Prayer 101: Do Not Doubt, Only Believe

Oh, how we doubt. How often have you doubted what you prayed for deep within your heart? How often have you not even prayed because you didn't believe that God could answer your prayer? The world can beat all of us down. It can exhaust us and cause us to turn our eyes towards our circumstances, instead of focusing upward to the throne of grace where our King is seated at the right hand of the Father. After Jesus had cursed the the fig tree and cleansed the temple of its corrupt and idolatrous practices, He decided to teach His disciples about true prayer (Mark 11:22-26). First, Jesus says "have faith in God." Without knowledge and faith in the One who answers our prayers, why would a person even bother to pray. It's impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6), so wavering faith will by no means please God or move Him to action. Second, Jesus says "do not doubt in your heart." Often times we're not even sure what to pray for, but thank God we have His Spirit interceding for us (Romans 8:26). But why bother asking God for anything when we doubt His abilities. God wants us to know Him and then approach Him with boldness because of what His Son has done on the cross. Approaching Him without going through our mediator and intercessor is fruitless. Christ is our mediator and has granted every believer access to the Father, the veil has been taken down and the separation has ended. Third, Jesus states we should "believe what we say will happen and it will be done for us." Of course all of our prayers should center on the will of God; if it's not God's will, then it's not going to be answered with a yes. However, the context of verse 23 is that believer's must seek the unlimited power of their faith in God and then they will experience God's amazing power at work. Jesus promises "it will be done for us," do you believe Him? Fifth, Jesus says "we should believe we have already received them." Now this is what faith is all about and exactly how Hebrews 11:1 defines it. If our prayers are according to His will, then we should never place restrictions or limits on them. Our prayers are conditioned on faith. We understand His will, we speak our prayers, and then we simply believe we have already received before God answers with a yes. However, there are plenty of times when we are not going to know His will, health issues, career moves, relationships, etc.. But if its written in His word, then its His will. Finally, Jesus commands us to forgive others. In fact, if we don't forgive, then not only will our prayers be hindered, but the "Father will not forgive our wrongdoing " (Mark 11:26).
Did you catch that, the Father will not forgive you. To simplify this, allow me to state it this way, forgiveness is not optional, it's mandatory for Christians and without forgiveness you aren't going to heaven. When the Holy Spirit has regenerated the human soul, the hardness and bitterness which prevented forgiveness before coming to Christ are stripped away, making it possible to forgive any wrongdoing done against us. It becomes a way of life.

So here it is, when you pray, discover His will, approach His throne with complete faith, remove all doubt in your heart, believe you will receive before you utter a word, and ensure you harbor no unforgiveness towards anyone.

Trust and Obey Ministries

If you are concerned about reaching children for Christ in Africa through education, then please consider sponsoring and supporting the Potter's House in Cameroon, Africa. I met Terri Smith, the President of Trust and Obey Ministries, this past week during Vacation Bible School. By God's grace and goodness we were able to raise over $3,000 for the Potter's House. Terri opened the Potter House in 2008 with 110 students and now six years later, the enrollment has drastically increased to almost 700. Now Trust and Obey Ministries has been organized to assist, educate, and provide long term relationships with children and families that are in dire need of proper nourishment, medical assistance, and education.

Learn more at www.trustandobey.net

Want to Be First....then Seek to Be Last

Jesus calls those who come to Him to die to self, to be reborn from above, to love Him more than their life, to love others more than themselves, to stand destitute before Him because of their sin, to live humble lives as servants, to cast aside their self-righteousness, and to be last. What natural, carnal man would ever agree to this, the answer is no one. But when a person comes to Christ in faith, drawn by the Holy Spirit, broken over their sin, in need of a Savior, the process of regeneration occurs and provides a person a new spiritual nature able to understand the deep spiritual things of God, thus making it possible for a person to call Jesus their Lord and be willing to be last. But what does that mean?

In Mark 9:33-37, Jesus and His disciples arrive in Capernaum a few days after telling them that He would be betrayed, suffer a violent death, and then be raised from the dead. While traveling to Capernaum the disciples had been disputing among themselves who would be the greatest once Jesus was gone. Unfortunately, the disciples were thinking in terms of a conquering king and a political savior, which was not what His atoning death was about. So when Jesus confronted them about their dispute, they remained silent and we see Jesus call them to Himself and teach them what it means to be great. Jesus states in verse 35 that "...If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Jesus doesn't rebuke them, he tells them that if they want to be first, they must be last. This is not the kind of speech you would hear from a military commander or a football coach prior to battle or a big game. Which should remind us just how different the lives of Christians should be. Worldly or human values are not necessarily kingdom values. How many executives have you heard say, I want to be last?

