Faith
11
We have this idea that faith in prayer
means we are not allowed to have any doubt at all. This concept of faith/prayer
contains more belief for than belief in, so to speak. It says, “If I believe in
God strongly enough He will do for me whatever it is that I ask.”
There is some scriptural warrant for
such a position in Mark 11.24. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever
ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. I
do not deny this verse. I celebrate it. But I also state that internalizing and
applying this verse can only be done from an incredibly spiritual position. Furthermore,
I freely admit that even after decades of walking with God I have not yet
arrived at that position. If you are there, I am happy for you. Pray for me,
would you?
Understanding this, it then follows
that there must be some connection between faith and prayer that is more
reachable, more obtainable for the typical Christian than a faith unmixed with
doubt. As I wrote of earlier in this series, faith and doubt are often intermingled.
Is there a way to bring prayer into that? I think the answer is a resounding
yes. It is a prayer that does not require an unswerving belief that God will
but rather that God can. Confident that He can, it asks Him if He will.
It does not demand. Indeed, it trembles that He will not. But it asks because it
knows He can.
We find this exact scenario in the
utterly human prayer meeting found in Acts 12. Herod, spurred on by a
demonically motivated Sanhedrin frustrated that killing Jesus did not kill
Christianity, went after the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, James. After
assassinating James, Peter was next and the church knew it. Arrested and
imprisoned, Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without
ceasing of the church unto God for him (Acts 12.5). That prayer meeting was
long and intense. Miraculously, while it was ongoing, Peter was released from
his shackles by an angel and pointed toward the prayer meeting. Arriving, in one
of the funniest stories in the Bible, he has trouble gaining admittance to the
very prayer meeting beseeching God for his deliverance. Why? He was assumed to
be a ghost. When she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for
gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said
unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then
said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had
opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished (Acts 12.14-16).
We see here an undeniable fact. The
church assembled had enough faith to
believe God could get Peter out of prison;
they were asking Him that, after all. At the same time, they did not have
enough faith to believe that God would get Peter out of prison; thus, the shock
at his release. Which leads directly to this glorious thought – God answered
their prayer even though they only had a limited faith. Unlimited faith in an
unlimited God will get unlimited answers to prayer, but even limited faith in
an unlimited God can get amazing answers to prayer.
Liberation of St. Peter by Bartolome Esteban Murillo c 1667 |
What has God brought to your heart in
the few short moments it has taken you to read this? Ask Him for it, beloved. I
know you think He might not, perhaps even probably will not. But if it is
something that is right and good, ask Him anyway. You know He can. He is
honored when we ask.
Perhaps, just perhaps, He will.
Thank you for this excellent series on faith. I appreciate the practical applications and your genuineness. Is there any possibility that you will publish a book on faith?
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteI do not. I have thus far kept my book writing and my blog writing distinct. For the foreseeable future, I plan to continue that.
Thank you Tom....I definitely NEEDED that!
ReplyDelete