A Praying Faith Keeps the Commandments of God

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."

In his Second Epistle, Peter has this idea in mind when speaking of growth in grace as a measure of safety in our Christian life, and this leads to fruitfulness.

"And besides this," he declares, "giving diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness."

In this process of adding all the other graces of the Spirit together, notice that our faith is the starting point. Faith is the foundation on which other things are to be built. Peter does not instruct his readers to add to works or gifts or virtues but to faith. Everything depends on starting right in this business of growing in grace.

There is a Divine order, of which Peter was aware; and so he goes on to declare that we are to give diligence to making our calling and election sure. This election is granted certain adding to faith which, in turn, is done by constant, earnest praying. Consequently faith is kept alive by prayer, and so is every step taken by us, in this adding of grace to grace, is accompanied only by prayer.

The faith that creates powerful praying is the faith that centers itself on a powerful Person. Faith in Christ's ability to do and to do greatly is the faith that prays greatly.

Thus the leper laid hold on the power of Christ. "Lord, if You will," he cried, "You can make me clean." In this instance, we are shown how faith centered in Christ's ability to do, and how it secured the healing power.

It was concerning this very point, that Jesus questioned the blind men who came to Him for healing:

"Believe you that I am able to do this?" He asks. "They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you."

Tip! Jesus said they were to do even greater works than He had achieved during His ministry in the world. Wow! Then our Master went on to show them that by praying in His Name, Jesus, this is the channel through which the authorized power is acquired to carry out the works that glorify our Father in the Son.

It was to inspire faith in His ability to do that Jesus left behind Him, that last, great statement, which, in the final analysis, is a ringing challenge to faith. "All power," He declared, "is given unto Me in heaven and in earth."

Again: faith is obedient; it goes when commanded, as did the nobleman, who came to Jesus, when He was here on earth, and whose son was grievously sick.

Moreover: such faith acts. Like the man who was born blind, it goes to wash in the pool of Siloam when told to wash. Like Peter while fishing on the lake, it casts the net where Jesus commands, instantly, without question or doubt. Such faith takes away the stone from the grave of Lazarus promptly.

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.

The Roll of Faith in Prayer

“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: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” (Hebrews 11:32-34)

FAITH IS the link between our souls and God. It is the capacity of entering into fellowship with the Eternal Love and Power, so that we are able to do all things with the sense that it is not we who do them, but God in us and with us. Faith is the open door and window towards God. In faith our heart goes out towards God in clinging dependence, and God comes in to strengthen us with His Divine fullness.

In human life, when we trust a person, we draw from them all that they are able to supply; in the Divine life, faith draws upon the resources of God, so that they flow freely into our nature, and the results of our life-work is immensely increased. Faith is possible amid a great deal of ignorance. It is clear that Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah were ignorant of the truth that the Gospel has revealed, and yet we learn that their work was largely due to their faith. Time comes and goes; the revelation of God grows from less to more; but the attitude of faith is always the same--in the simple woman that touched the hem of Christ's garment, as in St. John the beloved disciple, who had years of training in Christ's School.

Faith achieves very different results. In some, it produces the heroic strength that turns the battle from the gate, and in some, the passive suffering that endures the long ordeal of pain. Here, it turns the edge of the sword; there, shuts the mouths of lions. We know how electric force may be applied to all the various machinery of human life. In one place it is used for the beaming light, in another to drive the street car or train, or it is to flash the message of music and speech from one continent to another. So Faith is able in prayer to appropriate God's might for any purpose that lies within the compass of our life-tasks, whether active or passive. (See Hebrews 11:32-39.)

God bears a witness to all who trust Him. He never fails us in the hour of need. His response is the echo of our appeal. As soon as the uplifted arm of the tramcar touches the overhead wire, there is the spark, and the immediate entrance of electric power. So God answers faith.

PRAYER
O God, we are full of need, but we have learned that You give power to the faint and to those that have no right. Change our weakness into Your strength; our ignorance into Your wisdom; our changefulness into Your everlasting constancy. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

God's Generosity and Reward through Prayer

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.

Psalms 78:19-20, 29 "Yes, they spoke against God: They said, 'Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?'...So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire."

IS this not always the cry of unbelief, Can God? While the triumphant statement of faith is: God can! What a difference is formed by the collocation of words! Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? God can spread a table, even in the wilderness, and in the presence of our enemies our cup can overflow. Can He give bread also? He can satisfy the desire of every living thing, by the opening of His hand. Can You do anything for us, our child is grievously possessed by the devil? If you can believe, all things are possible to them that believe.

The wanderings of the Israelites for forty years were due to the fact that they looked at their difficulties and questioned if God could overcome them. Amongst the people, only Caleb and Joshua looked away from the Canaanites and their fortified cities to Him who had brought them where they were, and had guaranteed to remove them.

Some people speak of Giants with a capital G, and forget to magnify the power of God. No wonder that they account themselves as grass-hoppers, and lost heart! Let us not forget that we are sons and daughters of God, "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Compare these two verses Numbers 13:33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." Romans 8:17 "and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.")

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.

Look back on the past; see what God has done for you; remember He is pledged to finish what He has begun. If He gave water, He can certainly give bread.

Tip! What really determines the effectiveness of our labor for Christ is the measure of our faith and the fervency of our prayers. If our faith is poor and our praying is indifferent; how can we expect to achieve much for Him?

