Faith and Prayer
9"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. [Luke 11:9-10 NASB]
How many of you talk to walls? How about to your dolls? How many of you talk to the air? Dumb questions? How many times do we pray, seeking results and change from God and we wait… and wait… check our watches… and wait some more. Eventually we reach a point that we have to take the time to reconsider whether the God we believe in, the one who made us well when we were sick and gave us sight when we were blind, is even listening to us. Sometimes we feel that God doesn’t have power today, he’s sorta around… not really doing anything though. We look at Luke 11:9-10 and once again make the assumption that things were different back in the day… God doesn’t knock anyone to the ground and blind them with light… he doesn’t feed the thousands with single loaves, not these days, God just… doesn’t answer my prayers.
I’m sure we’ve all seen it, felt it, and believed it at one point in our lives. “Prayer is hit and miss.” When we pray, sometimes we get results, sometimes we don’t… it’s like coincidence… and we believe that, and lose touch with who God is altogether. God turns into walls, into the air and our prayers get so barren and so tedious that we forget who we’re praying to in the first place. “Well, it’s not my fault… God ignored my prayers” what a sad sight; to see someone saying this. Whatever happened to faith?
Faith seems to be a concept of the old days, along with God’s power and his kingdom rising. Less and less people are able to stand up for what they believe in, lay themselves down on the altar and give it their all (fine, I’m not perfect either, but there’s a difference b/w those who try and those who just sit in the audience). God calls you to pray through faith: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” [Matthew 21:22 NIV]
Mabye this will seem hypocritical to you, but the reason I write this is because I have this problem. My friend approached me with a word from God (a sign that someone is on good terms in his walk), and told me to avoid certain words when I pray. Words that reduce the power in my prayers; i.e. “sorta” or “just”. I took a while to think about what he told me and came out to reason that I’ve lost myself in my prayers as well. My prayers have become unfulfilling (for both the giver and hearer).
So what is God asking? God is asking you to pray through faith to Him. Everytime we pray without faith, without our affirmation and belief, we’re pretty much speaking to the walls. God doesn’t take to liking when you treat Him as a wall, so think about why your prayers haven’t been answered, why they aren’t being answered, and why they won’t be answered if you continue to pray the prayers that seem so outlined. The only rule to prayer is: there is no rule on what is proper prayer. It’s a conversation between you and God, speak from your heart, your needs and your struggles. Speak up with a strong voice, and see where God takes you. Once again, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” [Matthew 21:22 NIV]
THANKS FOR SPELLING MY NAME WRONG lenord ... geeze ! lol
how'd they let you pass literacy test :| KIDDING take care .
COME TO TORONTO YOU NERD
Posted by
Anonymous |
2/2/06 5:22 PM
good post, accounting partner.
Posted by
Anonymous |
4/2/06 1:24 AM
i get what you're saying, about limiting God's power. but there is also a verse in James that says something like when we ask we don't receive because we ask with wrong motives. so i dont entirely believe that it's like you can ask for anything, as long as you have enough faith then God will answer it.
Posted by
Phoebe Mak |
4/2/06 11:52 PM
but will those who are faithful ask with wrong motives? not only people who "believe" and have that faith, but from james ch2, those who have true faith have deeds as well. So, if you believe in God, you can ask out of the faith God has given you, out of the passion in your heart, and you will recieve.
personally, this isn't something that is always on my heart, nor something i always push for... like i said, i recieved this word from a friend and felt like sharing it =)
Posted by
UndyingFaith |
5/2/06 1:18 AM