The Place of Faith
Your faith will always work for you in things provided in the Atonement or the New Covenant. It may not always work for others you pray for.
- Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” NKJV
- Mark 11:22-24 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. NKJV
- Why are there times that you faith may not work for others?
- The will of the person is involved. They can stand with you or you can agree with them on the promises of the Word of God; but ultimately if they are adults they are responsible for themselves to use their faith and trust in God. If it is a child or a new Christian, your faith will work for them for a short time. You may remember that even Jesus could do no mighty works in His home town because of their unbelief (Matthew 13:58).
- Your faith or prayer will not work if it is for something contrary to the will of God. We know God’s will from reading, studying and meditating in the Word of God.
THE PRAYER OF AGREEMENT
Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
- Prayer of Agreement depends on all parties agreeing on the need and the outcome.The word AGREE in Greek is sumphoneo – which means to sound together.
- To agree means that we say the same thing when we pray and afterward.
- Prayer of agreement is a petition prayer to the Father.
- Prayer of agreement involves the presence of God in our situations.
- Jesus prayer life-
- Blesses children – Mt. 19:13
- Prays in the Garden – Mt. 26:36
- Prayed when baptized – Lk. 3:21
- Prays to Father to be glorified – John 17:1
- Prays for believers – Jn.17:20
- Examples of How Jesus ministered-
- Leper – no prayer – Matt.8:1-3
- Centurion’s servant – Mat.8:5-13
- Peter’s mother-in-law – Matt.8:14-15
- Paralytic man – Mt.9:1-6
- Raised girl from dead – Mt.9:18-25
- Healed woman with issue of blood – Mt.9:18-15
- Healed 2 blind men – Mt.9:27-31
- Head deaf man – Mat 9:35-36
- Notice that in none of these cases did He beg or ask the Father to do something. He touched them and/or spoke and the healings occurred!
Jesus gives His ministry to us. Matt.10:1, Mark 16:17-18
- Preach kingdom – Mt.10:7-8
- Heal
- Cleanses lepers
- Raise the dead
- Cast out demons
- Freely received – freely give
Hearing the Voice of God
To pray as Jesus did, we need to hear the voice of God speak to us. He speaks through His Word – the Bible – and by His Spirit within us.
Psalm 77:6 “I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart and my spirit (ruach) makes diligent search.”
Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”