Jesus then took a child in His arms and said "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me " (verse 37). Let's don't forget that the disciples had just been disputing among themselves which one was the greatest and now Jesus was holding a child and telling them that being great was like receiving a small child. What Jesus is saying is that if a person is humbled in their posture towards Him, they would never hesitate to serve anyone, to include a child. When Jesus says whoever "receives," what He means is to be concerned about and show kindness to. So when Christians accept the outcasts, the poor, the orphans, and the persecuted, they are accepting and receiving Christ and demonstrating godly humility.

Greatness and being last is not a position, it's ministry and concern for the least of these.

The Need for Spiritual Preparation

Spiritual preparation is absolutely critical to the life of a believer and Jesus made that clear to His disciples in Mark 9:14-29. For believers who are surrendered to the will of God, spiritual disciplines set the tone for a strong relationship with Christ; disciplines such as prayer, personal devotion time, Bible study, worship, and fasting educate, strengthen, and prepare believers to endure in faith and accomplish their Christian duties. In Mark 14-29 Jesus finds His disciples disputing with a large crowd and some scribes. When the crowd saw Jesus they ran to Him and a father spoke up and shared about his son who was possessed by a demon. The man tells Jesus that His disciples had attempted to cast out his son's demon, but were unable. Jesus demonstrates patience and even expresses frustration as He questions His disciples about their inability to cast out the boy's demon. But Jesus is about to teach them and us a very important lesson about spiritual preparation. Nevertheless, before He explains why they were unable to cast out the demon, Jesus takes immediate action. The demon reacts violently when it sees Jesus as the other demons had done previously in Mark 1:25, 26 and 5:7. What is interesting about this encounter is that we find out this demon had possessed the boy since childhood. It also provided the father of the boy the opportunity to confess his need for Jesus, "...but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" (Mark 9:22). Jesus was this father's (and everyone else's) last and only hope. Jesus would then ask and reply with this rhetorical question to the man's confession, "...If You can?" (9:23). Jesus would then make a life-giving statement, "Everything is possible to the one who believes" (9:23) and then it happened, the father cried out to Jesus in desperation with a mixture of unbelief and faith. The father practically screams for Jesus to help his unbelief. Every genuine believer has done this in their life.
However what I want to you to see about this passage is what Jesus tells His disciples in verse 29 after they asked Him why they couldn't drive out the demon. Jesus answers them by saying that "this kind can come out by nothing but prayer (and fasting.)" This is a very interesting statement because Jesus had already given His disciples the authority to cast out demons, so why were they unsuccessful? Primarily, because they were relying on their own power. They were convinced that just because Jesus said they could do something, they could do it in their own strength. No! They could do nothing apart from God and or Christ and the strength they provide (John 15:5).

In summary, the disciples, just like believers today. Don't need to learn new techniques for casting out demons or ways to please God, they simply need to make themselves more dependent upon God and less dependent upon themselves, when it comes to actions that require faith. Believers are called to engage in spiritual preparation so when they encounter a life event they can respond in the strength of God which has filled them. Jesus didn't pray before He casts out the demon, He was already living in a constant state of communion with His Father. In fact effective prayer is a continual posture of reliance on God, not some kind of emergency procedure done during times of desperation. Unbelief disappears and faith is strengthened when spiritual preparation is a non-negotiable discipline of a believer's life.  

Does America Believe

I wanted share a poem given to me by Harvey Cody who works at Bonded Logistics. It certainly resonates as we celebrate Independence Day and the freedoms God has granted us in America.

Does America Believe in Me?

I believe in the constitution and the good old USA

I believe in the land of freedom and the price we had to pay

I believe in the rights of Americans and the Stars and Stripes that fly

But in all of my love for my country, the tears come to my eyes

I cry for the life that used to be and the pride we used to know

I weep for the things that used to be, that made this country grow

I mourn for the morals lost and the trust in God forsaken

I fear for the future of this country, and the path that is has taken 

I see that Old Glory has faded and her meaning is being lost

I know the love of money has brought with it a cost 

We see neighbor fighting neighbor and we know that shouldn't be

We see farmers fighting for survival, in a land that should be free

We see babies being murdered and we see marriage no longer blessed

We see drugs in all our neighborhoods and our schools put to the test

Where has the blood of our forefathers gone and why is it this way

We can allow sin to be everywhere and have forgotten how to pray

I wonder how we have survived in a land that knows no shame

I wonder why God allows us to mock His holy name

It may sound like I'm old fashioned and it just as well may be

I still believe in America - does America believe in Me?