"They did eat, and were well filled." When we are poor and needy, we are likely to be humble in our prayers. But if suddenly our lot is changed, and there is abundance instead of poverty, how often there is a change in our behavior. We are apt to become self-indulgent, and forgetful of the needs of the world. Instead of remembering that we are still God's pensioners, we magnify ourselves as though we were exclusive owners. Probably this is why God keeps some of us in poverty, for no greater temptation could befall us than to find ourselves with riches. In this way He answers our daily prayer, "Lead us not into temptation!"

God is more concerned about our growth in faith (God can!) then He is about our success in this life.

PRAYER

We thank You our heavenly Father, for the new mercies of each returning day, for all that You have given to us, and not less for that which You do withhold. May we be receptive of all things that pertain to life and godliness. In Jesus' name AMEN.

Faith and Prayer Must Go Together

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

Psalms 31:1-8

In You, O LORD, I put my trust;

Let me never be ashamed;

Deliver me in Your righteousness.

Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily;

Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me.

For You are my rock and my fortress;

Therefore, for Your name's sake, Lead me and guide me.

Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,

For You are my strength.

Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

I have hated those who regard useless idols;

But I trust in the LORD.

I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,

For You have considered my trouble;

You have known my soul in adversities,

And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy;

You have set my feet in a wide place.

-

Faith and prayer must go together, for the prayer of faith is the prevailing prayer. David gave up his soul in a special manner to God. And with the words, Psalms 31:5, our Lord Jesus yielded up His last breath on the cross, and made His soul a free-will offering for sin, laying down His life as a ransom.

But David is here as a man in distress and trouble. And his great care is about his soul, his spirit, his better part. Many think that while confused about their lives here on earth and all the messed up affairs, and their worries are multiplying, they may be exempt if they don't pray for their own souls. But we should be more concerned to look and pray for our own souls, that, though the outward person may perish, the inward person will suffer no damage.

The redemption of the soul is so precious, that it would have come to an end for ever, if Christ had not undertaken it. Having relied on God's mercy, we will be glad and rejoice in it. God looks at our souls, when we are in trouble, to see whether they are humbled because of sin, and made better by the affliction. Every believer will meet with such dangers and deliverances, until they are delivered from death, their last enemy.

This Prayer Encourages Us to get Close to God

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."

Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

God's acceptance of Christ's atoning sacrifice was demonstrated by His raising Christ from the dead and setting Him at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The old covenant that God had set up through Moses characterized Judaism as sin, death, and distance from God - the continuous shedding of animal blood was required and the people were shut out from the Divine presence of God. But the new covenant which marks Christianity is a risen and enthroned Savior, who has put away the sins of His people from before the face of God and has secured for them the right of access to Him through prayer.

Hebrews 10:19-22a "Therefore, brethren, having boldness [liberty] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith..." [Brackets are mine]

Consequently we are encouraged to draw near to God with the full confidence of His children and in the infinite merits of Christ's blood and righteousness, depending entirely on this point.

In his prayer, the apostle Paul makes the request that the total of what he had set before them in the doctrinal part of the letter [the book of Hebrews] might be successfully applied to their hearts. In a brief but comprehensive sentence, Paul prays that there might be worked out in the lives of the redeemed Hebrews every grace and virtue to which he had told them about in the previous chapters.

This Prayer Contains a Remarkable Summary of Hebrews

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

Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

Think on this prayer for a moment. Read it over a few times, maybe even read it out loud and see all there is to see and hear all there is to hear in these two short verses. What more could we ask for? Are you thankful for all that our Father has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ?

This prayer contains a remarkable summary of the entire epistle of Hebrews - an epistle to which every truly born again Christian of the Gospel should devote special attention to. Nothing else is needed so much today as detailed studies on the letters to the Romans and to the Hebrews.

The Book of Hebrews supplies everything that is best suited to ward off the legalism and antinomianism (the belief that Christians are not bound by established moral laws, the Ten Commandments) that are now so prevalent in the Church today.

Tip! What really determines the effectiveness of our labor for Christ is the measure of our faith and the fervency of our prayers. If our faith is poor and our praying is indifferent; how can we expect to achieve much for Him?

The Book of Romans shows the serious errors and the religious devotion and adherence to rituals in the modern religions as well as exposes the distinctive pretentiousness of their priests and ministers. It also provides the Divine antidote to this poisonous spirit of ritualism that is now making such fatal inroads into so many sections of a decadent Protestant Church. This problem that occupies the central portion in this vitally important and most blessed letter, is the priesthood of Christ, it represents the substance of what was revealed both in Melchizedek and Aaron.

In Hebrews it shows that His Son (Jesus Christ) made the one perfect sacrifice that has forever displaced the Levitical institutions and made an end of the whole Judaic system. That this "once and for ALL" was the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and made a complete atonement for the sins of His people that fully satisfying every legal claim that God's Law had on us. Jesus' sacrifice then rendered any and every effort of our own sinful ways to pacify Him as needless and ineffective as dirty rags.

Hebrews 10:14 says "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." That is to say, Christ has infallibly, irrevocably set apart to the service of God those who have believed, and only by the excellence of His finished work on the cross.

God the Father however did not stop at the cross, because the resurrection shouts His acceptance of His (Jesus Christ) work.