"Powerless Prayer."
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· 91 viewsBelievers may go through periods of doubt and indecision, especially on account of difficulties in trusting God or accepting certain aspects of his will for them. This will have a dramatic effect on the power our prayers deliver, and the growth of our faith.
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In November 1837, distinguished British physicist Dionysius Lardner proved mathematically, with equations nobody could question, that a steamship would be incapable of a non-stop voyage to New York. He printed copies of his proof and they arrived in New York 24th April, 1838. The only problem was they arrived on board a ship called the Sirius, which was the first ship to cross the Atlantic entirely by steam.
The Circumstances.
The Circumstances.
After the transfiguration Jesus returns with the Disciples to find the other nine involved in an argument with the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, involving the disciples inability to cast out a demon from an afflicted boy. There are a couple of forces at work here, First it is the influence the yeast of the Pharisees have on the Disciples and the Crowd;
“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
Mark
They use some of Jesus own actions as a way to deceive followers, the Fact that Jesus has revealed he would die may have added to the disciples doubt and caused their actions to be less affective.
At this point I want to again remind you that their is good yeast and bad yeast; Bad yeast will work it’s way through dough or what ever it is being used for very quickly and will sour the flavor of the item, in the case of bread we call that sour dough. In food it can enhance the flavor but in ministry and in Particular faith it is unwelcome since it can discourage and even cause new believers to fall away.
Good yeast though can have the opposite effect, it move through the material much slower and causes it to become more elastic and a little sweeter, excellent for making Pizza, but even better for those in faith, as we see Jesus working it gives us great confidence and strengthens our faith making much sweeter for those who live it out. Unbelief can hinder our prayers and even our own worship because in the back of our minds it can be a distraction.
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
The things the world accepts can be a real road block when people we know tell us the Church needs to get with the current century. We may all be tempted to do so because we don’t want to be labeled intolerant, we don’t want to loose friends or family members. But remember this if someone you care about is jumping off a cliff and you are holding the rope guess where you are going.
The question about impossibilities applied to God's sovereignty is a display of foolish unbelief.
A lady brought her husband to the psychiatrist as a last ditch effort; the man thought he was dead. The shrink did everything he could to convince the man otherwise, but the crazy husband still imagined he was a corpse. In one final attempt to reach the man, the psychiatrist asked him if dead men bleed. The man replied, "Don't be silly; dead men don't bleed".
. A lady brought her husband to the psychiatrist as a last ditch effort; the man thought he was dead. The shrink did everything he could to convince the man otherwise, but the crazy husband still imagined he was a corpse. In one final attempt to reach the man, the psychiatrist asked him if dead men bleed. The man replied, "Don't be silly; dead men don't bleed".
With that the doctor took a pin and pricked the man's arm, which immediately began to bleed. The man looked at it in disbelief.
With that the doctor took a pin and pricked the man's arm, which immediately began to bleed. The man looked at it in disbelief.
"So," said the doctor rather smugly. "What do you say to the sight of that blood?"
"Well I'll be darned," the man answered. "Dead men really do bleed".
Because of our own hard heartedness we fail to understand that God is sovereign of the Good and not so Good, when the evidence of his work is made plain and we refuse to accept it we are shaming Jesus Christ. It is not being faithful if we come to Church each week with a wait and see attitude.
Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
"So," said the doctor rather smugly. "What do you say to the sight of that blood?"
If God were to bring a miracle to this Church would you believe? Jesus did many and the Pharisees still did not believe. Is your heart as hard as theirs? if so maybe your a Pharisee in your own right and remember what Jesus warned about the Pharisees and Herod.
Discouragement
Discouragement
This is a powerful emotion and one that can destroy a ministry faster than any other affliction. The father here has to be discouraged, when we see the boy has been afflicted from Childhood we who have dealt with special needs children can feel his pain. You love that child and can feel his suffering, he had to deal with this child 24/7 not having the availability of ARC or a hospital or any special program. He is desperate to find a solution.
"Well I'll be darned," the man answered. "Dead men really do bleed".
He hears of the disciples and the fact they were casting out demons and his hope soared, surely they can help; but when they too failed his discouragement is more than he can bear. And when Jesus comes on the scene this desperate man asks Jesus to heal his son and then puts a condition on it; “If you can.”
“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Mark
Are your prayers full of belief or is there a ting of doubt to them as with this distraught father? But here is where he tells Jesus what he really needs;
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
mark 9:24
When we come to God and ask fully for what we need to effectively pray, when we search deep inside and ask ourselves what is keeping me from seeing the glory of God working in my life we have taken the first step in the healing process and restoring our hope.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Is your faith that Strong that when you ask you know you have recieved it? or do you have doubts because you have asked in the past and not recieved.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
But understand it is what we need not our worldly wants and desires, God will give you everything you need to serve him effectively.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Where does all this lead us ? to Jesus final statement to His disciples.
He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
prayer that is effective and powerful is prayer that places our complete faith in the outcome according to God. A.W.Tozer said this:
It is because of the hasty and superficial conversation with God that the sense of sin is so weak and that no motives have power to help you to hate and flee from sin as you should.
There have been many changes in our church, many that we have given glory to God for, it has made our faith flabby so when he does something that causes us pain we become discouraged and ineffective in our prayers. Like yeast it is self developing, the more we pray and not receive the more discouraged we get and the less effective our prayers become.
If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.
Let these obstacles to prayer be put aside understanding God is sovereign over the good and not so good. It is easy to glorify God when things are going good but when things take a turn it is much easier to blame others than to seek God and understand. God is in total control, in testing he is looking for the Church that stays the course and continues in faith.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.
Ec 5
Let us not come to God as fools but as His children understanding everything has a purpose and that His plan never changes. I we want to continue to see God work here in our Church we must put aside the event of the last few months and continue in His ministry understanding that He is in control and that as obedient children we must continue to follow in Jesus path and accept that His will be done.
What was the Reason for the Argument between the Pharisees and the disciples?
Do we have Good Yeast or Bad yeast in our Church? what do you perceive as the result?
Is there Discouragement in our Church? What do you think has caused it?
How do we as a Church overcome our discouragement?
What is A.W.Tozer Speaking of?
Charles Spurgeon is telling us we should continue to do what?
How elaborate should our prayers be?