Access to Power Through Jesus

Faith is powerful and will always direct and redirect a believer's life. However, a believer's life must be committed to intimately knowing the person of Jesus Christ. Whenever we stop doing this, two things will happen (1) we will conform to the world and it's way of thinking and (2) we will begin to use our own understanding and wisdom to make ethical and moral decisions. But when a person possesses the power of faith, amazing things happen. In the gospel of Mark (Mark 5:21-43) we find Jesus surrounded by a multitude of people. He is first approached by one of the rulers of the synagogue named Jairus who falls at His feet. You see, Jarius was at the end of himself, his daughter was lying at the point of death, and he had no where else to turn. Although the circumstances might be different, everyone has been where Jairus was that day. Crises have a way of drawing a person to Christ, that is simply how the Holy Spirit works. Jesus did the only thing a loving God could have done, he went with Jairus.

Along the way, Jesus encounters another person of faith, a woman who was also at the end of herself. This woman had been bleeding for twelve years, had seen every doctor in the area, and spent all the money she had searching for a cure, but her condition only grew worse. What is amazing about her story is the faith she exercised when Jesus passed by. She said "if only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well " (Mark 5:28). This woman had never met Jesus, she had only heard about what He could do, and because she was bleeding she was considered unclean and would have not been allowed by law to come near Jesus, but perhaps she felt unworthy to even look Him in the eye. She only wanted to touch His clothes and of course her bleeding stop immediately. Jesus of course knew power had left His body, even in a pressing crowd He knew someone had touch Him, not just any old person, but a person who believed in Him and had faith.

What I want you to see is how faith requires action. Both Jairus and the bleeding woman acted on their faith in Christ. Faith in action leads to obedience and greater depth in our understanding of God. In our modern culture, our faith must be shown by our desire to study, obey, share, and apply God's Word. God is glorified when faith is lived out by His children

Salvation: Time Will Tell

Great mystery surrounds how a person comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The events, the circumstances, the conversations, the genuine understanding of Christ's work on the cross, and of course the drawing power of the Holy Spirit; these events and more work to bring a person to that point in their life where they understand the gospel and their need for a Savior. My favorite parable of Jesus is His parable of the sower. Jesus describes four types of soil, which represent the receptive hearts (minds) of people. In the parable, Jesus describes seed (the gospel) which is spread (shared) onto four types of soil (hearts). The first seed falls on the wayside and is immediately snatched away by the Devil. Thus their hearts of hardened towards God and His gospel. Second, seed is spread on stony ground and is immediately received with gladness, but the recipients have no root, they endure for a short time, but once they meet trials and resistance, their commitment to the gospel disappears. Thus their belief was only superficial and never genuine. Third, seed is spread among thorns, but the cares of the world, the temptation of riches and the desire for worldly things eventually choke out the word of God. These individuals become unfruitful and never bear any fruit because they can never leave the world behind, thus they attempt to serve two masters, God and money, while sitting on the fence between the world and surrendering to God. Finally, seed is spread on good soil (receptive and ready hearts) and these individuals receive the gospel with joy and begin bearing fruit by obeying the word of God.

What this parable teaches is that when faith in Christ is genuine, an individual will obey the word of God with pleasure and joy, seeking to live a life pleasing to the Lord that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13 says that "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit..." When genuine salvation comes to a person they are marked and sealed with the stamp of their owner, Jesus Christ. If a person is saved, they no longer conduct themselves in the lust of the flesh, but have been made alive to become Christ's workmanship and will find the good works God has prepared for them. The Bible is clear about what salvation looks like and these characteristics are evident in a believer's life, if they are not...they don't truly believe. Jesus said "for many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). Unfortunately, many have been deceived by their casual belief in repentance and their misunderstanding of Christ's work on the cross and will not be one of the few who will enter heaven one day.

Time tells the story of genuine salvation. Like a flower that blooms in the Spring, or a tree that produces fruit in the Summer, spiritual fruit will appear and remain in the life of a born again believer. Jesus said so!