Introduction
In the last Bible study, we learned God chooses to hear,
listen, and answer the prayers of a righteous person. Righteousness comes from God
because of absolute faith in God, like Abraham, Moses, Noah, and Job displayed
in their lives. It is an unwavering faith in God that acts upon what God has
said to be obedient to His commands. Righteousness also comes from God’s mercy
and forgiveness of our sins through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, on
the cross to die the death penalty for all humankind. A person receives righteousness
from God when he or she acknowledges Jesus is the Son of God, believes He lived
and died to save him or her from sin, and confesses with contrition his or her
sins to God. Righteousness cannot come from anything we do. Because God is
righteous and defines righteousness, it can only come from Him.
As you noticed, righteousness requires belief in God and in
Jesus Christ as the saving sacrifice for our sins, our willful disobedience to
God and His laws. Belief is the next aspect of the person who prays we will
study.
Belief
Belief in God is the attribute second most spoken of by the
Bible in a person who prays. The Bible writers most often stated it as “having
faith in God.” In this category, five Bible verses speak on “prayer” and two teach
about the verbs “to pray” and “to ask.”
In Matthew 17:19-21 Jesus confronted the disciples who were
unable to cast a demon out of a young boy. He rebuked them for their little
faith. When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not drive the evil spirits
out, Jesus replied, “Because of the littleness of your faith.” Their belief in
the power of God was small. Jesus told them even a faith as small as a mustard
seed could make mountains move. Nothing would be impossible when they prayed and
fasted with and for this kind of faith. The kind of faith Jesus spoke of in
this passage comes from the Greek word pistis
and means a conviction of the truth of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and
their power to bring about that for which they pray and believe. This faith has
implicit trust and confidence in God.
Matthew 21:22 and Mark 11:24 record Jesus speaking further
on this. Jesus said belief brings receiving that for which you ask in prayer if
you ask without doubting. God grants the prayers of the person who believes
when he or she asks from Him. Prayer is tied to faith without doubt. A person
who prays, but without faith, has no communion with God, does not know His
will, has a heart unchanged by His Holy Spirit, and therefore does not pray in
conjunction with God’s purposes. This type of prayer will not effect change in
the person who prayed or the situation for which the person prayed. Prayer
requires righteousness of the pray-er and belief by the pray-er in the triune
Godhead.
Paul had great
confidence in the faith and prayers of the Philippian Christians. In
Philippians 1:19, he stated his deliverance from imprisonment would occur
through their prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul
believed in the power of the prayers of believers. He rejoiced expecting God to
work in his situation and saw already at the time God’s hand in his
imprisonment because men of the praetorian guard and others in prison were able
to hear the Gospel. Christ was proclaimed even while Paul remained in prison.
Later in this letter to the Philippians, Paul taught the
believers in Philippi more about prayer. In Philippians 4:6-7, he said, “Be
anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.” Paul trusted in the power of prayer by believers. Even in the
midst of his own personal misfortune, he taught the Philippians not to be
anxious, but give everything in their hearts and minds over to God in prayer
and supplication. Paul told them to expect answer - do not doubt - and begin
thanking God for what He will do in answer to their prayers. He told the
Philippians to trust in God and His love that He would hear and answer them so
that they would have the peace of God in their hearts and minds even though having
peace during their times of trial made no human sense. For Paul, effective prayers
came from faith and trust in God, without anxiety, that expected God to hear
and answer and caused a peace and eruption of thanksgiving to flow forth from
the person who prays. Righteousness and belief are paramount for Paul in his
teachings about prayer and in his personal life of prayer.
James agreed with
Paul’s teaching on prayer. In James 5:15, he stated, “The prayer offered in
faith will restore the sick.” In this part of his letter, James spoke about the
elders of the church going to the sick person, praying over him or her, and anointing
him or her with oil in the name of the Lord. The elder did not make the sick
person well, neither did the oil. Rather, the faith of the praying person in
the power of Jesus Christ to heal the sick brought His power to prevail in the
sick person’s body to make him or her well. The power of Jesus Christ made the
person well. The faith/belief that Jesus could and willed the health of the
person brought it to pass in that situation.
John spoke of this same required belief by a child of God.
He recorded in John 16:26-27 Jesus said, “In that day you will ask in My name,
and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for
the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that
I came forth from the Father.” Jesus told His disciples because of their love
of Him that came from their belief and trust in Him and His saving power, God
the Father loves them. Jesus will not have to beseech the Father to act for His
disciples because the Father will, out of His love for them and because of
their love for Jesus, answer their prayers – give them that for which they ask.
Love acted out toward Jesus Christ because of belief and trust in Him results
in communion with and union with God the Father whose desire is to care for and
answer the prayers and requests of His children. The believer’s faith Jesus
Christ and His power caused the faith of the praying person to be effective in
prayer because of God’s love for him or her.
Each of these men spoke of belief in terms
of the Greek word pisteuo. Pisteuo means
to think to be true, to be persuaded and place confidence in God and Jesus
Christ because of a conviction and trust in the triune God. That trust aids in
obtaining what is needed or prayed for, and in receiving salvation.
Relevance and Conclusion
Faith is void without the person or thing in which a person
trusts having power to effect anything in the life of the person who believes. The
Canaanites and later the Israelites placed their faith in false gods such as
Baal, Asherah, and Molech and received no power from these gods to aid them in
their lives. Today people who trust and put their faith in things or beings
other than Jesus Christ will not receive blessings or help in their lives. If a
person places all his or her faith in him or herself to provide all necessary
things for life, that person is only human and cannot stop bad things from
happening or give life after death. That person cannot provide forgiveness for
sin or give eternal life. That person is just that, a created human being. Only
the Creator of humankind and all things can give eternal life, cause help to
arrive for every situation, heal wounds, forgive the judgment due for sins, and
love people even though their sins make them unlovable. Only belief in the One true God can cause our prayers to be effective by God answering them in His power. For prayer to be effective, the person who prays must believe in God and must be made right before Him, made righteous by God's forgiveness of sins through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for sins.
Today we each must decide what or who we are placing as gods
in our lives. We must recognize on whom or what we place our trust and
determine for ourselves if that person or thing is almighty, all-knowing, and able to forgive us our sins and love us to and through eternity.
When you look at
yourself and your life, in whom do you place your ultimate trust for your life?
God is the only One who has the power to forgive your sins.
He can and will give
you perfect peace because of His love for you and His power.
With Him you can walk
in strength and trust knowing you have a hope for the future.
Will you lay
aside your false gods - those things upon which you relied instead of God?
Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and believe only
in God?
