson - of Wondrous Simplicity - is this Praying

Tip! One warning you should bear in mind in the matter of prayer is the negligence of this great resource. We often neglect prayer until we get into some major trouble; and then suffocating with fear, we rush into some shallow appeal to God only to realize that our prayers are not accepted which is due to the fact that we do not even believe that those very prayers would be accepted in the first place.

Delay in answered prayer is often a test and the strength of our faith. Oh so much patience is required when these times of testing come! Yet faith gathers strength by waiting and praying. Patience has its perfect work in the school of delay.

In some instances, delay is of the very essence of the prayer. God has to do many things before He is able to give you the final answer -- things which are essential to the lasting good of the one who is requesting favor at His hands.

Jacob prayed, with point and passion, to be delivered from Esau. But before that prayer could be answered, there was much to be done with, and for Jacob. He must be changed, as well as Esau. Jacob had to be made into a new man, before Esau could be. Jacob had to be converted to God, before Esau could be converted to Jacob.

Among the great and brilliant statements of Jesus concerning prayer, none is more striking than this:

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.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it."

So very wonderful are these statements of what God will do in answer to prayer! Of how great importance these ringing words, prefaced, as they are, with the most solemn verity! Faith in Christ is the basis of all working, and of all praying. All wonderful works depend on wonderful praying, and all praying is done in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Amazing lesson, of wondrous simplicity, is this praying in the name of the Lord Jesus! All other conditions are depreciated; everything else is renounced, save Jesus only. The name of Christ -- the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -- must be supremely sovereign, in the hour and article of prayer.

A Praying Faith is Well Pleasing in God's Sight.

Tip! God's people do not have authorization to demand the Savior's promise of, "...Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do," in order to gain something very special for themselves.

A praying faith keeps the commandments of God and does those things which are well pleasing in His sight. It asks, "Lord, what will You have me to do?" and answers quickly, "Speak, Lord, Your servant hears."

Obedience helps faith, and faith, in turn, helps obedience. To do God's will is essential to true faith, and faith is necessary to total obedience.

Yet our faith is called on, and many times only to wait in patience before God and our faith is prepared for God's seeming delays in answering prayer. Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; we must take God at His Word, and let Him take what time He chooses in fulfilling His purposes, and in carrying on His work.

There is bound to be many delays and long days of waiting for true faith. But our faith must accept the conditions -- knowing there will be delays in answering prayer, and regards these delays as times of testing, in which, it is privileged to show its courage, and the stern stuff of which it is made.

Look at the case of Lazarus; this was an example of where there was a delay, where the faith of two good women was sorely tried: Lazarus was critically ill, and his sisters sent for Jesus. But, without any known reason, our Lord delayed His going to the relief of His sick friend. The plea was urgent and touching -- "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick," -- but the Master is not moved by it, and the women's earnest request seemed to fall on deaf ears. What a trial to faith! Furthermore: our Lord's tardiness appeared to bring about hopeless disaster. While Jesus waited, Lazarus died.

Tip! 'Asking of God' and 'receiving' from the Lord - direct request to God, immediate connection with God - that is true prayer.

But the delay of Jesus was exercised in the interests of a greater good. Finally, He makes His way to the home in Bethany.

"Then said Jesus unto 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 unto him."

Fear not, O tempted and tried believer, Jesus will come, if patience be exercised, and your faith hold fast. His delay will serve to make His coming all the more richly blessed for you. Pray on. Wait on. You can not fail. If Christ delays, wait for Him. In His own good time, He will come, and will not linger.