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Weekly Word The Power Of Prayer
John 14:12 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
The disciples were filled with grief and fear of the though of Christ leaving them. To calm these fears Jesus spake these words of comfort to them. These words apply to His Saints today who remain humbled and steadfast in faith and prayer. Christ assures them that they shall be clothed with powers sufficient to bear them out. As Christ has all power, they, in his name, should have great power, both in heaven and in earth. Did Christ heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead? So should they and so should all Saints who dedicate themselves to prayer, longsuffering, ardent prayer. The church has lost its power during these latter days. Why? Where are the praying pastors? Where are the praying laymen? Where are the praying believers? Are you praying for your pastor daily? Prayer is the greatest and most valuable gift we receive as believers in Jesus Christ. Sadly, followers rarely pray today. Yes, most leaders open each sermon with prayer but how much time do they, do you, spend alone with God in the closet, searching, seeking and longing for His presence, His truth, His power to endure through all things? Payson wore the hard wood boards into grooves where his knees pressed so often, so long. Brainerd said; "I love to be alone in my cottage, where I can spend much time in prayer. William Bramwell is famous in the Methodist annals for the marvelous answers to his prayers. He would pray for four hours at a time. Bishop Andrews spent five hours every day in prayer and devotion. Sir Henry Havelock always pent the first two hours of each day alone with God. Earl Cairns rose daily at six o'clock to secure and hour and a half for Bible Study and prayer. David's heart was ardent after God. He hungered and thirsted and sought God early, before daylight. He prayed three times each day no matter what worldly circumstances arouse. We NEED a generation of preachers, of laymen and women, of Saints who seek God and seek Him early. Those who will seek Him with all their strength, with all their might and secure in return the freshness and fullness of his power that he may be as dew to us, full of gladness and strength through all things. No man gets God who does not follow after Him. Our laziness in seeking the Lord in our secret place is our greatest sin. I desire the presence, the power and the glory of my Almighty, Loving, Merciful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Do You? |
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Online Bible Study
This verse and commentary will remain on this site due to the enemy's heightened attacks against God's children. Please study this word and commentary. Someone recently told me that she felt her husband died because of his lack of faith in Christ to heal him. I feel the need to address this here this week because the Lord has placed upon my heart that this lie must be renounced. God never, never allows anyone to die nor does He allow anyone to become or remain ill due to a lack of faith! James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. Fro he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. The operant force in healing is God's grace in response to our prayer, "the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well". However there are many people out there today who have taken this verse and applied human opinion and have even blamed themselves or loved ones for lack of faith as the reason for death. This is the farthest from the truth and there is NO scripture in God's Holy Word that says a person will die because they don't have enough faith for healing! This belief must stop! It is hurting and marring so many people as satan leads many to unbelief through falsifying God's Word. It is to be a "prayer offered in faith." We would certainly expect the elders to be able to pray in faith since they are supposed to be the most spiritually mature believers within the church body, thus the reason for their leadership role. It's important to note that this verse states that it is the elder's faith, not the person's faith that is mentioned; there is absolutely no basis within this scripture that blames sickness or death due to a person's lack of faith. If anything, it would be the lack of faith on the elder's behalf since they are the ones addressed in this scripture. Faith is a gift of the spirit. It is a personal relationship, a personal conviction in God. We pray in faith by praying through a relationship with God, a conviction and belief in Him and Our Sovereign Savior Jesus Christ. We are not supposed to pray nor do we pray out of intellectual conviction that God will heal us; we are praying out of a relationship with God where our belief and conviction has grown to the point we know God will heal. James promises that a prayer of faith will be answered. This wasn't a prayer offered in a moments time with the expectation of healing. This was a prayer that took some time; this is a prayer where one must truly sit down with God and repent of any sins, asking the Lord to reveal iniquity so that one may be cleansed. Without being cleansed, forgiven of our sins, we cannot be in a spiritual position to receive. This in no way indicates that illness is a result of sin because there are many diseases and illnesses that have absolutely nothing to do with sin. However, if our illness has been brought on by sin (alcoholism, smoking, drugs) we must spend time with the Lord as we enter as one in repentance. Resentment, bitterness, lack of forgiveness is often times the at the root of illness. It's important to note here that James states; "confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." I have someone in my life that has suffered with so much bitterness, so much hatred and strife that she continues in and out of the hospital with continued surgeries and illness. Yet she believes that since she attends church, offers her time and tithes that she is a child of God. Nowhere in her spiritual home has she been taught the true meaning of a relationship with Christ. She has never accepted the doctrine of forgiveness. We cannot receive forgiveness, healing or any gift from the Lord if we don't first forgive ourselves and others for their transgressions. Sadly, this is a root of illness today more than any other yet I believe that when one truly enters as one in the body of Christ in complete repentance and forgiveness, healing will begin immediately. We cannot say that everyone will be healed through prayer since we are to pray through all things that God's will be done. Sadly, when we try to place our will in the midst of God's will we tend to get result of the flesh. We are all children of God and He wants nothing more than to heal us in this world of all illness but more importantly, He wants to heal us Spiritually for the world to come.
That is the greatest healing of all; Spiritual Healing in Jesus Christ!
Dr. L. Faith Setzer Real Lessons Learned Real Life Lived copyright 2006
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If
you are having difficulty understanding the Bible
as you begin to read
it, lay the Bible upon your lap and and pray for the
Holy Spirit to guide you and bring the Word of God to
life in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Pray for
discernment of God's word and it shall be given to you.
It is also helpful to use commentary for those verses
that are more difficult to understand. There are
numerous books and commentaries materials available