The subject of faith is grossly misunderstood by many. The fact is, that everyone has faith. Even the atheist has faith. Faith is not confined to religious people. All faith must have an object. (something we believe in).The most important thing about faith is its
object. I demonstrate faith every time I sit in a chair, but if that chair, without my knowing it, has a broken leg, than the strength of my faith rests on the ability of the chair to hold me.
We talk about people having great faith, however, we should consider that we have a
great God who responds, regardless of the size of my faith. Who said that our faith is measureable? Jesus said it only requires faith the size of a mustared seed to remove a mountain,but we must focus on the fact that it is still God who moves the mountain and that mountain must be standing in the way of God's will being done. It makes no
difference how big your faith is. If it is contrary to God's will and God's glory your request will not be answered.. There is a fine line between faith and presumption. Faith seeks God's will, and presumption prays for my will and purposes to be accomplished.
There is only one reliable object of faith; it is God alone. He never goes back on His
promises. Sadly, people are resting their faith on something that will fail them. They resttheir eternal destinies on some thing that is factually untrue or unreliable like how they feel, their religious beliefs, or their (supposed) moral values. What are you resting your
faith in to have eternal life? Why not forsake your false securities and trust Jesus Christ alone to give you eternal life?
True faith and true prayer are inseparable. The big question is not when God will answer or why doesn't He answer? The most important thing is How He Answers. When we pray, it usually is with some expectation. God does not answer that way and when we discover how He answers we receive peace. The question often asked is "does God
answer the prayers of the unsaved?"Why not? He is God. Sometimes those prayers result in salvation. Many times when God answers those emergency prayers He is forgotten and ignored until the next emergency.
First let's define what prayer is. G.Campbell morgan offered an intersting definition as: "A wishing forward." Based on that ,I would like to expand and offer one of my own. "Prayer is the inner compulsion that cries out to the God Who Is There." It bothers
me when people use the cliche" you're in our prayers." Whatever does that mean from people we know never pray and who live lives of corruption? In Romans chapter 8, we are told that for the believer, there exists the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit who prays with inner groanings to God and He prays according to the will of God and according to our true need. True prayer can only take place because of the indwelling Spirit.
I can recall many times in my life when I prayed and God answered in an entirely different way than I expected. Because God does not give me the answer right away, when I think I need it, it doesn't mean that the answer is no. It means rather to perservere because faith is strengthened through difficulty. When I pray in the will of God it will be answererd (I John 5: 14,15). It will be answered in such a way that your response will be," I couldn't imagine how God's way, God's timing and God's provision could be so perfect."
If you are not a Christian and have experienced God's answer to prayer,Why not decide to become a faithful follower out of gratitude? If you are a Christian, make
restitution when necessary, keep your relationship to Christ clean, and trust Him to turn your trial into a blessing to His Honor.
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