Word of Encouragement (5/11/2020)
In my last words of encouragement, we began taking about supplication, the last element of the prayer acronym—A-C-T-S. Supplication is what we usually have in mind when we think about prayer. Even our Shorter Catechism defines prayer as “an offering up of our desires unto God….” Supplication therefore takes up the bulk of prayer. But I hope that, through this meditation on prayer, the other elements of prayer—Adoration, Confession, and Thanksgiving—will increase in our prayers. Some say that they don’t pray because they have nothing to pray about—they are pretty content with their lives and don’t have much to pray for. That is wonderful that you have learned the secret of contentment. But let us not forget that God calls us to pray for others. And, now that we know that our prayer should include adoration and confession and thanksgiving, we can still pray a lot even when we don’t have anything to ask for!
When we think about supplication, its very nature forces us to think about what we should and can pray for. But before we do that, we need to think about how we should offer up our supplications. The answer is very simple: by faith. James says, “…let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (1:6-7). We can see how important it is to pray with faith.
If you know anything about Christianity, you know how important faith is. One of the things, which distinguishes Christianity from all other religions, is the notion that we are justified by faith, not by works. But faith is not important just at the beginning of our Christian walk; it is important all throughout. So, Paul said, “…we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith is what characterizes our entire Christian life.
What is more, we hear the Hebrews writer say, “…without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (11:6). We can see how foundational faith is in our Christian life. Nothing we do can please God unless it is done with faith, including and especially our prayer.
In fact, all throughout Jesus’ ministry, we see Him getting impressed with only one thing. He was never impressed with all the things that we get impressed by—one’s knowledge, position, power, possession, etc. The only thing that impressed him was one’s faith. He said to the Canaanite (Syrophoenician) woman, who begged Him to cast out demons from her daughter, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire” (Matt. 15:26). We can see how impressed He was by her great faith. We are also told that Jesus so “marveled” at the faith, with which a Roman centurion asked for the healing of his servant, that He said, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith” (Matt. 8:10).
We will think about what was about their faith that so impressed our Lord. Let me just give you what I think is the answer today and we will reflect on it further later. A great faith is a faith which:
1) regards God highly;
2) trusts that that great God actually cares about us.
Recently, in one of my messages on Jephthah, I said, “Heroes of faith are not great, extraordinary men or women; heroes of faith are normal folks like you and me with great and extraordinary reliance on God.” I believe we are all called to be great heroes of faith. I hope our reflection on faith will start us on that journey. I hope you are excited!
Have a blessed day!