Prayer Assumes by Faith

Little calf that was born. Knows where to find milk. We would never think of skipping a meal.

BUT HOW OFTEN DO WE (INCLUDING MYSELF NEGLECT THE VERY THING THAT FEEDS OUR SOUL AND CONNECTS US AND ALIGNS US WITH THE WORK AND POWER OF GOD IN THE WORLD.

Prayer Assumes Faith in God

Prayer can never assume too much. We assume too little of God. The scriptures tell us that without faith it is impossible to please God.

Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview

Praying to God assumes in faith that he is powerfully willing and also graciously able to hear and respond to the prayers of his people—and further, that he chooses to work in and through these prayers.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

James 5:16 ESV

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Prayer is to plug into the power grid, to mine for lithuim or to strike for oil.

Prayer assumes by faith, the power of God.

In the book “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God” by JI Packer, He argues in the first or second chapter that every Christian believes in the sovereignty of God, because no one prays God let me save my neighbor, or let them save themselves, but we pray God save them. Because the power of God to work and to accomplish His purposes in the world is impossible to ignore. We know that if anyone is to be saved that God is the one who must do the saving an so we pray towards that end in faith the He will do it.

The scriptures mock the very idea that that the god’s can even answer. Consider the story of Elisha and the prophets of Baal. (1Kings 18)

Prayer assumes by faith the willingness of God.

God answers prayer the is in accordance with His character and nature. They are inseparably connected. God cannot change or be anything than what He is. The immutability of God ( that is His unchanging nature) does not mean that God is not moved by our prayers. His immutability is connected to his purposes. He will never do anything that is contrary to his nature, he will always answer our prayers in accordance with his plans and purposes. Therefore is we desire to have our prayers answered then we must conform ourselves to His purposes and his desires and to His will.

“Now of course, prayer doesn’t change the eternal plan of God. But within that eternal plan are many plans for means and ends. God ordains that crops will grow, but not without water and sun. He ordains that people will be saved, but (ordinarily) not without the teaching of the word. And He ordains that we will have everything we truly need, but not without prayer. God’s eternal plan has determined that many things will be achieved by prayer and that many things will not be achieved without prayer.”

John Frame’s Systematic Theology

1 John 3:21 ESV

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

God is not willing to answer the prayers of the sinner.

Psalm 66:18–20 ESV

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

The only thing that the sinner should expect to receive from God is judgement. Now if what I have just said seems harsh allow me to clarify. God hears the sinners cry of repentance and their plea for mercy if it is founded upon faith in the work of His son.

James 4:3 ESV

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

James 5:13–18 ESV

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Sin is a hindrance to our prayers

Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. J.C. Ryle

John 9:31 ESV

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

APPLICATION:

One of the things that I learned as I studied the what the scriptures had to say about prayer is that there is a connection between watching, that is to be alert and aware of the temptations of sin and and prayer. We are called to be sober-minded that means that we should be on the alert for temptations that would entice us to sin, because they will turn us away from prayer, and intimacy with God.

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sin causes us to have a lack of desire to pray but prayer drives away sin from our hearts.

Ephesians 3:12 ESV

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Hebrews 10:22 ESV

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

5:16 to draw near is the same word used in scripture προσερχομαι

Drawing near to God is what prayer is. Prayer is a grace in our lives, because through faith we are given access and translated to the throne of God where God’s grace is dispensed. But sin causes a rift, causes us to turn away from the confidence in the Lord. Not that we can or could loose our salvation but it certainly does cause us to be deprived in some measure of the graces that and comforts of God.

Have you ever been angry or mad and lost your appetite? If you are not on good terms with someone, you don’t feel like sitting infront of them and eating, because eating is a very intimate thing. So too sin causes us to loose our appetites for prayer and causes us to miss out on the graces that God wishes to bestow on us through prayer and trust in Him.

Like darkness that must give way to light, so too prayer drives away sin, but sin will also drive away prayer.

Prayer assumes that God uses ordinary means to accomplish his purposes.

From the creation of the world, to the parting of the red sea, to manna in the wilderness, to miraculous healings in the gospels, to tongues of fire at Pentecost, all of these are extraordinary means which God used to bring about His purpose and plan of the redemption of His people. But think about how many ordinary acts that we don't even realize in scripture and even beyond in history that have furthered and ushered in God’s plans. Certainly God is able to intervene in any way that He sees fit, and He certainly does, but the ordinary means which he uses are ordinary men and women like you and me, but not apart from prayer.

Think with me for a second if God want to provide for a widow woman whose husband passed away and cannot pay her debts he causes one jar of olive oil to become many, when he want to feed 5000 people at once by prayer he multiplies 5 loaves of barley and 2 fish. And when God wants to provide for a family who is struggling he sends someone who has worked hard and blessed to provide for their needs.

Prayer is the ordinary means by which God accomplishes His purposes.

Why do we struggle to share our faith with others, perhaps it is because we have not been on our knees long enough for God to change our hearts and shape them for the lost.

If God ordains the means then He has also ordained the means by which He will accomplish it. Has God ordained that everyone of the elect should obtain salvation? And how does he accomplish it? Is this not how we pray? God save my mother, God save my brother or sister or friend, and how does he do it? By sending us to preach the Gospel to them. SO prayer does not change God, it changes us. Let me be very clear, God does not need us, he does not need anything. At the triumphal entry when Jesus was ascending towards Jerusalem, he says to the rulers of Israel who wanted to silence the crowds that were shouting Hosannah, Glory to God in the highest. If theses people refused to shout his praise Jesus says that the rocks would cry out instead.