It is Job who tells us in whose hand is the life of every living thing; who it is who makes nations great – or destroys them. Our prayers are for our nation and our government - that we know it is the Lord who does this. We pray from Job 12, and from a hymn that God would shed His grace.
Prayer Insights … from E.M. Bounds1
Prayer and Faith
In any study of praying, first place must be given to faith; it is the initial quality in the heart of all who would seek the Unseen; we must out of sheer helplessness, stretch forth hands of faith, write Bounds in The Necessity of Prayer. We must believe where we cannot prove.
It is faith that does the impossible because it brings God to undertake for us, and nothing is impossible with God. How great is the power of faith! Prayer projects faith upon God, and God on the world.
Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God.
Believe You Have Received
[Mar 11:24 ESV] 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
This is the key connection of prayer and faith, that faith which realizes and asks. Writes Bounds, This faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers on a powerful Person. It is a faith in Christ’s ability to do and His willingness to do it. Remember the leper who cried, “Lord, if thou will, thou can make me clean.” Here we see faith focused on Jesus’ ability to do this.
Faith then is the belief that Jesus can. He asked the blind men, “ Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.” [Matt 9:28]
Faith believes, Faith obeys, Faith acts.
Faith Also Waits
Bounds continues that faith is also called upon to wait patiently for God and is prepared for seeming delays in seeing the answer. “Faith does not grow disheartened because prayer is not immediately honored; it takes God at His Word and lets Him take what time He chooses in fulfilling His purposes, and in carrying out his work.”
We know the case of Lazarus, in the tomb four days while Jesus delayed. But He said to them He was glad that He was not there, “to the intent that ye may believe.”
Fear not…Jesus will come, if patience be exercised, and faith hold fast…Pray on. Wait on. Thou canst not fail. If Christ delay, wait for Him. In His own good time, He will come and will not tarry.
Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God
Here are four passages we are praying from (one passage per day):
Thursday - Mark 11:24
Friday - Luke 22:32
Saturday - 2 Peter 1:5-8
Sunday - Isaiah 26:3
Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?
Until Monday, grace and peace
Excerpts from The Necessity of Prayer, by E.M Bounds, Chapter 1 - Prayer and Faith
Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash
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